How to Encourage Participation in Local Foosball Tournaments

[Grant]

In my brief experiences with foosball I have seen a lot of different ways to encourage participation at local foosball tournaments.

Most everybody likes cash and prizes so whatever you can do to increase those is good. If you have the tournament at a bar or pool hall then perhaps you can get the owner to chip in some cash and prizes for the winners. After all, the more people at the tournaments, the more food and drinks they will sell. One smart idea I saw was to give out gift certificates to some of the winners that expire in a month and can’t be used on the night they were won. This rewards the winners and encourages the winners to come back again. Also, if the foosball tables are owned by a separate person then see if the person who collects the proceeds from all the quarters pumped into the foosball tables can contribute to the cash and prizes. The more players you can entice with cash and prizes, the more quarters they get.

Giving the winners recognition can also generate enthusiasm. You can do this via email to your members, through a website you run, or through some of the free resources offered here on NetFoos.com. Contact us to set up your own local foosball forum here on Netfoos.com. This can generate a lot of excitement among foosers at your location. Also, when our statistics management software is ready for prime time you can track the results of all your tournaments and see all kinds of cool stats like who is leading the pack in cashing and prizes and who has the most top three finishes.

Of course a friendly, helpful environment can really help to grow your local tournaments. I actually started playing foosball because I moved into a new town and didn’t know anybody. After only a few local tournaments I kind of felt a little like Norm at Cheers and looked forward to seeing some friendly faces with similar interests in foosball. I also appreciated it when more experienced players took the time to offer me advice.

Point spots and draw your partner events can also be a great way to give rookies a chance at winning. I think it was my third tournament ever when I drew a really great partner and he coached me along while he dominated the games and we ended up winning the whole thing. It was pretty a pretty exciting and educational experience.

Also, since the advanced level of play can be intimidating to beginners, you might want to try and have a “beginners only” tournament before the main event. I took great pride when winning one of these when I was a beginner. The next time I played I had the courage to enter the main event.

I am sure there are many more ideas out there so please chime in with your thoughts.

[JeffK]

The key question here is "why do people participate"? In order to answer this, you have to break down your player base somewhat.

At one end of the spectrum, you have beginning players. They can be frustrating to get as a partner, but they are the future of foosball... today's first-timer could be tomorrow's pro-master. They aren't there to really "compete", but just to have fun and learn more about the game. In order to keep them interested, you have to give them the chance to succeed and enjoy playing. This is where DYPs, handicaps, beginner tournaments, and things like that can help a lot.

In the middle, you have your solid player base. These are the people who show up to play, and try hard to win, but don't expect to place every week.... they've built up enough experience that they want to be able to succeed and win now and then, and often show the most frustration at losing and seeing the same people taking home their money. In order to keep them interested, you need to give them the opportunity to be in the spotlight and feel as though they have a real chance to excel. Again, this is where DYPs and handicaps can help out a lot.

Then you have your experienced players who come out to compete against strong competition and maybe make a little money out of the deal. In order to keep them interested, you have to have good turn-outs (which improves the competition, as well as the prize pool). Therefore, they are not the primary focus area, since the power players will come if you are able to bring in the others... and even if the top players don't show up (perhaps because they are unhappy with having to play with beginners and/or deal with handicaps), they are a smaller percentage of the foos population anyway.

By following this methodology, you share the wealth (giving more people the chance to succeed and have fun playing, instead of the same players winning every week)... and force the upper eschelon of players to "step it up" when they have to carry an inexperienced player and/or overcome a handicap... which will make them improve their game overall. So everyone benefits!

All that aside, the bottom line is that everyone is there to play... and everyone wants to play more. There's nothing worse than allocating your entire evening to play foosball instead of doing something else, and going out in 2 or 3 matches; I've seen many people just leave the tournament location after that, shoulders slumped and faces sullen. One thought I've had to resolve THIS -- in larger tournaments with more than 12 teams, and in larger venues with enough tables to support it -- is to have a 2nd chance tournament for the teams/players that have gone out early. This will benefit the host establishment (since the players will stick around longer), and add to the overall enjoyment of the players who would otherwise feel dejected at the loss.

Jeff

[Cheryl]

Alright, Kobal...

If you're going to quote me...you could at least get it right and give me proper credit.

"Today's beginner could become tomorrow's pro-master...you just never know."

Now get your own material, or else you'll leave me no choice but to smite you with my Mace of Disruption delivering 20 hp of damage...sheesh!

Now as for the rest of your post...I know we've had many a discussion on this topic over the past year or so, so it should come as no surprise that I concur with the points you make. I couldn't have said it better myself. I've had this discussion with several promoters in other states and they share similar points of view. Thanks for posting your thoughts!

[Grant]

I like that idea about the "2nd chance tournament" because going 2 and out is a real bummer especially if you carpooled to the tournament with somebody who makes it to the finals.

[JeffK]

> Alright, Kobal...
>
> If you're going to quote me...you could at least get it right and
> give me proper credit.

Come on, Marinaro... like you said, we've had many a discussion on this topic... so I guess I successfully internalized that concept.

> Now get your own material, or else you'll leave me no choice but
> to smite you with my Mace of Disruption delivering 20 hp of damage...

Woah... you're more of a geek than I thought! lol... (putting up Dungeon Master screens to block the basilisk-like glare attack)

Jeff

p.s. Grant... glad you like the 2nd-chance idea. It makes a lot of sense if you think about it... you've got players out who want to play, and tables freeing up as the tournament narrows out... so why not? Just need to figure out the format for it... maybe a straight-up DYP... or a 2-ball competition!

[THE MACHINE]

My first post on this site. Let me say this seems very nice, Great job!

I've always thought that letting New Faces that show up to check out the Tournament scene PLAY FOR FREE would help them stick with it more. Let them get their feet wet without getting soaked, so to speak.

I would even go as far as letting them play their first four tourneys for free, or maybe make it something like free entry for the next calender month from their first tourney, which would help encourage them to show up for a month.

I think it would just help get rid of the gold-digging, take-the-money feel a Newer Player gets.

I think it would also get them to "bring a friend" to check it out, too.

And lastly, when you do get those Newer Players showing up, have someone who is a Good Teacher give them a pre-tourney lesson, pointing out some rules (like not talking, proper time- in procedure, etc.,) and also give them some basic strategy help.

Just my two pesos worth!


Alex Nagy

[Cheryl]

Welcome, Alex!

Those are really good suggestions. I actually did that on several occasions before we put a Beginner/Open warm-up tournament in place which has no entry fee.

The Beginner/Open tournament we host is very much geared towards some of the principles you mentioned, since the focus is on newer players, doesn't charge an entry fee, and the chart is seeded so that a more seasoned player is paired with a newer player with the purpose of helping them learn the ropes in a more fun relaxed tournament play situation.