NAF tournament approval (UK but possibly wider)
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 2:42 pm
Just wanted to raise a minor concern around NAF approval of tournaments in the UK.
With the new box release there has been a surge in new events appearing around the country, which is obviously great news.
However, there seems to be a slightly haphazard approach to what tournaments are being NAF approved, and which are not.
For instance, there's a 2-day tournament being run near Peterborough in April which clashes with a one-day tournament in Doncaster (91 miles away, according to Google Maps). This was the reason given for NAF approval being denied, the Peterborough guys were happy enough, all good.
Then I see on Facebook a new 2-day tournament popping up in Birmingham in May; fair enough, good news, its been NAF approved. But this clashes with a one-day event in Northampton, which has already been approved. Google Maps tells me these two events are 56 miles apart.
I think there may need to be some more visibility in how events are being approved. What concerns me, as a tournament organiser (1st time for me, but our event has run for 5 years now) is that unless we're particularly early booking up (which not everyone always can be), and unless we use a particular channel for chasing up approval, we may miss out on that shiny NAF badge.
I'm not having a go at the UK NAF reps as they've always been more than helpful whenever I've needed anything, but if the game keeps on growing I think we're going to see more and more clashes.
Also: I'm not meaning to cause any issues with these tournaments, they are purely used as examples... I'm not sure I can make the April weekend but if I can I'll probably go to Peterborough anyway, and the reason the May weekend stood out is its my wedding anniversary so I know I can't make tournaments then!
With the new box release there has been a surge in new events appearing around the country, which is obviously great news.
However, there seems to be a slightly haphazard approach to what tournaments are being NAF approved, and which are not.
For instance, there's a 2-day tournament being run near Peterborough in April which clashes with a one-day tournament in Doncaster (91 miles away, according to Google Maps). This was the reason given for NAF approval being denied, the Peterborough guys were happy enough, all good.
Then I see on Facebook a new 2-day tournament popping up in Birmingham in May; fair enough, good news, its been NAF approved. But this clashes with a one-day event in Northampton, which has already been approved. Google Maps tells me these two events are 56 miles apart.
I think there may need to be some more visibility in how events are being approved. What concerns me, as a tournament organiser (1st time for me, but our event has run for 5 years now) is that unless we're particularly early booking up (which not everyone always can be), and unless we use a particular channel for chasing up approval, we may miss out on that shiny NAF badge.
I'm not having a go at the UK NAF reps as they've always been more than helpful whenever I've needed anything, but if the game keeps on growing I think we're going to see more and more clashes.
Also: I'm not meaning to cause any issues with these tournaments, they are purely used as examples... I'm not sure I can make the April weekend but if I can I'll probably go to Peterborough anyway, and the reason the May weekend stood out is its my wedding anniversary so I know I can't make tournaments then!