2019 Captaincy Election: Question & Answer Thread

[Pipey]

The two candidates for the position of English Eurobowl Captain for Poland 2020 are:

Pete Woodroffe (PeteW)
Dave Downes (Lycos)

The full captaincy schedule is found here.

Could each of you please post a statement to support your candidacy in this thread.

Good luck to both.

Questions are welcomed from the community ahead of the vote which starts in a week.

[PeteW]

Thanks Brendan - happy to kick things off. My opening statement is pretty similar to my nomination introduction:

I would be delighted to be Team England Captain. I love the Blood Bowl community, and would be honoured to lead the team representing England in Eurobowl 2020.

I've been playing Bloodbowl since 1993, but only NAF since 2007 (blame Stick). I'm very comfortable with playing top class Euro opponents, and not phased by elegant sophistication, or undecipherable expletives. A change in career meant that 2018 was the first year I was eligible to be considered for Team England, and I was delighted when Lycos gave me 'the call'. Wales was amazing, being part of the team, playing for the country, beating my French opponent, and putting up a good enough performance to not be completely embarrassed - all super. The camaraderie of the many supporters was also lovely.

So why do I want to be captain? I am very comfortable taking a leading role - much of my personal and professional life has involved just that, and I believe I am an effective leader. I am also conscious of the uncomfortable divide in the English community, and having great friends in all parts of the country, I believe that I can make unbiased choices, and be trusted not to be swayed by a (real or imagined) consensus. A new captain is important in healing the breach. I would also try to give useful feedback to any unsuccessful applicants.

If chosen, then I would want to pick coaches that would:
- be highly competitive
- understand the need to put team over self
- understand the nature of the European game
- be happy playing with their given race
- be able to demonstrate success at a high level, against quality coaches

I am not a fan of pure rankings (ELO or Glicko) as they can be easily manufactured. Instead, I would be looking at specific results against top coaches playing their favoured races. Recent form is also important, and I would also want coaches to suggest what they should be playing when applying - their understanding of the meta will be useful.

The wider role of captain also appeals. During the recent vote, I attempted to add reasonable and useful feedback, without being aggressive. I am a big supporter of the current TE committee, and appreciative of their work, and also happy to contribute fully. I strongly suspect that the TE Europen question will be raised shortly, and I already have some thoughts about what I would like to suggest to the committee as an interim solution before anything official is decided.

It is amusing having an election at the moment, given the timing, and I hope that this election is run on much better principles! to summarise why I think I would be a good captain, in no particular order:
Honest. Communicative. Gregarious. Competitive.

[lunchmoney]

Given the records of both candidatesi have a question for both:
Pete, how likely are you to have Dave on your team?
Dave, how likely are you to have Pete on your team?

[PeteW]

Given the records of both candidatesi have a question for both:
Pete, how likely are you to have Dave on your team?
Dave, how likely are you to have Pete on your team?

Well, given that Lycos beat my son at CamDub this year, he is clearly blacklisted from my team!

More seriously, it is very difficult to put a likelihood down now. I would consider Dave in exactly the same way that I would consider everyone else, as I outlined above. His place would be won on those criteria, in comparison with the other keen applicants. The likelihood of him winning a place depends entirely on how he would stack up against them. Saying that, Dave is a great coach, with some super performances against other great coaches, so I'm sure he would be a strong contender.

Given the coaches who might want to be in TE, and who are competitive enough - I would say that I know them approximately equally well. I wouldn't be biased to pick one coach over another because I was better friends than them. No-one is an auto-include!

[Joemanji]

Thanks for standing Dave and Pete! Two great candidates and I'm sure Team England will be in good hands with either one of you at the helm.

Some questions:

First to Dave. You have captained England before. What were the challenges that you encountered in the role, and what would you do differently this time if you win the election? Do you think you made any mistakes?

Then to Pete. You are perhaps not the widest travelled coach within the UK. How do you think that impacts your ability to judge prospective coaches from areas you haven't been too that often, e.g. Manchester or the South West?

Finally one for both candidates. I think this Q&A period is a great opportunity for new or newly-interested coaches to hear what Team England is all about. How would you personally describe the Eurobowl and Team England experience to someone who doesn't know much about it?

[PeteW]

Thanks for standing Dave and Pete! Two great candidates and I'm sure Team England will be in good hands with either one of you at the helm.

Some questions:
...
Then to Pete. You are perhaps not the widest travelled coach within the UK. How do you think that impacts your ability to judge prospective coaches from areas you haven't been too that often, e.g. Manchester or the South West?

Finally one for both candidates. I think this Q&A period is a great opportunity for new or newly-interested coaches to hear what Team England is all about. How would you personally describe the Eurobowl and Team England experience to someone who doesn't know much about it?

Hi Joe

Great questions - thank you.

Agreed - I haven't made it down to the south west, but I am signed up to Cake Bowl already (not in time for selection). I have also been to the North East a few times, which not all coaches get to. Regarding selection, I suspect that tournament selection overcomes Geography, as most, if not all, of the coaches fit for Team England, will make their way to the NAFC, UKTC etc., and so I'll get to know them there.

Although rankings aren't great, they are quite useful for a rough guide. Looking at the top 50 England rankings, the only coaches that I don't know are Doubleskulls (who moved to Australia over a decade ago), and Itchen - who I spectated using Ogres last Saturday (and whom I now wish I'd spoken to!) In the top 100, the only coach I don't know is TheRake, who is relatively new, and seems to have been rampaging around the Midlands winning everything. One to watch!

In short, I know the good coaches from each area, because the come out of their areas. And to be honest, if someone had achieved stellar rankings by only playing in one county... they may not be the best coach to play for Team England!

-------

How to describe playing for Team England? It's more than just a weekend. The chat in Whatsapp, reviewing strategy and rosters. The fun of organising team shirts, and accommodation - the build up is exciting! At the weekend, you get together and await the draw. You know there are not going to be any easy games. Not one. No hope of warming up easily against a rookie with goblins! My first game was against Straume (Loner). He had beaten me at the UKTC, although then I was using undead, and now I had my favourite race. I was nervous before the game, but once the familiarity of rolling dice started, I calmed down. It was a tense game and it all hinged on a 4+ witch elf dodge that worked (yes!) and I surfed his ball carrier. My first game was a win... but more importantly, the team won. And that really sums up playing for England: your own results do not matter to you as much as the team. And there is so much more! Playing against other coaches representing their countries in strangely bonding - I made some great friends. Celebrating with the team over dinner is great, and I still feel a special bond with my team mates from 2018. It is also great representing the community. There was great support over FB and on TFF. The plethora of Europen coaches also helped with this, as they were all interested in how it was going. My best weekend of Bloodbowl.

I hope that we can involve the official Europen Team within Team England more, so more can share this kind of camaraderie and experience. I certainly intend to try, if I am elected.

[Pipey]

Here's a question on behalf of the committee. And a bit of info for the community at the same time.

With the acceptance of Document A (structures) and the rejection of Document B (selection) we find ourselves with the formal existence of an English EurOpen team, but with no agreed way to establish it.

We plan to review options for the English EO team and consider a charter revision next year.

In the meantime we want to have a stop-gap solution so that the English EurOpen team can continue for Poland 2020. The committee would like to discuss that stop-gap urgently with the winning captaincy candidate once in place.

We understand that registration deadlines for Eurobowl and EurOpen will be in February and April respectively. Hopefully we can issue our stop-gap plan for EO very soon after the new captain is elected, with enough time to allow potential players to make themselves available for one or both of the two Team Englands.

We also acknowledge that the traditional May selection deadline may be impractical with respect to the the much earlier registration dates for Poland.

The situation we find ourselves in may actually allow an opportunity to experiment with an EO selection model and offer a solution in response to recent feedback on the issue. The experimental period may be useful as we consider a more formal charter revision at some future point.

So, the question to both Dave and Pete is as follows:

What vision for the English EurOpen team for Poland would you bring to committee discussions (discussions which we plan to have urgently after the election)?

[PeteW]

Here's a question on behalf of the committee.
...
What vision for the English EurOpen team for Poland would you bring to committee discussions (discussions which we plan to have urgently after the election)?

Thanks Brendan. As I raised in another thread, timing is critical here. People have lives to plan, flights and hotels to book, time off to organise, spouses to mollify - all of which take time. In addition, people will want to ensure that they can play with their friends at the EO, if they aren't chosen for TE or the TE EO team. So, it is essential that we get things organised quickly, otherwise we may lose some of the best coaches, which then makes the TE EO sub-optimal.

I would like to see a competitive TE EO team as a key part of TE overall. I am also keen to either organise, or help organise the TE EO team. I also would like to see the TE EO as a good route to get in to the main TE.

Here are my suggestions for the committee:
1. Ask members of the English community to put themselves forward for TE only. (23 Dec to 6 Jan)
2. Get the TE squad picked by 19 January. The change of dates needs to be acknowledged, so the selection criteria may have to be made slightly elastic. If an applicant was planning to attend some events in the Spring to give them the required number of games, then as long as they are paid up - I would be happy to count those. Or, if they have already met the criteria at the start of Jan, then that is also fine.
3. Ask members of the English community to put themselves forward for the TE EO team. (20 Jan to 3 Feb). Idea: limit applicants to those who have not played for TE, to promote inclusion and diversity. Could also be for people who have played once for TE.
4. Get the TE EO squad fixed by 10 Feb.

This gives people plenty of time to get organised if they haven't been picked. I quite like the idea of limiting the official TE EO squad to people who have either played once or never. It will get more people involved in TE, whilst maintaining competitiveness.

[Lycos]

Hi All, sorry for a day or two delay, had to deal with a real life issue.

I am very pleased to be standing and I think no matter what your vote is, both Pete and I are suitable candidates. We would both do England proud.

First thing is a quick introduction. Whilst many in the English Blood Bowl Scene (EBBS) have known me a very long time now, I am very aware that the re-release by GW has sparked a whole new generation of players in the EBBS. I have done several events this year and met groups of friends who have joined in and thus, wont know much about my BB history.

I started out in 2002, having never played the game in its previous incarnations. Around 2004/05 I then got involved with NAF, my feeling being that I was playing quite a few events by now and I wanted to give something back the hobby. This led to becoming President and I have held pretty much every position but Treasurer!

In 2004, England had the first go at an EB. Not really knowing what to expect, we won the event at the first try of asking. That was a very proud moment and I have since had the honour of being in every England team since.

When Sweden came about I had the privilege to be captain. It must have inspired me as with a 510 record I won the player of the tournament. I was also pleased that I selected 3 new caps to the team.
Then in Wales, as captain again, England were victorious, for the fifth time in a row and in doing so, picked a certain PeteW for his first cap. It feels quite something to have been part of that extraordinary run.

Now for Poland. Much as i did on previous captaincy, I will be looking to select a strong team. EB is unique in that we have 8 different races. Picking that 8 has challenges. Some (many) want to be in the team but it is just the way of it that there will be disappointment for good coaches. Trust me, its not easy when you have whittled it down to 10 worthy names but there will be 2 who miss out. You need to be a strong character when that comes around.

It is my intention to win a remarkable 6th title in a row and I hope to be the one that leads England ahead.
Regards
Dave

[Lycos]

Given the records of both candidatesi have a question for both:
Pete, how likely are you to have Dave on your team?
Dave, how likely are you to have Pete on your team?

Al, There is no individual with a right to be selected, it has to be earned. That is by good play and demonstrating you know a race better than others. Whilst true that I picked Pete for Wales, I am certain he understands that does not guarantee selection for Poland.

[Lycos]

Thanks for standing Dave and Pete! Two great candidates and I'm sure Team England will be in good hands with either one of you at the helm.

Some questions:

First to Dave. You have captained England before. What were the challenges that you encountered in the role, and what would you do differently this time if you win the election? Do you think you made any mistakes?

Finally one for both candidates. I think this Q&A period is a great opportunity for new or newly-interested coaches to hear what Team England is all about. How would you personally describe the Eurobowl and Team England experience to someone who doesn't know much about it?

Hi Joe. To the first point, thank you and I agree with your comment.

Yes I have been captain twice. Challenges I think i have put in my intro. The hardest thing is knowing you cant pick everyone. Players, good players, miss out. It is inevitable. That is by far the hardest part.
Mistakes, I guess everyone makes errors here or there but having won the EB on both of my previous attempts as captain, I guess I must have got it mostly right.
Poland may throw up some aspects that require change. The rules, distance to travel. I think only time itself will present those changes.

The experience: Now that really is where EB is on its own. I have done a lot of team events. Two man, three man, fours, fives..even six in world cups. But the 8 of EB is unique.
One of the things that may not be apparent, and I have experienced this several times, is that you have to put the team first. There are times you put in it to go 1-1 mid 2H and risk losing.... you have to for the team.
There are games you are drawing and feel you could win by putting it in early. But you have to hold it out for the draw. The solid half is often what the team needs. This is also where captaincy comes in. You have to get that team of solid players who understand this... that all of us need to put the team first.
This does not happen when you are playing on your own in standard tournaments. Its not something everyone would instantly think about in a team event.

Another key aspect, particularly for an England team, is the standard of play. From G1 you are up against some of the very best players in the game. They challenge you, play standard is high, little space for errors as they are soon exploited.

And the wider spectrum of being part of TE. Throwing ideas about, the banter, getting the shirt and the hoodie. That moment as G1 goes up. I wonder if any words I type will really do justice to what it really feels like......

[Lycos]

Here's a question on behalf of the committee. And a bit of info for the community at the same time.

So, the question to both Dave and Pete is as follows:

What vision for the English EurOpen team for Poland would you bring to committee discussions (discussions which we plan to have urgently after the election)?

One thing that some may not know is that the captain sits on the committee mentioned by Brendan. I have been part of the journey to getting Doc A in, and whilst here I admit to being vehemently opposed to the rejected Doc B. And I recognise that now the EO is in a limbo position IMHO.

For Poland, just because of time scales if nothing else, I think English EO teams can formalise themselves once the EB8 is picked, similar to last year. I dont believe this is a good long term strategy though, something more formal needs to materialise. In order to get that, I feel more communication, thinking and more listening to the wider community needs to take place.

Timescales are an issue for us, that is acknowledged. But I am reticent to rush in to it and get it wrong. Lets not do that.

[PeteW]

Here's a question on behalf of the committee.
...
What vision for the English EurOpen team for Poland would you bring to committee discussions (discussions which we plan to have urgently after the election)?

... I quite like the idea of limiting the official TE EO squad to people who have either played once or never. It will get more people involved in TE, whilst maintaining competitiveness.

Just to add to this, I would hope to add the TE EO trio to the main team. I.e. involve them in the Whatsapp group chat, discussing tactics and strategy, planning stuff, getting excited. They would have the same branded team kit, and be reported on in the official TE posts on FB etc during the event. The EO trio would join the TE team at the evening dinners and be part of everything.

[Pipey]

OK gents hope you don’t mind if I ask a few more questions, my own rather than on behalf of the committee. I will use the new TE Charter as a reference point.

2. Team England
We would like to encourage all English coaches travelling to play at Eurobowl or EurOpen to consider themselves part of Team England. This may mean any number of things from wearing the same team shirts to taking part in community discussions together e.g. travel planning, debating rosters choices and tactics. Also see point 10 below about Team England practice sessions [which are encouraged, and the committee may be able to organise an event].

What will you do to nurture the idea of a wider Team England as above, in the run-up to registration and selection, as well as in the build-up to Eurobowl and during the event?

3. The Team England Committee
The elected committee’s job is to lead a process of community consensus around how Team England works at the Eurobowl Event. This is in accordance with NAF Tournament Approval guidelines relating to tournaments where players are selected to represent nations. For these tournaments (such as Eurobowl) the selection procedure must be discussed and consensus reached amongst the community within each nation. The Team England Charter (see point 4 below) documents this agreed process and it is the committee’s job to uphold and review the charter where appropriate.

You will be part of the committee whose job is to ensure an ongoing process of community consensus about how selection works for the Eurobowl event. How will you ensure this continues to happen. How should this happen going forward, beyond your one-year stay on the committee?

5. The English Eurobowl Team Captain
[tasks include] … c) to represent Team England at meetings, as required by the Eurobowl Committee.

How do you see your role with respect to this core task. How will you ensure the wider community has input into this process and is informed of the outcomes?


Lastly, mainly for Lycos but also for Pete if he has anything further to add –

I think English EO teams can formalise themselves once the EB8 is picked, similar to last year. I dont believe this is a good long term strategy though, something more formal needs to materialise. In order to get that, I feel more communication, thinking and more listening to the wider community needs to take place.

Pete has given a 4-point strategy regarding his vision for EO Team England. Do you have any more specific ideas of what a formal EO Team England might look like, perhaps for Malta if you feel a stop-gap for Poland isn’t possible? What would the process of communication and listening involve? What would your involvement as Eurobowl captain be, if any? (apologies to press you for detail on this matter Dave; just that it seemed to be a theme in the discussions alongside our document proposals that a more formal EO team was a priority)

[PeteW]

OK gents hope you don’t mind if I ask a few more questions, my own rather than on behalf of the committee. I will use the new TE Charter as a reference point.

2. Team England
We would like to encourage all English coaches travelling to play at Eurobowl or EurOpen to consider themselves part of Team England. This may mean any number of things from wearing the same team shirts to taking part in community discussions together e.g. travel planning, debating rosters choices and tactics. Also see point 10 below about Team England practice sessions [which are encouraged, and the committee may be able to organise an event].

What will you do to nurture the idea of a wider Team England as above, in the run-up to registration and selection, as well as in the build-up to Eurobowl and during the event?

This is an interesting one, and whilst I think that it is great to involve all of the England community in TE, there does need to be some divide! A WhatsApp group with 30 people in would quickly become unmanageable. However, opening the shirts up to a wider field, as was done last year, is nice, and having threads on TFF metagaming and discussing rosters is also something that I would like to do. I think there is wisdom in keeping some of this to the TE+TE EO group, as to not give our European competition too much inside information. I would like to arrange for a practice session in the summer, and it would be good to open this up. Discussing travel plans makes sense, as was done for the WC. I started the thread to see if any coaches wanted to share a bus to Dornibirn, which thankfully the WC organisers picked up(!) but it would make sense to do the same for Poland.

3. The Team England Committee
The elected committee’s job is to lead a process of community consensus around how Team England works at the Eurobowl Event. This is in accordance with NAF Tournament Approval guidelines relating to tournaments where players are selected to represent nations. For these tournaments (such as Eurobowl) the selection procedure must be discussed and consensus reached amongst the community within each nation. The Team England Charter (see point 4 below) documents this agreed process and it is the committee’s job to uphold and review the charter where appropriate.

You will be part of the committee whose job is to ensure an ongoing process of community consensus about how selection works for the Eurobowl event. How will you ensure this continues to happen. How should this happen going forward, beyond your one-year stay on the committee?

I am very happy to be part of the committee, and I know the other members well and will be happy enjoying challenging debate. I also frequently post on TFF, and I was active in making (hopefully) useful contributions before the Doc B vote. For future votes, I would review the forums carefully, and be part of guiding future discussions so that we can hopefully put together something that will meet with community approval. Although, I still believe that the method of selecting TE coaches that we have now is sensible.

5. The English Eurobowl Team Captain
[tasks include] … c) to represent Team England at meetings, as required by the Eurobowl Committee.

How do you see your role with respect to this core task. How will you ensure the wider community has input into this process and is informed of the outcomes?

I am very happy to attend whatever meeting are required. Hopefully an agenda will come out before the meeting, and I would canvas the community for any input as is appropriate. During the meeting I would attempt to represent the community, not myself, and afterwards I would report back.

Lastly, mainly for Lycos but also for Pete if he has anything further to add –

I think English EO teams can formalise themselves once the EB8 is picked, similar to last year. I dont believe this is a good long term strategy though, something more formal needs to materialise. In order to get that, I feel more communication, thinking and more listening to the wider community needs to take place.

Pete has given a 4-point strategy regarding his vision for EO Team England. Do you have any more specific ideas of what a formal EO Team England might look like, perhaps for Malta if you feel a stop-gap for Poland isn’t possible? What would the process of communication and listening involve? What would your involvement as Eurobowl captain be, if any? (apologies to press you for detail on this matter Dave; just that it seemed to be a theme in the discussions alongside our document proposals that a more formal EO team was a priority)

Thanks Bren - I think I would add that it could be sensible for the committee to agree on a rough version of what I, the community, and Dave suggest, and put that in place for Poland. I don't think there is enough time to do a proper proposal/vote, as people want to put their plans together, as I suggested. This can be a stop-gap solution for now, but a more permanent solution should be decided on next year.