The first-timers’ (and JV) MHL at Byram Hills was, in a word, a barn-buster. Six divisions, two each of LD, PF and Policy, and they were hanging off the rafters. Joe V did the math, and adding in the NYCFL event running simultaneously (to which bunches of us sent the proverbial other bus), we had about 900 kids competing this last Saturday.
900? 900. And that doesn’t cover the observing noobs and the training parents and the like. Forensics—extracurricular, no less—is alive and well in New York. Wow.
Running a big event like this has some problems, because almost every division had some sort of imbalance with a lot of teams from one school throwing everything into a tizzy. But the numbers were so large that mostly this didn’t matter except in two smaller divisions where one school dominated and we had to do some hand-pairing and intra-team debating. In these situations it is especially important that every round not be with the elephant-in-the-room school. But we’re used to pairing these, and the couple of big programs are used to getting some them-them rounds. I think we’re good enough at it now that real winners emerge. We’re also good enough that we get four rounds in and we’re out by 6:45. O’C calls it Menick MHL Time. Whatever. It works. At Monti we’ll have to remember to slow down a tad so that the Policians get a moment for lunch (4 rounds is a longer day when there’s no flights), but Menick MHL Time should stand. Get ‘em in, get ‘em out. Sort of like the abattoir routine in Monty Python…
Not that the day was without issues. Some folks seem to interpret first time as something other than first time. We will be explaining the absolute nature of virginity to a couple of coaches, with serious repercussions for failure to follow the rules. This is not rocket surgery, after all. And the advantage of having even one tournament over those at their first tournament cannot be underestimated. The first-timers’ exists for good reasons: to get kids to learn and have fun, to overcome their stomach butterflies, to figure out how to read schematics, to see their peers in suits, and to find out how cold a pizza slice can get when it’s been sitting there for three rounds. It is not about winning, although winning is nice. But it’s certainly not about losing, when the reason you lost is that your opponent was seriously more experienced than you. As I say, these infractions cannot be tolerated. We (the MHL management) are girding our loins accordingly. But, fortunately, these infractions were minimal. Still, they were unfortunate, and mar an otherwise great experience.
On the plus side, we also had a number of new programs in the mix. It’s not just the same old schools with bigger teams all of a sudden. It’s new folks dipping in their toes, and I hope we’re making the experience work for them. We are certainly trying. If they come back next week, we’ll know we are on the right track.
And these, mes amis, is Tik (pronounced teek), who shattered his leg and now must wear a collar to keep him from removing the stitches. Awwwww.
No comments:
Post a Comment