This April a dream came true: the first ever NAF tournament in Latin America.
Torneo de Otoño 2017 was hosted by LUBBA, the Uruguayan Blood Bowl League, in the beautiful city of Montevideo.
It was a glorious day; the sun was not high in the sky yet, when Odisea Store, the chosen arena for this event, opened its doors. Some coaches where already there, waiting anxiously. There have been a lot of hype in the community during the past weeks, anticipating the tournament. Fanpages and whatsapp groups were on fire with questions, coaches seeking advice, speculations on match ups, rules clarifications, painting tips, trash talk, grudges from very old leagues, a couple of threats, etc… the usual stuff.
Coaches had rushed to paint their minis in time to be eligible for the PAVOR Prizes (Painting, Visual Arts, Originality and Realism) that were going to be awarded to Best team and Best Individual Miniature. There was a pitch dedicated to the Opening Ceremony, where every team was fielded, side by side, in a parody representation of the Olympics Parade of Nations, to strengthen the Fair Play spirit and bring the community closer. 
Soon after noon, the action kicked off and the twelve participating coaches started battling for the precious NAF Shield. The trophy was painted by Esteban Alonso, and customized in representation of the rainy weather of Lustria (LUBBA uses a custom weather table for each season, where autumn has a higher chance of rain).
The tournament run all day long, four rounds, twenty four matches of pure mayhem.
Among the highlights, we got to witness a “flying gobbo one turn touchdown” and a crazy runner foul a skeleton while carrying the ball.
Later, a long beard was killed, raised as a zombie, and then killed again in mercy (or retribution?) by his former teammates.
However, the highest highlight of all was the participation of two Star Players in an Underworld team: Bomber Dribblesnot and Fungus the Loon. Everyone was excited about them traveling so far away to play in the first ever tournament in Lustria, but very early in the first match, Bomber fumbled a bomb while having Fungus to his right, and both were knocked out for the rest of the match! Luckily for them and their agents, both Star Players would earn their wages in the fourth round, were they managed to break the opposition cage three times to win the match, take the Tier 2 Trophy home and a very dignified third place overall.
In the meantime, at table 1, two Undead teams played against each other during the fourth round for the NAF Shield and all the glory that comes with it. After two electrifying hours, zalobolso’s Viejas Locas won 1-0 and became Champions with a 4-0 record and not even one touchdown conceded during the whole tournament.
The Orc team Simply Kevin won a side prize for being the most violent, as they managed to inflict 15 (yes, fifteen!) casualties along the four rounds.
The runner up Undead team won the PAVOR prize to best team, and the coach commander of the High elves won the PAVOR to best mini.
Action ended close to midnight and everyone went home with a big smile on their faces. It was a great experience, and the kick off for a whole new series of tournaments in South America, were the community may be small, but is growing every day.
Thanks for reading!
Caio