Tournament Director Blog March 2025

Welcome to the March edition of the Tournament Director Blog, your monthly roundup of all things NAF tournament-related. As always, we keep you up to date with what’s happening behind the scenes, highlight interesting developments, and share news from the tournament circuit around the world.

In this edition, we’ll cover recent events and changes, hand the mic to a fellow Blood Bowler, and, most importantly, take a look at some international tournaments: the Swedish National, the Yuletide Yobbo Cup in Cyprus, and Bash Roulette in Germany.

As always, if you want to contribute any content to this blog (e.g. a report of a recent tournament you visited or ran), reach out! Contact info are available on our NAF staff site.

Content

1. NAF Chatter
   1.1 A Word on the Current Situation
   1.2 Global Blood Lust
   1.3 Ununited Kingdom
   1.4 From Zero to Thirty (by Booze)
2. Report: Swedish National Championship (by vikingkop)
3. Report: Yuletide Yobbo Cup (by blinkey182)
4. Report: Bash Roulette (by Tobyeatworld)
5. Outlook

1. NAF Chatter

1.1. A Word on the Current Situation

You may have noticed some recent changes in the NAF leadership. Our president was voted out of office, and the vice president has since stepped back as well. These events have naturally raised questions about what comes next.

At the moment, the NAF charter doesn’t offer a clear path forward in such a situation. While this has presented challenges, it has also underlined the importance of updating the structure that guides our organization. In response, a group of experienced coaches has come together to begin drafting a new, modernized charter. You can read more about this initiative in the announcement from the Board of Ethics.

In the meantime, the day-to-day work of the NAF continues. Tournament sanctioning, rankings, and community support all remain active and running smoothly. We’re committed to keeping the wheels turning while the groundwork for a better framework is laid.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this transition. Our shared love of the game and the strength of our community will carry us forward.

1.2 Global Blood Lust

NAF coaches are invited to support World Blood Donor Day on Saturday, June 14. Whether you’re in North America or beyond, you’re encouraged to donate blood—or contribute to a related cause—to help meet the ongoing global need.

Donate whole blood, platelets, or double red cells between June 7 and June 21, or make a $10+ donation to a blood donation organization in your region. In return, you’ll receive a special patch designed by Tom Hollingworth (King Monday on Etsy), as a thank-you for potentially saving a life.

Mailing is free in Canada and the USA; international donors are asked to cover postage.
To participate, just fill out this form: https://forms.gle/mH8zSzwQbENhLrcJA

Questions? Contact James Luft at LegionsRealm@gmail.com.

Thanks to Grant Hortz, James Luft, and Tom Hollingworth for organizing this great initiative!

1.3 Ununited Kingdom

Some of you may have noticed a recent bump in your “Visited Countries” badge—without ever leaving your couch. The reason is that the countries within the United Kingdom are now listed as individual entities in the NAF database.

Previously, coaches could identify themselves as Welsh, Scottish, English, or Northern Irish, but all tournaments in those nations were grouped under “United Kingdom.” This setup caused a mismatch between national identity and location data. To bring consistency and in light of the high number and density of tournaments across the UK, we’ve now split the UK into its constituent countries.

The most immediate winner of this change is obviously sir_twist_089, who gained an extra country on his list. However, he now actually has to return to the UK if he wants to tick off Northern Ireland and Scotland. Better book those flights!

1.4 From Zero to Thirty (by Booze)

Hello community,

This is both a love letter to all of you and a little pat on the back for myself—because as of March 8th, I can proudly say that I’ve played all 30 current Blood Bowl teams across 29 tournaments, and I did it in just 27 months. My calculator tells me that’s 1.07 tournaments per month. And during that time, I even managed to father two children—that’s 0.07 per month. That number sounds a bit less impressive.

It all started with the Emerald Bowl 2023, where I got my first taste of tournament play. Admittedly, with around 60 men crammed into a small space, I probably should’ve guessed what it would smell like—but that didn’t stop me from having a great time and collecting some amazing experiences.

My very first game was against Arioso. True to the saying “what you don’t know won’t hurt you,” I had no idea what a tough opponent I was up against. Which led to me stomping him into the ground—though to be fair, he was playing Goblins, which makes stomping a bit easier.

Later in the tournament, I faced off against heavyweights like Vito and Volkajo, two more big names in the German scene, and even then, I held my own.

What really stuck with me was how warmly I was welcomed, and how much fun everyone was clearly having with the game. Another great memory from that event was my first encounter with the Fakos Boiiz—and sensing my destiny, I downed two Fakos back-to-back. I’ve been wearing yellow at tournaments ever since, and I still love it when one of the Boiz, usually somewhere near the back of the venue, bellows out a triumphant touchdown.

Before this turns into a full-blown novel, I just want to say that nearly every tournament has left me with great memories—because time and time again, I get to meet coaches who love the game and its community just as much as I do.

Now that I’ve reached my first big goal—playing all the teams—my next step is aiming high with some strong finishes in upcoming tournaments. Huge thanks to all my past and future opponents. Hopefully, we’ll see each other at the table soon.

Much love,
Your Steven aka Booze

2. Report: Swedish Team National Championship (by Vikingkop)

It was a sunny afternoon when we landed at Arlanda Airport. It felt good to be back in Viking territory after too many years—especially considering that we had a very entertaining trip involving the very God of Thunder himself (our initial plane got hit by lightning shortly before landing to pick us up, and we had to be reassigned to a new plane the day after). We immediately took that as an evident good omen, and it would actually prove to be the first hint of a truly memorable weekend.

Despite the holiday plan being a bit upside-down due to our delayed arrival, we still had some hours to wander around the beautiful city of Stockholm—hands down one of my favourites in Europe. A short walk enjoying a lovely sunset was followed by an early dinner to gather energy, and then we jumped on the train that would bring us to the city of Sala, where the tourney would take place. The Southern Expedition was attending en masse the call of the Swedish Team National Championship, with a grand total of nine Spanish coaches coming from different points of the Iberian Peninsula and abroad—and we were all eager to discover the flavour the Swedes brought to their events!

Upon arrival at the train station, we were immediately welcomed by part of the crew running the tournament, who very kindly offered us a lift to our accommodations—Sala is small in population but large in area, so this was indeed most helpful! Once our backpacks were in place, they brought us to the venue, and there we understood why the biggest tournament in Sweden is held in a relatively small city like Sala.

The place was amazing. The tournament was organised in a building historically used for cultural activities such as dancing and community meetings, and it was perfectly suited for a Blood Bowl championship of considerable dimensions, as there were almost 150 coaches participating that weekend. Some last-minute preparations were ongoing at the time, and after greeting the rest of the team hosting the event, we were driven to a restaurant where a pre-tourney dinner was being held. More energy is always a good idea in my book, and we got to enjoy some very tasty dishes and beers while meeting many coaches taking part in the tournament.

The next morning we were all ready and eager to start rolling dice. It was not a very early kick-off on Saturday, and there were three rounds scheduled for that day—which is more relaxing than the typical four rounds per day more commonly used in our local events. The first game was followed by a lunch break, and here I will take a moment to commend the food served, as we all know that adequately feeding a horde of ravenous Blood Bowl players is one of the most difficult challenges a tournament organiser can face—and this was handled more than successfully. Two more rounds closed the day, all three of them against absolutely charming opponents—one of them actually another Spaniard who had been living in Sweden for the last 20 years!

Wrapping things up after the first day of games, we headed to the same restaurant as the previous night to enjoy this time the official tournament dinner. A separate area had been arranged to accommodate us, and we got our chance to meet and talk with even more coaches while enjoying some good drinks until late at night.

Sunday morning saw the rounds starting much earlier, with two games played before lunchtime (hats off again to the organisers for the good food) and a final round and tournament decider in the early afternoon. Did I already mention that all the opponents we met were absolutely charming? Well, this time they were also incredibly stylish, as we got to play against the team that won the best costume award. Such a classy bunch!

The tournament was won by the Finnish team Finska Rövarband, who sported an impressive final record of 5-1-0 (13-4-1 in individual games) and were allowed to add another notch to the trophy, as it was actually the second time they had won the tournament in its three editions! The award ceremony was conducted elegantly by the organisers, and we all got to share some last words and take group pictures with our newly met friends.

On our way back to the train station, the conversation among us was singularly aligned: what a brilliantly organised event, and what a bunch of absolutely lovely lads who had genuinely made us feel at home. Honestly, we had A BLAST at the Swedish Team National, and it is already marked in my agenda as a “must come back” whenever I get the chance. Thank you very, very much to all the team (Oberwald, Jimmy, Björn, and the rest of the crew) for an amazing experience—and I hope to see you again soon!

3. Report: Yuletide Yobbo Cup (by blinkey182)

The Cyprus community was really excited to host its first NAF tournament, the Yuletide Yobbo Cup. Over a short span of two years, we managed to grow from a group of six friends playing over the kitchen table to a community of 20+ coaches. And so, hosting a proper tournament was our next challenge.

This tournament hosted 10 players from both Nicosia and Limassol. It was a short one-day event, but it featured several members of a national team—so the competition was real!

Sagrit (Skaven) won the trophy with a classic Rat Ogre + 3 Gutters roster. The sheer speed of the Rats was too much for the other teams to handle.

Bashap (Dwarf) matched Sagrit’s undefeated record but fell just short on touchdown differential. His build featured Mighty Zug as a powerhouse, which performed spectacularly.

blinkey182’s Chaos Renegades were a real treat for the eyes, with three big guys doing the heavy lifting—proving that even underrated teams have their chance to shine.

Overall, the tournament was not a bad start for a tournament scene in Cyprus. We hope even bigger tournaments will happen in the future!

4. Report: Bash Roulette (by Tobyeatworld)

The third edition of Bash Roulette took place end of February! This year we moved to a new location in Bielefeld that suits better to our requirements of having more space and better accessibility. A record breaking 60 Coaches (12 more than last year!) were playing for the win and enjoying their time with other Blood Bowl enthusiasts from all over Germany. We are very proud that some coaches travelled several hours across Germany just because they love our tournament and wanted to participate.

What is so special about our tournament? It is played in squads of three coaches and lasts over two days. After each game coaches rotate their Blood Bowl teams within their squad. That means you are playing six games in total with three different Blood Bowl teams. Incredible and unique!!

At the registration all coaches received tournament dice, drinking cups, customized notepads for the score, ballpens and customized bags to put all the loot inside.

We were following the new “Eurobowl ruleset” but had a limitation that squads must have a combined tier of at least 6. As a special rule squads with a higher combined tier than their opponents would get extra team-re-rolls to be used by any of their coaches. The vast majority of teams that were played were ‘bash’-teams fitting perfectly with our tournament name. The most chosen teams were Necromantic Horror, Shambling Undead and Chaos Chosen. One squad took the risk of picking three stunty teams and nearly won most casualties (they did win most suffered casualties though)!

Most squads were playing on the same level leading to a very close race for the title. At the end Narok, Skwii and Tschirgant came out victorious as best squad and Melmoth won best singleplayer.

We wanted all coaches to have a good time and stay hydrated, that’s why we decided to give away coffee, water, tea and pancakes for free. Two meals on Saturday and one meal on Sunday were included in the tournament fee. We offered beer and soft drinks at a rational price and all income was donated to a local youth organization that provides facilities and projects for young people to spend their time.

On Saturday evening we held a raffle to give as many prices as possible to as many coaches as possible. Many thanks to our sponsors for filling up our raffle with awesome prices! After the raffle coaches could stay in the venue and play board games, card games or simply socialize with each other.

We are pleased with the positive feedback we received from the coaches, because we put many hours and much effort into planning and organization and seeing that everything went smooth is a very good feeling.

5. Outlook

April brings us 106 tournaments across 25 countries, including events on both Fumbbl and BB Online platforms.

SpainBowl and SpainOpen are set to attract large crowds once again, after drawing over 150 participants last year. In the U.S., Rocky Mountain Rampage returns for the sixteenth time. Meanwhile, WarSaw X and Lisbon’s Lusobowl will compete for international travelers on the same weekend. We can’t get Monkeybowl off our back, it returns to England for its 18th outing, while two French classics—Breizh Bowl and Rugbowl—celebrate their 15th and 17th editions, respectively.

As for me, I’ll be staying local and attending the Under Stars & Wolves Bowl right on my doorstep.