I’m sure there is a thread somewhere about the midlands league from last year, but my half ****d attempt at searching couldn’t find it.
Here are the details for the new season of the midlands league.
There’s a few changes this year.
The first is, the midlands league will be classed as a comp in its own right with the ifpa, which means everyone who enters enough of the meets (I think 4?) will be eligible for ifpa points. This is more important to some than it is to others, but if you like world ranking points then the league will now give you some.
The second change is tied to the first really. To be eligible for ifpa points there needs to be a final, so in addition to the 6 league meets there will also be a 7th meet for a final. The number of qualifiers will be dependant on how many people attend the league, but if it is roughly the same as last year we will have 10 qualifiers. The winner and the runner up will qualify for the league national finals where they will be up against 1st and 2nd from other regions. Format for the midlands final will be a ladder format similar to the one used in the UKCS. Grab me at the league meet and I can run over the details if anyone wants to go through it.
The last change is to do with the cost. With the rising costs of everything we need to put up the league fees. Historically it has always been £5 as a minimum (though some people have always given more). Of this, £2 goes to the UK league and the remainder is given to the host to help towards the cost of food and machine maintenance. The new minimum will be £10 per person (u16s will still be free).
We did consider making it £12 (so the host gets £10 per person), or even rounding up to £15, but the league has always been about introducing pinball to everyone, and it is important that we don’t make cost a barrier to new people coming into the hobby.
If people can afford to, and want to give more, then obviously you can still, and the gesture will be very much appreciated by the host. Although, I just want to point out that none of the hosts are doing it for the money, we all host for the love of the hobby. I know that some hosts donate any funds raised from the league meet to charity and everyone always manages to dig deep when that happens which just shows what a nice bunch of people pinballers are.
Onto the schedule for next year:
28th Jan - My House, Northampton
11th Feb – David Dodd’s house, East Markham
17th March - Gene Aw’s house, B’ham
7th April - John Bateson’s house, Colsterworth
5th May – Janice & Todd Brock’s house, Nuneaton
23rd June - Chris Granby’s house, Northampton.
July – midlands finals, Jim King’s house. Date TBC.
August – national finals at pinfest.
Address details and timings will go out through the midlands pinball WhatsApp group, drop me a message if you want to be added in to that, or message me near the time for each meet if you don’t use WhatsApp.
I just want to thank all the hosts publicly for making the homes and collections available to us. We all really appreciate it, and there wouldn’t be a league without you guys.
Here are the details for the new season of the midlands league.
There’s a few changes this year.
The first is, the midlands league will be classed as a comp in its own right with the ifpa, which means everyone who enters enough of the meets (I think 4?) will be eligible for ifpa points. This is more important to some than it is to others, but if you like world ranking points then the league will now give you some.
The second change is tied to the first really. To be eligible for ifpa points there needs to be a final, so in addition to the 6 league meets there will also be a 7th meet for a final. The number of qualifiers will be dependant on how many people attend the league, but if it is roughly the same as last year we will have 10 qualifiers. The winner and the runner up will qualify for the league national finals where they will be up against 1st and 2nd from other regions. Format for the midlands final will be a ladder format similar to the one used in the UKCS. Grab me at the league meet and I can run over the details if anyone wants to go through it.
The last change is to do with the cost. With the rising costs of everything we need to put up the league fees. Historically it has always been £5 as a minimum (though some people have always given more). Of this, £2 goes to the UK league and the remainder is given to the host to help towards the cost of food and machine maintenance. The new minimum will be £10 per person (u16s will still be free).
We did consider making it £12 (so the host gets £10 per person), or even rounding up to £15, but the league has always been about introducing pinball to everyone, and it is important that we don’t make cost a barrier to new people coming into the hobby.
If people can afford to, and want to give more, then obviously you can still, and the gesture will be very much appreciated by the host. Although, I just want to point out that none of the hosts are doing it for the money, we all host for the love of the hobby. I know that some hosts donate any funds raised from the league meet to charity and everyone always manages to dig deep when that happens which just shows what a nice bunch of people pinballers are.
Onto the schedule for next year:
28th Jan - My House, Northampton
11th Feb – David Dodd’s house, East Markham
17th March - Gene Aw’s house, B’ham
7th April - John Bateson’s house, Colsterworth
5th May – Janice & Todd Brock’s house, Nuneaton
23rd June - Chris Granby’s house, Northampton.
July – midlands finals, Jim King’s house. Date TBC.
August – national finals at pinfest.
Address details and timings will go out through the midlands pinball WhatsApp group, drop me a message if you want to be added in to that, or message me near the time for each meet if you don’t use WhatsApp.
I just want to thank all the hosts publicly for making the homes and collections available to us. We all really appreciate it, and there wouldn’t be a league without you guys.
