Official Tournament Results and Recap

Thanks to all the players that helped make the 6th Annual KC Memorial a success! We had absolutely gorgeous weather, and our 'new normal' kicking spot on the river made for a great tournament site - only 40 yards to the rolling Mississippi River with a view of the bridges, the pyramid, and downtown Memphis, and with good foot traffic by to check out the scene. We had 19 players compete in the tournament!

Some highlights:
- There was an intense round of rock, paper, scissors to determine whether Gary or Emily would be the 9th A player or would be placed in the 'B' category. Gary, a professional and highly trained massage therapist, used his study of the body to expertly predict Emily's throws and crush her in 2 straight, with a push on the second throw. Highly exciting, and possibly the most exciting match of the tournament. Gary, being the southern gentleman he is, graciously declared Emily a superior player and had her name placed in the A pool, ensuring himself a chance at the likes of Cory, Ben, Walt, etc... . Alas, he got Chuck ;> and a tie for fourth.

- The 'NEWBIES'. We had 3 people that have never played footbag net enter the tournament! We had met Diana a couple of weeks ago at a exhibition Walt had arranged at a local fair - she drove up from about an hour south of Memphis. Charlie and Tyler came up from Olive Branch, MS (suburb of Memphis) - they called on Saturday saying they wanted to play. They are a part of a footbag club at their local high school. I talked to both their partners after the tournament - they said they both had great potential. I personally got to see Tyler stuff a front kick down on Walt in a pickup game. They definitely have game...

- Distance travelers - Memphis Footworks always appreciate those willing to get on the road for an extended trip to our tournament - our thanks go out to the Nashville and Chicago contingents. Elliott, Emily, and Alex all made the trip from Nashville, and Cory and Carrie drove down all the way down from Chicago. Cory - thanks once again for supporting our tournament and for the pickup games!

- We had a 'women's only' team compete in the KC tournament for the first time! Emily and Diana were teamed up. When Carrie and I played our pool match against them, we had 3 ( and Walt and Ben insisted, 4 ) women on the court at the same time. Definitely a notable!

- Finals match - Although Cory and Lee won it in two games, the final game (to 11) ended at 15 -13 and featured some spectacular saves to hold off game point from each of the 'B' players. One particular one that stuck in my mind was a save deep in the court that George pulled off when faced with a game/match point.




The results:

1) LeeBo (Lee Guenther) and Cory
2) Tommy and George
3) Chug Min, Carrie, and Ken

Other teams:
Elliott and Greg
Chuck and Gary
Ben and Alex
Diana and Emily
Willi and Charlie
Walt and Tyler

Thanks to everybody for their participation and support!
Ken 'Hammer' Hamric