Not a huge amount of news in the BB world this week that I have noticed (though fingers crossed for some GW news in the next fortnight!), but thought it would be worth writing some stuff about Eurobowl and Europen participation, particularly for British BB coaches who haven’t taken part before.

Eurobowl 2018 is taking place in Cardiff on October 27th and 28th and costs £75 for the weekend.

Lycos posted on the Team England Reddit that he is now asking for coaches to put their names forward for the team, but there wasn’t a lot of context for what that means. England are by a wide margin the most successful Eurobowl team, with 6 wins to their name. The core of the team has been the same for those wins, and it is likely that those players are going to make themselves available again. Of the team of 8, Lycos, Geggster, Joemanji, Purplegoo and Jimjimany form the core, with Pipey, Podfrey and a few others making up the 8 over the years. This list includes some of the best players in the world, basically, so often the question is “why bother putting my name forward”. Well, if you are interested in competitive BB, you definitely should and then try to make your results as good as possible in NAF tournaments, because while you might not make the list this year, you will be knocking on the door for future tournaments, and equally if your results are good enough then there is no reason you can’t make up one of the remaining slots. So far, PeteW has put his name in, and as a double NAF Championship/Blood Bowl winner and Fumbbl stalwart, it will be very interesting to see if he makes the team.

As regards other UK teams, the Scottish and Welsh teams have already been chosen for this year. The Scots choose 3 based on the Scottish NAF tournament circuit results, 1 elected Captain, his choice as Vice Captain, and then 3 wild card choices. Wales was an interesting one this year as a few regulars are on the organising committee so some spaces became available. They’ve filled the spaces with decent coaches, luckily!

There is also talk of an Irish team for the first time, so follow the link if you were born there, live there, or have Irish parents or grandparents (basically). The qualifying criteria are pretty loose, so just get in touch if you think you could have a shout. Also, only 5 of the 8 need to be nationals, and the rest can be made up of Freebooters. It would be great to see an Irish team there, and for the team to develop in future years!

So, what if you don’t make the national team of whatever flavour? Well, if you are feeling particularly patriotic, all of the British nations are running a squad system, with the Eurobowl and Europen teams being seen as part of a national squad (I believe), and the Europen being used very much as a proving ground for future Eurobowl participation. Alternatively, you can use it a chance to represent your local league, and bring glory to your area! Team Blood Bowl is often recognised as the most exciting kind of tabletop Blood Bowl, and this is going to be the biggest ever UK team event (with a vigorous nod to the annual UKTC), so if you are in the UK and like tabletop BB, have a think about attending. If you haven’t got team mates, there is even a thread on TFF to get a team together.

I think that’s enough Euro-wittering for the moment – you may have picked up that I’m pretty enthusiastic about the whole concept!