World Youth Championship for 2013, and I got the report from a parents of my student Baldur Teodor Petersson who is playing in U12 category, and the rest of Swedish delegation in this competition helped with the report.
All the pictures in this article was taken by
Hallfríður Sigurðardóttir and Robert Petersson.
The original text is written in Swedish, and the following text is the best form of translation that the readers can get from my knowledge of Swedish and English.
by Hallfríður Sigurðardóttir and the rest of Swedish delegation:
After the eight round we can draw some conclusion about the organisation.
We noticed the both, very positive things but even the things that could be done much better.
The competition during the Christmas holidays are not the bad idea at all, given the excellent climate down here and that people are on holidays e.t.c.
Let´s put it that way that we enjoy on 20 to 25 degrees, which is perfect Swedish summer weather, with exception that it´s not as rainy.
The transfer here from Dubai worked overall good and we are located in a large university campus that they put the tournament into.
UAE put a lot of resources that everything would work well, but when they got the record number of participants and when it seems that the volunteers are not full competent in technologies, there has been a major problem from the beginning to get everything work.
We were impressed with more then 500 live-boards in the competition, but what does it means when the organisers don´t know how to put it in work.
The dining room had only two serving locations from the beginning which meant extremely long food queues and it was a little chaotic at first.
It took a few days, but as in many big events organisers learn quickly and through extended meal times, more food queues and little caring before serving, they improved the conditions so right now it flows pretty well.
The food is okay but gets very monotonous . It is the same food over and over again.
They are serving chips with chicken, breaded fish and strange meatballs in batches.
We are already in the second part of the competition and somehow tired of the food monotony.
The dining room is a little messy but by now they have also moved out tables and chairs so you can sit outside if you want.
However, they have put in a lot of people to help and serve all the players but when it comes to efficiency it is maybe not always that we are used to in Sweden / Europe.
The standard of accommodation is quite okay in the dorm rooms that are pretty fresh and also there is plenty of staff that provide the rooms with a drinking water and cleans the rooms daily.
 |
| The whole Swedish delegation except Tom Rydström and Robert Petersson (who took the picture) |
We have extensive wifi so that participants can prepare for the game and stay connected.
The members of Swedish delegation are living in the same house with it´s own entrance to a room . Rooms are located in a pairs and share the toilet and shower cabin.
Compared with Maribor last year, we are spoiled with free water and also free pastries , juice and water in the playing area for the players.
When it comes to the categories of U18 and U16 the playing hall has some flaws.
There is not so much space between the tables and it lacks fresh air.
The younger categories plays in the much better conditions with a lot of space and fresh air.
It seems that they put the live-boards randomly, so the younger categories got the most of them, while the older categories which are naturally more interesting for live-followers plays on boards with plastic pieces.
It´s strange.
However, it took some time while organisers understood an importance of live transmission and by now they improved on both, by putting live-boards on the most important places and also broadcasting the games.
There is a market outside the playing hall and even a food place with many tables , where they putted the screens for live broadcasts but when it didn´t worked so well there is not so much use of these screens.
Even though it is less than a mile from our accommodation to the playing venue, there are regular bus connections between these buildings so that you can choose whether to take a refreshing walk or just to jump on the bus.
The organisers arrange daily trips to other destionations and other trips to various destinations that are near to the place where we live.
They are sometimes free and sometimes for a small fee.
They organise small events with fun for the younger kids and generally feel like they are very keen that people will enjoy it.
Overall, we are happy here with the event and it is really an exotic experience to get close in to this society in the middle of the desert 120 kilometres south of Dubai.
Tonight there will be blitz tournament and cultural celebration. After all it´s Christmas Eve.
No comments:
Post a Comment