I was surprised to find out that a good many people still play GSC in my area. While only a few older people are left, many 3rd-5th graders seem to still play. This, obviously, isn't the age of players I would like to have, but its what I do have. I am thinking of starting a league with prizes of "special" pokemon and such, but I was wondering where and how other people ran their tournaments.

I was thinking of asking about using a room in the public library. I'm only in 9th grade, and while I'm trained in babysitting and first aid, I don't think parents would be willing to drop their kids off to some stranger for a tournament. I imagine they could stay, but I know people have busy schedules and would, probably, rather go shopping then watch a bunch of kids play with GameBoys for a few hours.

So, if anyone has any suggestions or ideas, I'd be glad to hear them.

I don't know how "set in stone" using the library is, but a couple other suggestions would be:
*The garage of a home. This, of course, conflicts with your statement of "parents dropping their kids off with a stranger," so it's not too wise of a choice as mainly younger kids will be attending.
*Renting a comic shop. Okay, so you don't actually rent the *whole* shop, and this idea doesn't work out as well with video gaming as it does with TCG. The basic idea behind this is that everyone pays to "sign up." Then, there's a fee per "tournament" that they participate in. The money that you earn 1) pays the shop owner to let you use the main area of the shop where the tables are set up, and 2) buys prizes to award to the winner(s). The shop owner is in a win/win situation, as (s)he not only is being paid to "rent" part of his/her shop, but anyone who comes in for the tournament may buy from the shop. However, like I said, this works better for the TCG, which is because: 1) it's easy to "cheat" in the Gameboy games using RAM altering devices, and TCG players are easier to shop for (such as booster packs as prizes) and are most likely to buy (TCG cards) from the shop.

I'm sure, however, that you don't plan on charging a bunch of little kids to battle each other, however ^_^ But, seriously, if you were able to get enough kids to play, you can have prizes such as Pokémon StadiumGS, which I saw on sale used at Blockbuster for US$15.00 recently, and there was a $2-off sale, taking it down to $13 plus tax. If eight kids participated in a tournament at $2 a kid, then that covers the cost of an N64 game as a prize. As well comic shop owners often can get video games, etc. for a lot cheaper than they sell in stores, so that can be a source of prizes.

Now, I'm sure that you're looking into just a simple get-together to battle. You have inquired as to "where and how other people ran their tournaments." The key word being "tournament," as well as mentioning "league," up above, I'm under the impression that you want to do a bit more than just unorganized battling.

Let's look at the TCG League. I often go to Toys'R'Us during these Leagues. No, I don't play TCG, but I do take my Gameboy and games.
The basic structue is this: when you want to join the League at Toys'R'Us, your name is added to a list, and you're given a booklet. That booklet will track your playing against others in TCG. The basic rules are that you battle against another TCG player. When the game is over, the winner gets X stamps in his book, the loser Y stamps in his. Obviously, the winner gets more stamps than the loser, possible winner=3, loser=1. The stamps go onto a graphic-like box of squares. Partway down the boxes of squares is, if I remember right, a picture, then another at the end. When you reach the halfway mark, you win a TCG Promo card. When you reach the bottom, you get a Kanto/Johto badge for the Gym Leader whose "Gym" you were playing in. Additionally, if Jimmy beats Harold, then Jimmy and Harold can't play TCG against each other again for stamps until they've *both* played against other kids--this way people get to play against a variety of other players.
Now, Wizards makes enough money to provide all of these for free (although some places charge players for the booklet). However, if *you* were to do something like this, it'd be a bit costly, and you'd be best charging people to "sign up," etc. The problem with this, which I failed to mention earlier, is that parents might not want their kids paying money to play a game that the kid already owns to play. At best, you can assure the parents that if their child plays enough, then they will inevitabily earn prizes.
If you plan on traveling along the path of prizes, you can easily make up a sheet to stamp in, print it out, and possibly make free print-outs or free photocopies at the library. Then, you would need a stamper. The number one problem here is that anyone can buy such a stamper. I myself have a stamp of Pikachu holding Togepi with Japanese text, "Pika!" on it. The Japanese store that I bought this from no longer sells such stamps, so it's mildly doubtful that if I used it to show "points," that participants would have the same stamp to "cheat" with.
This next brings you back to prizes. What prizes do you hand out? Maybe the first prize will be a Suring Pikachu. Will you catch a lot of Pikachu and teach them Surf, or will you get a Gameshark to catch a level 5 Pikachu, teach it Surf, and alter its OT name/Number to say, for example: PIKACHU; OT/Jman; ID/00618? I know that I don't condone the use of Gameshark in that a lot of people use it to save time by upping the "Stat EXP" and "DVs," etc. I don't want anyone to jump on my case for saying this, but for a tournament of prizes, I'd not mind too much altering Pokémon to use as prizes. I'm sure that some people will agree with me that this is a good way to make all prizes equal, and others will say that if you want to give out Mewtwo as a prize to 20 kids, you need to play through your Blue version 20 times. Of course, I wouldn't give a Pikachu with Recover as a prize, etc. Some nice prizes would be, as I mentioned, Surfing Pikachu (for those kids without N64s), legendary Pokémon and starters (like the machine in the New York Pokémon center,) Color (Shiny) Pokémon, and ones with a specific Hidden Power type (but not necessarily an Attack of 70--I'd say, plug in some random numbers until you get the attack type specified, then let the rest be random.) Those are just suggestions, however.
Yet, if you can make these Pokémon with Gameshark, so can others. In fact, if you *don't* use Gameshark to make these Pokémon, others still can. Kinda' sucks, don't it?

So, now you've got a room in the library. If there's a TV and they allow you to hook your N64 to it, then you should have *at least* two controllers and two controller packs. Preferably 4 controllers to have mini-game contests with Stadium 1 and 2. With Stadium 2, having four transfer packs allows players to possibly use their own Pokémon in the mini-games, which is *always* fun, especially for those without an N64 or without Stadium2!
So, now you've got a library and an N64, Stadium 1 and 2 (what? You don't have one of these games? If not, buy Stadium1 for $10.00 at Blockbuster, and Stadium2 for no more than $20. Transfer paks used should be low-priced as well.)
Why do I say to use Stadium? Well, the gut of the battling will be Gameboy to Gameboy, and you should provide *at least* a few Game Link Cables. Since this can get expensive, you should tape a piece of paper with your name on them or something to identify them. While people will battle via Gameboy, in a tournament, the top three battles should *always* be in full 3D polygonal view with an annoying announcer. Or, if you don't have a little brother as I do, the game comes with a built-in announcer ^_^ This also allows kids to compete in the mini-games and the Stadium2 quiz.
Speaking of quizes, the quiz has a lot of gameplay questions for in-game playing (ie, what day can you find Wesley; or whatnot.) In Japan, with the Mobile League, there were lectures. These didn't talk about in-game trivia, however, they talked about moves and strategies. Okay, maybe you can't explain to kids how to breed for any Hidden Power type using four Dittos, but you *can* teach them how Rollout works, why Double Team is actually not a stupid move, and the differences between Flamethrower and Fire Blast. You can even set up some Pokémon to use as a demonstration. You can easily use Gameshark to "build" the Pokémon, register the team onto Pokémon Stadium 2 to have ready to show, then just release the Gamesharked Pokémon from your game pak. You're not actually using these Pokémon in battle against others, but, rather, in an instructive tutorial using Pokémon Stadium and two controllers to control the action. If you're aftraid of the unpredictability of the random values, you can always buy a 6 hour (SLP/EP) VHS tape for $2 at Blockbuster, or for $1 on sale at Longs Drugs (the Longs around here have VHS tapes on sale about once a month, every month). Then, you can pre-record the "battle lesson." Of course, these are just different suggestions in case you desire educating the players that may not know this information, possibly allowing them to raise Pokémon that'll handle a little better in battle. You don't even have to make your own lessons at first--just pull the lessons about Pikachu's Thundershock dealing more damage than a Persian's (due to matching types) straight out of Earl's lessons. Take Earl's topics on Sunny Day and Rollout, and reword them into your own lessons.

Okay, you've got the room at the library. You've got the Sta--er, wait, let's go back a bit. You've got the room in the library. When do you have the room, again? It's not on Monday~Friday, is it? Kids do have school, as you know. Why, they get out by 3PM? Homework. Can't hang out at the library when you have homework to do ^_^ I'm sure you've already considered this, however. Toys'R'Us has its League Saturday mornings. No worrying about school (unless a kid's got detention for Saturday), and there's no interferance with church/Sunday school. Wizards of the Coast at the local shopping mall center also has TCG tournaments Tuesdays, and I think Thursdays. These are later at night, and basically this means that the "little kids" won't be there, allowing the "big kids" to play. I don't know what time the library closes, or if you could get transport to/from the library in the evening, however. This is just another possible suggestion.

~So, you've got the room in the library.~ You know the date and time that the League will usually gather. It's essential to have a set time that it "meets" each Saturday (assuming that Saturday is the meeting day of the League) so that George can be at his grandmother's house for two weeks, then come back knowing that the League will be from 10AM to 12 noon, rather than having to call his friends to see if the League will be in the morning or afternoon, or Sunday instead, due to a lack of time structure in the League.
~In that room, you have some stuff.~ A ^computer^ where you can print out sheets to keep track of data. Preferablly a computer with a Zip Dive (a lot of libraries will have an internal Zip Drive for 100MB zip disks, and sell 100MB zip disks for about US$10.00.) Or, possibly you can fit the data onto good ol' floppies. Possbily a ^xerox machine^ to make copies if you can't print any out. Back to the ^computer,^ you should keep an Excel database (assuming that the computer has an excel program) of all of the players that sign up. You can also *attempt* to keep track of a player's "score" here. Or, you can either collect score sheets to avoid cheaters, or let kids take their sheets/booklets home with them, and hope that they don't cheat stamps to win prizes. You've got an ^N64^ with Pokémon Stadium 1 and 2, four controllers, 2~4 transfer pack--hey, did you know that you can have 4 player Pokémon battles? What? You've *never* used this option? Now's the time! Don't forget about the Battle Now! and Challenge Cup modes!--and some Game Link Cables. I would recommend buying at *least* one that supports Gameboy to Gameboy, and one that supports Gameboy/Pocket/Colour to Gameboy Pocket/Colour. This way, those who have only an original Gameboy can link up without worry due to having only a Gameboy to Gameboy link cable, (like mine ^_^ ) You have your paper to write down the names of those who sign up, and you have papers to give them, possibly folded over and stapled together to form a booklet, to stamp with your stamp. You have your ^prizes^ either trained or Gamesharked (although I wouldn't alter data for prizes such as FFFF Snorlax or "fully trained Mewtwo"--that makes an unfair Snorlax and a Mewtwo that's boring to train.)

I've mentioned quite a bit of costs. If you want to get your money back, then have your main League with Pokémon prizes, then have a seperate, smaller League with Pokémon Crystal, Pokémon Snap, and Pokémon Pikachu 2 as your prizes. (One frined of mine bought a Pikachu N64 with Controller and Hey You, Pikachu! for $50 [at a one-day sale at Toys-R-Us.] If I had bought a few of those $50 sets, I could easily have them as prizes, and I'm sure that a lot of kids would pay to enter a contest with such a prize!) Print out copies of a paper that tell the entry cost and the prizes. That way, you can let the parents know that there's a contest that costs money to enter, but has small prizes for many--possible not all--paticipants, and larger prizes for the winning trainers. Possibly, the more people in the tournemt, the better the prizes based on a prize list. After all, the more entries, the more you can afford. Let the parents know that there is also a longer-running League with no entry costs, and prizes are earned, not won. That way, if a parent doesn't want their child to pay for what they very well may se as a "scam" to "use Pokémon to get money from kids," then they know that their kid can still play against other for free, and win (game data) Prizes. Of course, don't print out "This is not a scam!" on the letter, as that's sounds a bit suspicious ^_^ All in all, however, if you keep the prizes compatible with the costs, then you can not only cover the price of the prizes, and other expenses, but you may be able to pocket some for the time that you've spent organizing all of this. The point is *not* for you to pocket money, however, so don't start to see it like that, then raise prices. Instead, you can use that extra money to supply bags of chips and cans of soda to the paying players, if the library allows such in the rented room.

So, that covers the room in the library, everything in that room that you'll need, a bit about how to give out points--remember, *both* the winner *and* the loser get points towards a Pokémon prize!--as well as prizes, and other modes of play besides battlings (ie, mini-games, quiz, lectures, etc.) You should keep an online page with information on your League. This should include a letter for parents to read about what the League is, how it will be beneficial for their child as it will encourage playing against other players (and not just against the same friend again and again, but, rather, different players,) as well as explaining the free-version battling and its-prizes (Pokémon that you downloaded onto the child's gamepak [via Pokémon Stadium/Transfer Pak]), and explain the cost-version, and that it have actual prizes that cost money to buy, and explain how the prize system works, if you use the reliable, "The more entries, the better the prize." Have the scoresheets available for people to print out their own if they want to, possibly in format of a GIF image or a PDF file, as well as instructions on how to fold the pages over and staple them into a booklet if you choose that design. If you have a digital camera or a normal camera and access to a scanner--the library should have a scanner, and possibly a digital camera--then you can take pictures of the tournaments, and put those online. Parents can then see the atmosphere that their child would be playing in.

A lot of what I've been saying has included reinforcement for the parent of what kind of activity will be going on where their child will be. Encourage the parent to stay the first day and see how things move along. Remind them that if their child is any bit shy, things may move slowly for the child until they get to know others that are battling there.

I know that I'm jumping back and forth a bit on topics. I'm not exactly the best person at explaining things. If there are any details that I left out that you would like me to mention, or if you'd like me to expand on something, just let me know. And this goes out to *anyone* that would like to ask, not just Jman.
I have a bunch of files just I mentioned at various place above, files that I made for a League that I was going to run before the comic shop that it would be at ended up closing. So, I have a lot of material that I could possibly provide, if I can find it, for *anyone* who's looking to hold a League. This will allow such people to 1) have the material from the start, so that they don't get discouraged with all of the work, and 2) give an idea of what kind of work to do, so that one can expand on my work, molding into something individual for their own League.

Nya, I'm saving this post to my computer. Maybe I'll make up a section on my website to help people start unofficial Leagues in their own areas. ^_^

--Meowth346, who apologizes for any typos, etc. I'm too lazy to run this through a spell-check now that I'm, finally done typing it all!

I read the whole thing.

Meowth, how would you g about starting the thing off? Like getting ppl to come in the first place? do you put up flyers?

Also, those files u have would be cool to have and if u made a section for that on your site, that would be even better.

Some of the ideas I had thought of, but some of the others I hadn't. Thanks for pointing them out.

I think the best place for the tournament or league would be a library, as its a public building and, I would assume, most parents know where it is located. However, my public library doesn't have seperate rooms(that *I* know of, anyway), and I'm sure they rather not have a bunch of kids screaming on their friends on in a heated final match while people are trying to read. I tried to think of another place to hold it. A comic/hobby shop would seem to be the next logical place. This is a problem, as the closest shop of this type is a half an hour away, and I don't know how many parents are willing to go out of their way to drop their kids off. My garage is basically out of the question, unfortunetly. My mom and dad wouldn't ever hear of it.

I had thought of Stadium1/2 battles for the finals of the tournament. I own both games, an N64, a transfer pack, and 2 controllers(one Super Pad that is quite silly to hold, however). I have a friend that also has an N64, Stadium1/2, at least 1 transfer pack and 1 controller(I would think more). That gives me at least 2 N64's for use, 2 of each stadium, and 2 transfer packs. Decent amount of stuff, but I could use more transfer packs, obviously. I could ask for trainers to bring their own transfer packs, I s'pose. I'd need TVs, of course. This may be a problem. I think my library has a TV, but do they have more than one?

As for the prizes, I think I would start out with Surfing Pikachus, Legendaries, Starters for the top winners, and a "mystery" Egg for all participents, or an egg with a random pokemon in it(so they don't go home empty handed). Later, if the league becomes popular, I would move on to progressivly larger prizes.

As to how the league is run, I think I would start out with a basic Swiss-Round tournament. I think 3 rounds of pairings, with the top 8 making the final tournament. These 8 would win the better prizes. The players that make Top 8 would recieve a starter, the players that make the Top 4 would get a legendary dog, and the Top 2 would get Lugia or Ho-Oh, with the winner also recieving, in addition to the legendary, a Surfing Pikachu. I'm not far enough in Stadium 2 to give out Earthquaking Gligar or Baton Passing Farfetch'd... I guess I could use the 'shark, but I don't like to.

You included the idea of a website. I think that is a great idea, I hadn't thought of it. I know HTML, and could build a decent webpage. Parents could view the site, and I'd have the article about safety and good points and such. I have a digital camera, so I may, with permission, be able to take pictures of winners and stuff and add them to the site.

My space would probably be limited to a small room or small space, and I doubt I'd be able to fit a regular computer in the space provided. I wish I have laptop ~_~.

Thank you once again, Meowth! And I'm glad your thinking of adding the page to your site, glad your not wasting a good post and a good deal of time.

quote:

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Originally posted by Meowth346:
There are some things that you should consider with a library--does it matter how noisy the room gets? Can you set up a TV and N64 for Pokémon Stadium battling? Such events can get *very* noisy to kids cheering each other on ^_^

I don't know how "set in stone" using the library is, but a couple other suggestions would be:
*The garage of a home. This, of course, conflicts with your statement of "parents dropping their kids off with a stranger," so it's not too wise of a choice as mainly younger kids will be attending.
*Renting a comic shop. Okay, so you don't actually rent the *whole* shop, and this idea doesn't work out as well with video gaming as it does with TCG. The basic idea behind this is that everyone pays to "sign up." Then, there's a fee per "tournament" that they participate in. The money that you earn 1) pays the shop owner to let you use the main area of the shop where the tables are set up, and 2) buys prizes to award to the winner(s). The shop owner is in a win/win situation, as (s)he not only is being paid to "rent" part of his/her shop, but anyone who comes in for the tournament may buy from the shop. However, like I said, this works better for the TCG, which is because: 1) it's easy to "cheat" in the Gameboy games using RAM altering devices, and TCG players are easier to shop for (such as booster packs as prizes) and are most likely to buy (TCG cards) from the shop.

I'm sure, however, that you don't plan on charging a bunch of little kids to battle each other, however ^_^ But, seriously, if you were able to get enough kids to play, you can have prizes such as Pokémon StadiumGS, which I saw on sale used at Blockbuster for US$15.00 recently, and there was a $2-off sale, taking it down to $13 plus tax. If eight kids participated in a tournament at $2 a kid, then that covers the cost of an N64 game as a prize. As well comic shop owners often can get video games, etc. for a lot cheaper than they sell in stores, so that can be a source of prizes.

Now, I'm sure that you're looking into just a simple get-together to battle. You have inquired as to "where and how other people ran their tournaments." The key word being "tournament," as well as mentioning "league," up above, I'm under the impression that you want to do a bit more than just unorganized battling.

Let's look at the TCG League. I often go to Toys'R'Us during these Leagues. No, I don't play TCG, but I do take my Gameboy and games.
The basic structue is this: when you want to join the League at Toys'R'Us, your name is added to a list, and you're given a booklet. That booklet will track your playing against others in TCG. The basic rules are that you battle against another TCG player. When the game is over, the winner gets X stamps in his book, the loser Y stamps in his. Obviously, the winner gets more stamps than the loser, possible winner=3, loser=1. The stamps go onto a graphic-like box of squares. Partway down the boxes of squares is, if I remember right, a picture, then another at the end. When you reach the halfway mark, you win a TCG Promo card. When you reach the bottom, you get a Kanto/Johto badge for the Gym Leader whose "Gym" you were playing in. Additionally, if Jimmy beats Harold, then Jimmy and Harold can't play TCG against each other again for stamps until they've *both* played against other kids--this way people get to play against a variety of other players.
Now, Wizards makes enough money to provide all of these for free (although some places charge players for the booklet). However, if *you* were to do something like this, it'd be a bit costly, and you'd be best charging people to "sign up," etc. The problem with this, which I failed to mention earlier, is that parents might not want their kids paying money to play a game that the kid already owns to play. At best, you can assure the parents that if their child plays enough, then they will inevitabily earn prizes.
If you plan on traveling along the path of prizes, you can easily make up a sheet to stamp in, print it out, and possibly make free print-outs or free photocopies at the library. Then, you would need a stamper. The number one problem here is that anyone can buy such a stamper. I myself have a stamp of Pikachu holding Togepi with Japanese text, "Pika!" on it. The Japanese store that I bought this from no longer sells such stamps, so it's mildly doubtful that if I used it to show "points," that participants would have the same stamp to "cheat" with.
This next brings you back to prizes. What prizes do you hand out? Maybe the first prize will be a Suring Pikachu. Will you catch a lot of Pikachu and teach them Surf, or will you get a Gameshark to catch a level 5 Pikachu, teach it Surf, and alter its OT name/Number to say, for example: PIKACHU; OT/Jman; ID/00618? I know that I don't condone the use of Gameshark in that a lot of people use it to save time by upping the "Stat EXP" and "DVs," etc. I don't want anyone to jump on my case for saying this, but for a tournament of prizes, I'd not mind too much altering Pokémon to use as prizes. I'm sure that some people will agree with me that this is a good way to make all prizes equal, and others will say that if you want to give out Mewtwo as a prize to 20 kids, you need to play through your Blue version 20 times. Of course, I wouldn't give a Pikachu with Recover as a prize, etc. Some nice prizes would be, as I mentioned, Surfing Pikachu (for those kids without N64s), legendary Pokémon and starters (like the machine in the New York Pokémon center,) Color (Shiny) Pokémon, and ones with a specific Hidden Power type (but not necessarily an Attack of 70--I'd say, plug in some random numbers until you get the attack type specified, then let the rest be random.) Those are just suggestions, however.
Yet, if you can make these Pokémon with Gameshark, so can others. In fact, if you *don't* use Gameshark to make these Pokémon, others still can. Kinda' sucks, don't it?

So, now you've got a room in the library. If there's a TV and they allow you to hook your N64 to it, then you should have *at least* two controllers and two controller packs. Preferably 4 controllers to have mini-game contests with Stadium 1 and 2. With Stadium 2, having four transfer packs allows players to possibly use their own Pokémon in the mini-games, which is *always* fun, especially for those without an N64 or without Stadium2!
So, now you've got a library and an N64, Stadium 1 and 2 (what? You don't have one of these games? If not, buy Stadium1 for $10.00 at Blockbuster, and Stadium2 for no more than $20. Transfer paks used should be low-priced as well.)
Why do I say to use Stadium? Well, the gut of the battling will be Gameboy to Gameboy, and you should provide *at least* a few Game Link Cables. Since this can get expensive, you should tape a piece of paper with your name on them or something to identify them. While people will battle via Gameboy, in a tournament, the top three battles should *always* be in full 3D polygonal view with an annoying announcer. Or, if you don't have a little brother as I do, the game comes with a built-in announcer ^_^ This also allows kids to compete in the mini-games and the Stadium2 quiz.
Speaking of quizes, the quiz has a lot of gameplay questions for in-game playing (ie, what day can you find Wesley; or whatnot.) In Japan, with the Mobile League, there were lectures. These didn't talk about in-game trivia, however, they talked about moves and strategies. Okay, maybe you can't explain to kids how to breed for any Hidden Power type using four Dittos, but you *can* teach them how Rollout works, why Double Team is actually not a stupid move, and the differences between Flamethrower and Fire Blast. You can even set up some Pokémon to use as a demonstration. You can easily use Gameshark to "build" the Pokémon, register the team onto Pokémon Stadium 2 to have ready to show, then just release the Gamesharked Pokémon from your game pak. You're not actually using these Pokémon in battle against others, but, rather, in an instructive tutorial using Pokémon Stadium and two controllers to control the action. If you're aftraid of the unpredictability of the random values, you can always buy a 6 hour (SLP/EP) VHS tape for $2 at Blockbuster, or for $1 on sale at Longs Drugs (the Longs around here have VHS tapes on sale about once a month, every month). Then, you can pre-record the "battle lesson." Of course, these are just different suggestions in case you desire educating the players that may not know this information, possibly allowing them to raise Pokémon that'll handle a little better in battle. You don't even have to make your own lessons at first--just pull the lessons about Pikachu's Thundershock dealing more damage than a Persian's (due to matching types) straight out of Earl's lessons. Take Earl's topics on Sunny Day and Rollout, and reword them into your own lessons.

Okay, you've got the room at the library. You've got the Sta--er, wait, let's go back a bit. You've got the room in the library. When do you have the room, again? It's not on Monday~Friday, is it? Kids do have school, as you know. Why, they get out by 3PM? Homework. Can't hang out at the library when you have homework to do ^_^ I'm sure you've already considered this, however. Toys'R'Us has its League Saturday mornings. No worrying about school (unless a kid's got detention for Saturday), and there's no interferance with church/Sunday school. Wizards of the Coast at the local shopping mall center also has TCG tournaments Tuesdays, and I think Thursdays. These are later at night, and basically this means that the "little kids" won't be there, allowing the "big kids" to play. I don't know what time the library closes, or if you could get transport to/from the library in the evening, however. This is just another possible suggestion.

~So, you've got the room in the library.~ You know the date and time that the League will usually gather. It's essential to have a set time that it "meets" each Saturday (assuming that Saturday is the meeting day of the League) so that George can be at his grandmother's house for two weeks, then come back knowing that the League will be from 10AM to 12 noon, rather than having to call his friends to see if the League will be in the morning or afternoon, or Sunday instead, due to a lack of time structure in the League.
~In that room, you have some stuff.~ A ^computer^ where you can print out sheets to keep track of data. Preferablly a computer with a Zip Dive (a lot of libraries will have an internal Zip Drive for 100MB zip disks, and sell 100MB zip disks for about US$10.00.) Or, possibly you can fit the data onto good ol' floppies. Possbily a ^xerox machine^ to make copies if you can't print any out. Back to the ^computer,^ you should keep an Excel database (assuming that the computer has an excel program) of all of the players that sign up. You can also *attempt* to keep track of a player's "score" here. Or, you can either collect score sheets to avoid cheaters, or let kids take their sheets/booklets home with them, and hope that they don't cheat stamps to win prizes. You've got an ^N64^ with Pokémon Stadium 1 and 2, four controllers, 2~4 transfer pack--hey, did you know that you can have 4 player Pokémon battles? What? You've *never* used this option? Now's the time! Don't forget about the Battle Now! and Challenge Cup modes!--and some Game Link Cables. I would recommend buying at *least* one that supports Gameboy to Gameboy, and one that supports Gameboy/Pocket/Colour to Gameboy Pocket/Colour. This way, those who have only an original Gameboy can link up without worry due to having only a Gameboy to Gameboy link cable, (like mine ^_^ ) You have your paper to write down the names of those who sign up, and you have papers to give them, possibly folded over and stapled together to form a booklet, to stamp with your stamp. You have your ^prizes^ either trained or Gamesharked (although I wouldn't alter data for prizes such as FFFF Snorlax or "fully trained Mewtwo"--that makes an unfair Snorlax and a Mewtwo that's boring to train.)

I've mentioned quite a bit of costs. If you want to get your money back, then have your main League with Pokémon prizes, then have a seperate, smaller League with Pokémon Crystal, Pokémon Snap, and Pokémon Pikachu 2 as your prizes. (One frined of mine bought a Pikachu N64 with Controller and Hey You, Pikachu! for $50 [at a one-day sale at Toys-R-Us.] If I had bought a few of those $50 sets, I could easily have them as prizes, and I'm sure that a lot of kids would pay to enter a contest with such a prize!) Print out copies of a paper that tell the entry cost and the prizes. That way, you can let the parents know that there's a contest that costs money to enter, but has small prizes for many--possible not all--paticipants, and larger prizes for the winning trainers. Possibly, the more people in the tournemt, the better the prizes based on a prize list. After all, the more entries, the more you can afford. Let the parents know that there is also a longer-running League with no entry costs, and prizes are earned, not won. That way, if a parent doesn't want their child to pay for what they very well may se as a "scam" to "use Pokémon to get money from kids," then they know that their kid can still play against other for free, and win (game data) Prizes. Of course, don't print out "This is not a scam!" on the letter, as that's sounds a bit suspicious ^_^ All in all, however, if you keep the prizes compatible with the costs, then you can not only cover the price of the prizes, and other expenses, but you may be able to pocket some for the time that you've spent organizing all of this. The point is *not* for you to pocket money, however, so don't start to see it like that, then raise prices. Instead, you can use that extra money to supply bags of chips and cans of soda to the paying players, if the library allows such in the rented room.

So, that covers the room in the library, everything in that room that you'll need, a bit about how to give out points--remember, *both* the winner *and* the loser get points towards a Pokémon prize!--as well as prizes, and other modes of play besides battlings (ie, mini-games, quiz, lectures, etc.) You should keep an online page with information on your League. This should include a letter for parents to read about what the League is, how it will be beneficial for their child as it will encourage playing against other players (and not just against the same friend again and again, but, rather, different players,) as well as explaining the free-version battling and its-prizes (Pokémon that you downloaded onto the child's gamepak [via Pokémon Stadium/Transfer Pak]), and explain the cost-version, and that it have actual prizes that cost money to buy, and explain how the prize system works, if you use the reliable, "The more entries, the better the prize." Have the scoresheets available for people to print out their own if they want to, possibly in format of a GIF image or a PDF file, as well as instructions on how to fold the pages over and staple them into a booklet if you choose that design. If you have a digital camera or a normal camera and access to a scanner--the library should have a scanner, and possibly a digital camera--then you can take pictures of the tournaments, and put those online. Parents can then see the atmosphere that their child would be playing in.

A lot of what I've been saying has included reinforcement for the parent of what kind of activity will be going on where their child will be. Encourage the parent to stay the first day and see how things move along. Remind them that if their child is any bit shy, things may move slowly for the child until they get to know others that are battling there.

I know that I'm jumping back and forth a bit on topics. I'm not exactly the best person at explaining things. If there are any details that I left out that you would like me to mention, or if you'd like me to expand on something, just let me know. And this goes out to *anyone* that would like to ask, not just Jman.
I have a bunch of files just I mentioned at various place above, files that I made for a League that I was going to run before the comic shop that it would be at ended up closing. So, I have a lot of material that I could possibly provide, if I can find it, for *anyone* who's looking to hold a League. This will allow such people to 1) have the material from the start, so that they don't get discouraged with all of the work, and 2) give an idea of what kind of work to do, so that one can expand on my work, molding into something individual for their own League.

Nya, I'm saving this post to my computer. Maybe I'll make up a section on my website to help people start unofficial Leagues in their own areas. ^_^

--Meowth346, who apologizes for any typos, etc. I'm too lazy to run this through a spell-check now that I'm, finally done typing it all!

[ 11-26-2001: Message edited by: Meowth346 ]

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Edit: Sig test

There are several ways of getting a message of a League out. The most efficianet way to get something know, that I've found, is to get ahold of the newletter publishing group at local middle/junior and high schools. Often these school newsletters, some daily, some weekly, some monthly, will have a section for "local events" such as an opening League.
Additionally, a lot of schools will have a bulletin board, where a one-page flier could be posted.
I advise against posting papers on street lamps, mail boxes, etc., though. Often people post these for garage and yard sales, etc., the just leave them there. They eventually end up littering the streets. My local mail box still have a "lost pet" page stuck to it, ripped and faded, that was apparently superglued on 10 years ago or something... Er, but that's straying off subject. Fliers can work, but make sure that it's a place designed for people to place fliers.
If there's a local comic/anime shop that people visit a lot--come on, I can't be the ONLY one with a local shop that there were ALWAYS kids/teens at, can?--word of mouth can easily spread to a variety of schools this way.
That's as far as I've really had to go to make something known. School newsletter, comic shop, bulletin board, and word of mouth.

I'll have to look for all my files, as I thought that I had them on a disk, but have over 20 disks that I checked with no luck. I've got them *somewhere*.

Anyway, Shaidar Haran and I were going to start a league but he just wanted friends. So our first meeting is later this month. Maybe we'll expand. We are charging for our tournament so we can give out cash prizes. I'll tell everybody about it once our first meeting is over.

[EDIT] Good luck with your league Jman and everybody else that has their own or participates in one.

[EDIT] I said "first meating". I hate being dumb.

[ 11-30-2001: Message edited by: Duolivous ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Frogjedi:
We shall call the league:
-Dirty Rusted Gophers.
Got a better one?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Frogjedi:
We could have a Saskatchewan League!! w00t...
sigh. NoC has killed all hopes of anything pokemon in the great north.

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I read it all, it's very well thought out.

quote:

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Originally posted by Skarmory:
From: Saskatoon, Sask, Canada

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!!!!!!