It’s always great when we get a new name on the Higgyball cup, and H15 gave us just that: Congratulations to Marc Tincher and Egon Kraan for the victory! The final matchup between them and 509 Girls provided one for the ages, with the final throw deciding the match, 12-10, for Cougar Bait. Rounding out the top four were Cheese and Pinkley Ford. Good job all around!

If you have a collection of photos from the event, feel free to send them to your friendly neighborhood High Council member, and we’ll get them archived here on the site. Also, if you’re missing anything, we always have leave behinds, so let us know. Finally, it’s never too late to think about next year, so let us know what worked well, what didn’t work so well, and we’ll do our best to make Higgyball 16 even better!

Well, after three days of perfect weather, we’ve made it to the big day. It looks like we may have a pop-up shower or two throughout the day, but we’re going to try to play through it. Don’t forget your rain gear, and we’ll all get through this together!

Hey folks,

As most of you have probably heard by now, the Montavon family has fallen on hard times. Within the spirit of friendship and community, consistent with the ideals of Higgyball, your humble high council would like to offer a Split-the-Pot fundraiser during this year’s tournament.

Tickets are one ticket for $1.00, or 6 tickets for $5.00. We will pick a winner at random just before the Final Four games take place. Half the proceeds will go directly to the Montavon family in the form of a Kroger gift card. Cash only, please.

Thanks for you support, and good luck at the tournament!

Some notes about Saturday:

• Our hosts have asked people to bring extra ice (even if you haven’t signed up for it). It’s going to be HOT on Saturday, so we will use the extra ice. We also need a few extra tables for the food and deck areas. If you have some easily portable tables to lend for the day, please let mark.r.walker@gmail.com know. Lastly, we apparently have a surplus of mustard. If you signed up for mustard, you’re off the hook, don’t bring it.
• The Bracket and Wait List have gone through some transformations lately. If you’ve signed up and your plans have changed regarding Higgyball, please let me know, and we’ll take care of you. And by take care of you, I mean shun you mercilessly.
• The weather forecast for Saturday is still being coy about rain. We’ll probably avoid the rain like we always do, but if we do have to postpone to Sunday, we’ll make that call on Saturday by 9:00am. If you don’t hear anything, we’re still on! In the event that we are forced to postpone, any parties that cannot participate on the rescheduled day will be refunded in full.
• I will be reaching out to those that pledged their balls to Higgyball to remind them to bring their bocce sets. We can’t have Higgyball without your balls!

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Higgyball is next weekend! To the things:

• We need your tune requests. Visit the Music Registry and give us your favorite songs to fill out the soundtrack of our lives. We won’t judge your poor taste in music.
• Take a peek at the Food Registry and let us know if you can bring anything else (we always need more ice). Or look at the contribution list to remind yourself what you promised to bring.
• We cannot stress this enough: BE ON TIME. We’re going to kick off at 11:00am, and if a registered team isn’t there in full, we’ll have to drop you and pick up the next team on the waitlist. If you do get dropped, you’ll get a full refund, but the Swiss Pairing format requires all teams playing at the same time. Let us know well in advance if a registered team cannot attend.
• Speaking of Swiss Pairing, make sure you understand the rules, especially our newcomers. It’s not hard once we get into the swing of things, and we’ve found it makes the early rounds more competitive. As usual, we’ll run everything through a computer on the deck, and I’ve hopefully fixed a few bugs from years past regarding matchups and field assignments. I’ll have a Wi-Fi network set up (but not connected to the Internet) so that you can use a smartphone with a web browser to follow along as the tournament progresses. This isn’t a requirement, however; you can get score updates and field assignments from the deck.
• H15 checklist: chairs, sunscreen, bug spray, sunglasses, hat, cooler, bocce set (did you pledge your balls?), coozie, food, beverages.

This Sunday at noon is your last chance to order an H15 T-Shirt, so act fast!

A few items remain on the Food Registry, so if you haven’t already, please let us know you’ll bring something.

We’re just about two weeks away, so it’s time to start watching the weather. Currently, it’s showing rain for the big day, but that will likely change a dozen times between now and then. If we do need to call it, we’ll let people know that morning, and re-schedule for the next day. Fingers crossed!

Finally, check out the new field map. Our gracious hosts have reconfigured their green space, so we’re looking forward to spreading out a bit, and avoiding some of the problem areas of past Higgyballs.

A few bookkeeping items as we get closer (Higgyball is only three weeks away!)

• T-Shirt orders close on May 13, so act now to claim a piece of history.
  
• The Food Registry is fixed, so look through the list and let us know what you can bring. We always need ice.
• Here’s the address for Higgyball, in case you’re new this year: 7650 King Rd, Oxford, OH 45056
• Check out the rules. No changes to speak of this year, but noobs will want to brush up on the Swiss Pairing structure of the opening rounds.
• Lastly, we’re short one pledge for your balls. If you have a set of standard bocce balls (get out of here with your small, light balls), please let me know.

That’s it for now. We filled up team registrations in near record time this year, and even have a few teams on the Wait List. If any registered teams cannot make it to the tournament for any reason, let me know ASAP, and you will get a full refund.

Update 1:19pm Aaaand we’re full. For those that missed out, use the Wait List here. Don’t fret; invariably we have people that have to drop out, so make sure to get on there.

H15 Registration is open: Go!

Follow along on the Bracket page. When you register, don’t forget to pledge your balls to Higgyball, and add a few songs to the Music Registry list.

If you don’t have a partner, please add yourself to the Free Agents list. When all team spots have been filled, the Wait List will open up.

While you’re there, don’t forget to buy a Shirt (sales end May 13) and add to the Food Registry.

Please email mark.r.walker@gmail.com if you have any problems or questions. Good luck!

On behalf of the organizers, I’m proud to announce The 15th Annual Higgyball Memorial Bocce Ball Tournament.  By now I would assume that we all know the drill pretty well, but for those who may need it, I’ll be happy to remind you.

Higgyball Alerts

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1. Team registration (2 players per team) will occur at 12:00 noon on Sunday, April 29th.  Go to www.higgyball.com to register.  $10 per team will be charged through PayPal as an entry fee to cover expenses.  Last year’s top 4 teams will be granted an automatic spot, BUT STILL NEED TO REGISTER AND PAY (they’ll receive the registration link prior to April 29th).  A total of 28 teams will be granted entry into the tournament.
2. Registration sometimes fills up quickly.  In the event that our bracket fills up, a waiting list will be opened.  If you are unable to enter your team due to a full bracket, be sure to sign up on the waiting list.  Waiting list teams have won the tourney in the past!
3. H15 will be held on Saturday May 26th, 2018 at 11:00 AM at the Tincher-Mann homestead in Oxford, Ohio.  An address and directions will be provided on the website.  We will reserve Sunday, May 27th as a “rain day”.
4. In an attempt to make the event ever more interactive the food and music registries will be included in the team sign-up process as well as the soundtrack.  In the event that we need more songs, a music registry will be opened to the public.
5. Send us pics of you and/or your loved ones wearing your Higgyball swag throughout the year and tell us where you were.  We’ll add it to our “Where Have Your Balls Been” page at Higgyball Online.  Also be sure to send us any pics from last year’s tournament.
6. Grab your favorite H15 T-Shirt.  There will be some great designs to choose from this year for both the ladies and gents!  T-shirt sales will open on April 29th and close May 13th in order to have everything printed by the tourney.
7. In an effort to increase public safety, we’d like to encourage participants to stay the night and camp or find alternate transportation if necessary.  
8. If you haven’t contacted or found your partner, now is the time to do so. We have a Free Agents page for those needs.
9. Be sure to “Pledge Your Balls” this year if you’d be willing to donate a regulation size set of bocce balls to the day’s cause.  Not to worry, your balls are yours and yours alone.  We don’t want to own them, we just want to play with them for the day.

Polish your stones, spit-shine your medals, and lay out your jerseys.  It’s officially bocce season…as soon as it stops snowing. 

Expect to hear more from your friendly, neighborhood Council members soon! 

With another successful Higgyball in the books, we have a quick follow-up survey for you to take. It’ll be quick and painless:

https://www.higgyball.com/awesome-surveys/post-event-survey-2017/

It’s anonymous, so fire away! We take your suggestions and criticisms seriously. Next year is the 15th annual party, so we want to make it special

Thanks!