Sloth and James sign up for Tulip Time

Grand Rapids, March 3rd 2007

Sloth and his son James Veenstra have confirmed their appearance at the Tulip Time Eredivisie tournament. James will take Groningen (green and white stripes) as its nickname is the same as his favorite team Newcastle United, and the team is from the area his family name originates from. Sloth will take NEC (red and green halves on an all black kit).

GR Boardgamers Meetup

Grand Rapids, February 24th 2007

A Grand Rapids area Boardgamers' Meetup group is the new venue for some Subbuteo action on a bi-weekly basis. Co-organizer Ben Flanders invited MiSTFA to demonstrate the game and he and fellow group members Matt and Sam had a flickabout inbetween Thurn and Taxis, Scotland Yard and some other games. We look forward to introducing the game to this new interest group over the following months.

Cincy not a cinch

Holland, February 17th 2007

Possibly the tightest and largest field for a tournament in the Midwest, the Winterfest Cup in Cincinnati, Ohio on Saturday was everything it was expected to be. Jeff Drake of St Louis beat the host Steve Laskey in the final needing a shootout to break a 2-2 tie. Chris Barron of Dallas went down to St Louis' Darren Koffman in the third place playoff, a game that also required the tiebreaker. Pre-tournament favorite Tim Boone went out in the quarter-finals to Koffman, again needing a shootout to decide it.

After Thatcher Berends pulled out at the last moment with a stomach bug, Mike and Amanda Ewer flew the Michigan flag in Ohio. Mike was in a tough group with Tim Boone, Darren Koffman and Matt Morice. He took a shock 1-0 lead against Boone before going down 2-1, but not without chances to tie or possibly win the game. Next up was Koffman, who in two previous meetings was unable to defeat him but has been improving rapidly over the past couple of years. A 1-0 win for Koffman left Mike in need of something from the final game to qualify for the quarter-finals, and he scored a 1-1 tie with Matt Morice to edge into the wildcard on goal difference.

A 4-0 win over Brad DeMunbrun secured a spot in the final 8 for Mike, but his joy quickly turned into a feeling of deja vu as it was once again Steve Laskey who stood in his way. A 3-1 win, all goals coming in an open first half, gave Laskey his 5th straight tournament elimination of Mike.

Meanwhile there were some successes in the group stage for Amanda. A 0-0 tie with Texan Jeremy Stroop and a narrow 0-1 loss to St Louis' Brad DeMunbrun.

State Cup Details Announced

Holland, February 13th 2007

After an aborted attempt last season, this time MiSTFA wants to do it right. The State Cup, a single elimination tournament based on the European soccer knockout tournaments like the FA Cup, will take place between June and September, encroaching slightly on the new season which officially starts September 1st.

"Having watched a lot of the FA Cup games on FSC this season I have caught Cup Fever. I hope to see a lot of occasional and hobby flickers in this event, getting out and socialising with other players and enjoying taking part in a unique tournament" said Mike Ewer.

A PDF detailing the cup was sent out to MiSTFA members last night. If you would like another copy contact MiSTFA: info@mistfa.org.

Mike Ewer wins third LET

Holland, February 10th 2007

After 2004 and 2006, Mike Ewer won his third Lake Effect Trophy on Saturday, after wins against Amanda Ewer and Thatcher Berends in the round robin he secured the title with a 3-0 demolishing of Thatcher in the final.

Bug hits tourney yet again

Holland, February 8th 2007

Last weekend, two of the three players remaining for the tournament's original date were laid up in bed with the flu as morning broke on Saturday. Postponing the tournament to this Saturday allowed the three members of the new Tecumseh Subbuteo League to attend, but sadly today they were forced to cancel their visit to the west side, as two of them are laid up with the same bug. The Lake Effect Trophy will therefore take place tomorrow with just the three members of the Holland Subbuteo League.

No more Windsor

Holland, February 4th 2007

In a provisional timetable discussed for the 2008/09 MiSTFA season there is no room for another tournament in Windsor. "The Canadians have their stuff together again now, so there is no room for it. Vancouver, Quebec, Nova Scotia are all going well, they don't need us. The tournaments brought us no gain except a little logistic experience, so we see no need to repeat the event," explained MiSTFA founder Mike Ewer.

"We spent way too much money to help Canada out and hoped for a little return of our own, however the divide between Detroit and Windsor is a little wider than the mile or so it shows on the map and no-one crossed to take a look, we didn't get a single member of the media from either Detroit or Windsor for either event. Now you need a passport to get across the border so we expect a smaller turnout of Americans at future tournaments in Canada, and we can't afford smaller turnouts. It's time to look after number one - Michigan!"

With the apparent cessation of the Lake Michigan Subbuteo Circuit that means MiSTFA is reverting to a local timetable once more. "We're going back to tournaments every three months or so, and hope to scatter them around the state a bit with the new groups popping up now."

Holland tournaments postponed

Holland, January 31st 2007

Due to insufficient support the planned ASA tournaments for this coming weekend have been postponed. An attempt is being made to reschedule for Saturday 9th. Watch this space!

A trip to Cincy

Holland, January 31st 2007

High in the middle and round at both ends. Doesn't like a perfect place to play a Subbuteo tournament but that's what three MiSTFA members are doing in just over two weeks. Thatcher Berends joins Mike and Amanda Ewer in Cincinnati for the Winterfest Cup, where they will meet players from the local Cincinnati club, St Louis and Dallas/Fort Worth. They will attend just the first day's play, on Saturday 16th February.

Direct corner kick

Holland, January 26th 2007

FK Dukla returned to their familiar maroon and gold uniforms today and carved up Calcio Cristallo's defence, taking a 4-0 half-time lead. The final goal of the 5-0 game was the cream of the crop: A direct strike off a corner, via a near-post flick-on. Mandalecht did not play today.

HSL begins

Holland, January 20th 2007

Two games signalled the beginning of the 2007/08 HSL Openen on Saturday. Mike Ewer's FK Dukla beat Thatcher Berends' Calcio Cristallo 3-0 in the first game, followed by Amanda Ewer's Mandalecht going down 0-2 to Calcio.

Thatcher's friend Andreas joined us for his first ever games and he showed some immediate ability, tying 0-0 with Mandalecht and losing 0-1 to FK Dukla in untimed friendlies.

Holland Subbuteo League to start

Holland, January 17th 2007

Last Saturday, the three members of the Holland Subbuteo League got together for some friendlies to get the season up and running. Better late than never! Thatcher Berends' Calcio Cristallo played three games, two against Mike Ewer's FK Dukla and one against Amanda Ewer's Mandalecht. A 1-2 loss in the first game against FK Dukla was followed by two 0-0 ties.

This coming Saturday play in the HSL will begin. The first three months of play will be named the Openen, while from April to June it will be the Sluiten (sly-ten). Each of the two half seasons will have their own winner. Other competitors can join play at any time. The two half seasons are named after the Apertura and Clausura in South American soccer.

Thatcher names Eredivisie team

Holland, January 12th 2007

Thatcher Berends has named his team for the Tulip Time tournament. He has chosen Heracles Almelo as his team, as their colors of black and white match those of his school system, West Ottawa.

Van Buren chooses Super Boeren

Holland, January 10th 2007

Mike Van Buren has named his team for Tulip Time. It's De Graafschap, a team from his family's Dutch homeland of Gelderland. They are nicknamed the Super Boeren, or Super Farmers.

February Event Brought Forward

Holland, December 8th 2007

After a request from the Queen City TSC of Cincinnati, MiSTFA will be bringing our next ASA tournament forward two weeks. We're playing the Michigan Masters on Saturday, February 2nd, and the Lake Effect Trophy on Sunday, February 3rd.

Ian Roy picks Utrecht

Muskegon, December 6th 2007

Ian Roy has picked Utrecht as his team for the Tulip Time Eredivisie tournament. The main reason is their colour scheme, which is similar to his beloved Boston Red Sox.

Amanda Ewer goes with Willem II

Holland, December 6th 2007

Amanda Ewer has chosen Willem II of Tilburg as her team for Tulip Time. The choice is also two-fold. Their colours red and blue merge together to make purple, and it is the former team of Liverpool legend Sami Hyypiä. The Roman numeral II is pronounced "tvey", and the name refers to William II of the Netherlands, who reigned in the early 1800s.

Mike Ewer takes PSV

Holland, December 6th 2007

Mike Ewer chose PSV of Eindhoven for his Tulip Time team. Part of the reason is their similarity to FK Dukla's "Derry" kit, giving him the option of a Pitchsurfer base should he want to use that kit, and the rest: "Fond memories of Eindhoven from my time there in 1996".

Week-long Event Planned for Tulip Time

Holland, December 5th 2007

MiSTFA announced a unique tournament planned for next year to celebrate its fifth anniversary. The Eredivisie van Tafelvoetbal is the Dutch name for the event, which will run throughout the Tulip Time festival in May.

Each player will pick a member of Dutch soccer's top flight "Eredivisie" and play through a complete season - once against every other member - in the space of a week. At the end of the week they take the specially hand-painted and souvenir boxed team home with them, win or lose.

Childhood remembered

Watch this video on YouTube, a portion of a documentary called I Love Christmas made in 2001. There's a lot of famous people on there, famous in the UK at least, including their answer to Regis Philbin: Terry Wogan.

State cancelled

The prospect of a beautiful late summer weekend was not enough to draw numbers to the beach venue of Camp Arcadia, and the 2007 State Championships will be postponed a little longer. We will discuss the new date with the venue and take into consideration your wishes for the date which will most probably fall in October. E-mail info@mistfa.org with your requests.

Lessons learned in Windsor

Four MiSTFA members took part in the Canadian Grand Prix and Open weekend in Windsor, Ontario last weekend. Mike Ewer and Ian Roy played in both tournaments, Amanda Ewer played on Saturday and Vladimir Vjatschslav on Sunday.

Ian was possibly closest to qualifying for the next round of either competition, losing 1-3 to Mark Meihuizen in the weaker of the two groups on Sunday. Best result was Mike's 0-1 loss to US national U-19 champion Patrick Sheridan. Mike won the unofficial consolation event on the Saturday and was runner-up on the Sunday.

Vlad is a new player in Michigan having played the game some 25 years ago in his native Scotland. Yes, Scotland. He has some Russian heritage though as you may have guessed. Considering he hasn't seen a Subbuteo set in a quarter of a century he did very well, and was giving some of our more established players some trouble by the end of Sunday's play.

Despite the small turnout it was considered a success and we look forward to a full 12 months preparation for the next one now it has found its September time slot.

News Archives

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What's On In 2007/08

HSL>>
Holland keeps the ball rolling in Michigan

Eredivisie Replica Tournament
Choose your team and play out the league during Tulip Time

Calendar

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every week in Holland, MI
Holland Subbuteo League

Postponed in Holland, MI
Michigan Cup and Lake Effect Trophy, ASA Tournaments
at Tulip Town Vendor Mall

Mar 1
Deadline to register for the Eredivisie van Tafelvoetbal

May 4-10 in Holland, MI
Eredivisie van Tafelvoetbal, replica tournament

Chris Schnick at the ready against fellow LaPorte flicker Jon Schultz in the July 2006 Beker Van Holland.

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Intense rivalry between brothers-in-law: Tyler Meldrum attacking Ian Roy's goal at the 2005 Great Lakes Cup in Muskegon.