Chris Carter Memorial Cup

"Chris Carter was a lovely chap.  Played for Oxford city when I played national league.  A gentle man.  Taught physics and maths at d'Overbroeck's.  Very sweet, entertaining and enjoyed his beer.  Played korfball in the right spirit, socially great and brought people together.  Reliable and always tried his best.  Would go out of his way to speak with everyone.  Diagnosed with a brain tumour and passed away too soon.  The Chris Carter cup is all about social korfball and taking all opportunities to meet others and a little bit of competitiveness."​

"I remember Chris with great fondness and he embodies everything that I like and love about korfball; his enthusiasm, friendliness and competitiveness. He came to the game later in his life and allowed korfball to become a big part of it. He gave a lot, both on the pitch and off it, and I think got a lot out of it. Korfball in the UK would be in a much better place if it had more Chris Carters. The sport is poorer without him."

2019 Format

In 2019, this was a one day indoor tournament held in Charterhouse School, Goldarming, Guildford.  12 teams entered, and after a morning round of 3 groups of 4 (so 3 matches each), the bottom six competed for the plate, and the top six competed for the Chris Carter memorial cup.  Each of these competitions was a group of 6, so with the morning result against the team already played carrying over into the afternoon, 4 more matches were required to determine the final group standings.  3rd vs 4th then completed for 3rd place in the plate/cup, and then 1st vs 2nd competed to win the plate/Chris Carter memorial cup respectively.  Congratulations to Didcot Dragons for winning the plate in 2019, and Southampton Spartans for winning the Chris Carter memorial cup.  Please see below for the tournament format and tournament schedule used, which may be useful to future organisers. 

Cup Organisation - Checklist

When organising the Chris Carter Memorial Cup, the following checklist may be useful:

• Set a date early so that clubs/players know to keep it free.
• Ensure a sports hall is booked early (ideally a double sports hall due to the number of teams involved)
• Confirm the cost and anticipated cost per team entered to clubs
• Ensure the rules/competition structure/timings of the day  are sent to the area in good time so that everyone understands the format
• The OKA Facebook group is a useful way for people to ask questions, so use this to your advantage

On the day, the following will be required:

• Posts for two pitches + pitch tape/tape-measure/scissors
• Shot-clocks (one per pitch) + long extension cables to ensure power is available
• Match balls
• First aid kits/ice-packs
• Tournament schedule print-outs for each team/highlighter pens
• Pre-prepared ref cards for morning, afternoon and playoff/finals matches
• Either flip-charts and pens, or laptop/monitor/power cable + long extension lead for keeping track of the scores throughout the day (sample flipcharts are provided below).
• Spare paper/pens
• Horn/buzzer
• Megaphone
• Spare whistles
• Bibs (in case of team shirt colour clash, or two teams from the same club playing each other)
• Nail scissors

Other useful points to note are as follows:

• Not all clubs will be used to playing with shot-clocks, and it will be the first time for some players.  As each team's reffing commitment includes providing a shot clock operator from the same team, it is advised to ask a suitable qualified person to provide training before the start of the tounament (in 2019, Ian Lewis of Didcot Dragons provided the training at 9:30am, before a 10:15am start).
• The desk will need to be covered all day, either by a dedicated volunteer or by a small group of players (from different teams) who can take turns between playing.  It's useful to seek these out in advance.
• Ensure you give a 15 minute admin break between the morning and afternoon groups, and before the finals to give time for admin to be completed.
• Neutral refs will be required for the 3rd place playoffs and finals of the plate and cup.  If the OKA ref coordinator is present, ask them to source some suitable refs on the day to assist here.
• At the start of the day, explain that each match will be a time-slot with a 2 minute time for switch over between matches.  Ask home teams to lay out immediately, and for refs to start matches as soon as possible.  Ask refs to return scorecards to the desk immediately after matches have finished.
• End all matches with a central horn/buzzer, this way the schedule will keep to time.
• Ask one person from each team to come to the desk during the interval, and ensure the teams playing immediately after the interval know they are playing and/or reffing/shot-clocking.

Sample Tournament Format/Schedule