1999 MOUNTAINEER MARBLE TOURNAMENT " OUR GOALS OUR HISTORY OUR LOCATION SANCTIONED MARBLE TOURNAMENTS SCHOLARSHIPS RINGER RULES RINGER SHOOTING TIPS HOW TO ORGANIZE A TOURNAMENT
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Now that we have a web page we hope that it will help us spread the news about marble shooting. Before our moto was "Have marbles - Will travel." We would go just about anywhere to get kids to play marbles. More people now will be able to set up a tournament and experience the joy of shooting marbles.
The preliminaries for our Mountaineer Marble Tournament are conducted in
a lot of places. Many of these tournaments begin in the fall of each year.
But there is still time to get organized in the Spring and be at the TAMARACK
in July. If you don't understand a rule, email. If you can't figure out
how to get backspin, email. Your champs can be a part of our tournament. You just
have to follow our sanctioning rules. Let us know if you have problems because we can help, email. Our goal is to have you participate in our tournament. Be There!
American Marbles was formed to promote and preserve the game of marbles. The reason this game survives is because adults remember playing marbles as children. These fond memories encourages adults to create opportunities for children to play marbles.
We have been organizing marble tournaments since 1988. Our "Mountaineer Marble Tournament" was organized in 1993 and has changed its face over the past six years but it is growing and improving as we go. Our players have come from around the state of West Virginia. The number of players has varied from year to year. Champs from 19 different counties have played in our activities at different times over these eight years. We usually have 20 boy champs and 20 girl champs each year who represent nearly 5,000 kids in the local tournament.
Our seventh year promises to be a great year. We hope that we have
worked out some of the bugs that arises when we try out a new home. Beckley
West Virginia could be a great way to see a part of West Virginia and have fun
at the same time. Come see the TAMARACK. It offers the BEST of West
Virginia made products, offered us the opportunity to showcase the best
marble shooters in West Virginia.
We believe that part of our task is to motivate children to reach higher, achieve more and enjoy the pursuit. Overall champions of our Mountaineer Marble Tournament are awarded an educational scholarship after graduation from high school when they enter college or a trade school. Realizing that people have different talents and want to pursue different occupations, our champions can go to college or trade school. Our desire is that each one thousand dollar scholarship for each champion will motivate a child to work harder to get into college or trade school.
We sell bagged marbles to kids in our program. Funds from these sales make our scholarships possible. We want to acknowledge the support of WV marble manufacturers in our efforts to raise money for scholarships. To date children have earned the right to claim $16,000 worth of scholarships.
It is our hope that more and larger scholarships will be available as
we grow. If you are interested in making a donation to our effort or need
information, please email us for more information about
Mountaineer Marbles.
1. COMPETITION
A tournament should have at least 100 participants. Several area
tournaments can be combined to make-up the 100. However, this requirement
may be waived by the executive director in order to get a program started.
Competition will be conducted in two divisions: Boys division and Girls
division. Champions will be 14 years or younger.
2. NO ENTRY FEE TO PARTICIPATE IN A LOCAL TOURNAMENT
In our tournament no entry fee has been charged to the children
participating in a local tournament. An entry fee would limit the number of
children participating. It is our desire that all tournament cost be paid
by a local sponsor or school.
3. RULES FOR RINGER TAUGHT AND ENFORCED.
As children progress in the various levels of
competition it is increasingly important that they understand and follow
the rules of the game. During the competition in WV, rules will be enforced
properly and it will be very disappointing to a champ who has not had rules
enforced before.
4. INSTRUCTION AND COACHING.
All children should receive the same instruction on how to play and excell
at this game. No special coaching should be given to any player.
5. CONSISTENCY IN THE PLAYING FIELD
The ideal situation would be that all kids could
play their competition on the same type courts that will be used in WV.
(seven foot circle on an indoor/outdoor carpet) We know that all children
do not have the skill to play on a 7' ring, so a smaller ring (usually not
smaller than 3') is permitted. We also know that all tournaments will not
have the means to provide the larger mat. However, we do require that each
local tournament determine the surface and size of court that will be used
in their tournament. Therefore, each tournament or unit of competition must
play on the same type of surface.
6. TOURNAMENT FORMAT AND DOUBLE ENTRY.
Prior to the start of a tournament, the competition format must be
published (single, double elimination or round robin). The units of
competition will also be published (schools, grades or classes). The
tournament coordinator will certify that eliminated children will not
be granted another entry in another unit.
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American Marbles is really interested in
new participants at our marble tournaments. If you are already conducting
a marble tournament, we want to hear from you. If you have never had a
tournament but are interested in working with youth in your area, we want
to hear from you. We have established the following guidelines that have
to be met to participate in our tournament. We ask that the director of a
tournament certified that these guidelines are followed. A director may also need to provide news coverage or a listing of the participants of the tournament.
Braxton County, WV | Nutter Fort, WV | Wilsonburg, WV
Pea Ridge | Beckley, WV | Doddridge County, WV | Hardy County, WV
Elizabeth Town Festival | Central Cities Days | Perry Hall, MD | Mountaineer Marble Tournament