1.1 Motivation

Do you want a job requiring probably hundeds of hours of work with no pay and the possibility of financial liabilities? Yes? Welcome new TO!

The AoS calendar, at least in the UK, is jam-packed full of tournaments . So in full, in fact, that you could probably do 40 tournaments a year if you were stuffed full of cash, passionate about motorways… and were very, very single. People all over the UK - and beyond - give up their time and take on board sizable responsibilities to provide entertainment for others – often exposing themselves to wilds of social media, chippy comments and the risk of losing money.

It’s not altruistic of course. TO’s volunteer their services within an environment they enjoy, for people they often know and to further a game they’re passionate about. The drive of ego can’t be denied, whether the unconscious motivation is testing one’s personal identity or winning plaudits from others –putting on bigger and better tournaments than the last one. Some TO’s may need an objective – something to aim for to drive them through life’s mundanaities . It’s not the money though. It would be more ‘profitable’, I dare say, to spend the equivalent hours walking the streets picking up loose change on the pavement. That’s not to say that some bigger tournaments won’t make a ‘profit’ but in almost any case I can recollect this is pumped back into making free content – the other side of the same coin and a right which can’t be denied.

My own personal motivations are pretty varied. I’m not one for deep self-examination but on the top level:

·         I’ve always been a bit of an organiser; events, football teams, projects and governance – whether professional or for fun. Mostly this emanates from me wanting to take part in something which won’t happen unless I make it. I guess this is very a common motivation for TO’s.

·         My experiences of running club competitions (winning the annual club competition that I organised still gives me a drunken, self-satisfied feeling that’s difficult to recreate) and small one-dayers have been wholly positive. There’s a certain level of adrenaline which is mildly addictive.

·         It’s nice to collaborate. My best work is done in conjunction with others – it keeps that motivation going. I’m already enjoying the banter with the South London Legion gang.

·         I’m relatively time rich – by my own standards – though that time is spent rooted on the 05.43 from Eastbourne. I know that I need to make this time in some way valuable (other than to furnish my loving family with a lifestyle to which they have become accustomed!)  and not to just spend it with my face pressed up against a rain-flecked window wondering where it all went wrong. Long projects with quality resolutions. I’ve written 2 and ¾ books mildly well received books on trains – but talk about picking up loose change…

·         The London events issue. Peeps in the South East are pretty hard done by when it comes to events. High running costs and wariness of others as to the expensiveness of ‘down south’ keep them to a minimum (which I get, being a northerner). Unfortunate, you would say, as this is where most of the population lives. I kinda want to bust this myth, and so do the others.
 

…and that’s me. Nothing too unusual or eye-opening in that. I expect large portions of this will resonate with other TO’s. I’ll keep this going focusing on more practical aspects, probably on a weekly basis.  It’s Monday morning, 06.48, and I’m one down - so that augers well.

mx