An interesting hypothesis...
"Organisation and central control is the death of Old Subbuteo". Discuss (3000 words)
Over the last 15 years or so Old Subbuteo appears to have been:
- A community rather than a constituted organisation
- A journey rather than a destination
This has allowed the movement to respond to things as they arise, whilst keeping close to shared values. A sort of self-guided evolution of discovering new ways of doing things.
To achieve this with a degree of collective agreement has required some central control over the years.
For example: Decisions made over the years to remove rankings; removing the need for referees; Replacing trophies with local food produce (for example!)
There has also been some central decision-making on occasions (by the Old Subbuteo Council) to address unwanted behaviours from individual and clubs (in order to protect the core values of friendship and community).
In England, we are also on an Old Journey. But it feels different from the Italian journey. To date, we've had an informal approach, where like minded folks just do some Old Subbuteo, or retro Subbuteo, or anything that reminds them of playing like kids (currently 'Old School Subbuteo' is becoming a popular idiom, representing the feeling of the game desired by many here).
With the increased interest in Subbuteo that arose during lockdown, and with the added focus of a world cup event returning to the birthplace of Subbuteo in 2024, bit of coordination might help to increase interest and involvement...?
So, how to balance freedom and control...?
The age old question of how society develops healthily.
Let's see how we go...
Edited by thefingerismakingmeflick - 10/3/2023, 09:05
