Team Scotland Squad Applications are now open!
Looking ahead to Eurobowl XVI in Budapest next year it’s no understatement to say as the new Scotland Captain I’m excited at the prospect of leading the Scottish contingent to Budapest, so excited you’d almost think it was Christmas Eve!
Budapest is a beautiful city and I’ve had the pleasure of visiting before. The city will undoubtedly be an incredible backdrop to another fantastic edition of Eurobowl.
The stunning city of Budapest by night
Credit: Zsubio
I’ve said all along that one of my key aims will be to encourage as many Scottish coaches to experience the Eurobowl or Europen who are willing and able to. Not only is it the premier competitive tournament of the year, but it's one heck of a gathering that every coach who can, should experience at least once. With that said,
“I’m pleased to announce that applications for the Scotland Squad are now open for Eurobowl XVI.”
Who should apply?
If you’re a Blood Bowl coach who considers themselves Scottish by birth, heritage or residency and you’ve set your Nation to Scotland on the NAF then you should apply!
"My ambition is not just for the Scotland Team to do the best it can in the Bowl and Open, but to have a record turnout of at least twenty Scottish coaches in Budapest."
Even if you think you’re not quite ready to play for Scotland, but you harbour the ambition for a future Eurobowl or even want to improve your game I’d encourage you to apply. The selection committee will review your application and give you feedback to help create a personal development plan that will help you take the steps to advance at a future Eurobowl.
Team Scotland with Team Bulgaria in Round 2 of Athens Eurobowl
Key Changes to the Scotland Squad
Previously our approach to selecting the team has been driven by a mix of automatic qualification spots through the Scottish Championship, a NAF Series, and some captain’s picks.
Whilst it was right at the time we’re looking to evolve by making selections based on applications that we receive. This is for a few key reasons:
Scottish coaches will be selected on their merit, regardless of where they live. Unfortunately a NAF series based in Scotland meant it was difficult to take account of all Scottish coaches, and lacked a basic sense of fairness.
The Scottish Championship has a surfeit of one-day tournaments. Whilst they’re fun, and you can get some good matches, realistically coaches should be seeking out the challenges of two-day tournaments like Mulligan’s - the Scottish NAF National, Scottish Team Championships and others to get ‘match-fit’ for Eurobowl.
Help us identify the coaches of ‘tomorrow’ as well as selecting the best squad for Hungary. As a smaller community we have to help our talented coaches develop. By encouraging coaches to identify themselves as ‘interested’ we can make sure we build for the long-term as well as Hungary next year.
That said the Team Scotland Squad will honour the automatic selection spaces won by LordGarlack (as Scottish Championship Series winner, congrats!), and i_done_goofd in the 2024 season and they will have their places in the Squad guaranteed.
Moving from a Bowl Eight to a Squad of Twelve
A big change is we’re moving the Team Scotland Squad from eight ‘Bowl’ coaches to a squad of twelve coaches. We’ll look to identify their principal race, but beyond that we will not look to assign and finalise which of the twelve coaches will play in the Eurobowl or the Europen until after the Home Nations in July.
This will give us maximum flexibility to test the best race and coach combinations. Over the course of the coming months we’ll be able to see the in-form coaches who are best placed to lead the charge in the Bowl. However, it is important to say, every coach on the official Squad of twelve, whether they play in the Bowl or the Open are Team Scotland.
The Selection Committee
As skipper I won’t be acting alone when reviewing the applications that come in. On hand is an able Selection Committee who will advise me and make their recommendations as we look to finalise the Squad.
On the Selection Committee:
Purdindas, Vice Captain: Last year’s captain and long-time servant of the team, bringing his wisdom and insight to the player base will be invaluable.
Loki, Scottish Alumni Advisor: Loki is Scotland’s most successful Eurobowl coach in our history. He knows what it takes to perform on the big stage.
ChrisRaff88, Scottish Blood Bowl Committee Chairman: Represents the Scottish Blood Bowl Community at large and will ensure that the spirit of our community is captured and represented in our team.
Selection Criteria
I’ve been clear that as we move away from selection by automatic ‘rights’ we’ll move to selection by application with a transparent criteria that will govern the Selection Committee’s decision making.
“For those who are applying I’d strongly recommend reading this before diving into completing the application form to understand what we’re measuring.”
At a high level there will be a qualitative element to the application where coaches can directly impact on their chances of selection by impressing the selection committee with the case they put forward. There will also be a quantitative element where we will look at a coach’s ‘numbers’ over the last 12 - 24 months and key metrics through the lens of results against:
Opponents they’ve played against with race Elo at 200+
A coach’s preferred race(s) they want to play at Eurobowl
A coach’s overall performance
To aid our quantitative analysis the Selection Committee will be utilising the Danish’s system of using the NAF’s Daily Data Dump in a sheet where we’ve been capturing the monthly view of the Top 40 Scottish Coaches over the last three months of this season.
More importantly, and thanks to Sann, we’ve built out a data view that relates to Scotland's Selection Criteria and will be the key resource that the Committee will rely on.
Have Questions? Ask!
If you’re contemplating applying for Team Scotland and you’re not sure if you should, or if you have questions about any aspect of the application process then please ask. I have an open-door, feel free to DM me on Facebook or Discord and we can arrange a call if needs be.
Timetable
The selection process will follow the timetable outlined:
Date | Activity |
Tuesday 24 December | Applications for Team Scotland Opened |
Sunday 5 January | Applications for Team Scotland Closed at 5pm |
Monday 6 - Saturday 11 January | Selection Committee consider applications |
Sunday 12 January | Applicants informed of the outcome of their application |
Monday 13 January | Scotland Squad Announced |
The Outcome
There will be no failed applications to Team Scotland, only differing levels of squad membership. You can expect to be made one of three offerings as a Scottish coach:
A place on the Team Scotland Squad of twelve where you will represent the community either in Eurobowl or Europen as the official Team Scotland
The Europen Scotland Development Team - the first stepping-stone to a full cap at a future Eurobowl
Invite all remaining applicants to attend Europen as part of Scotland’s Tartan Army to gain experience, have a good time and enjoy Budapest.
Being a part of the Tartan Army
Every single Scottish coach attending Eurobowl in Budapest will be invited to travel as part of the Tartan Army and can expect the following:
Access to official Team Scotland Merchandise - we’ll look the part as a team.
Invite to ‘The Scotland Dinner’, which will take place on the Thursday preceding Eurobowl in Budapest where the Tartan Army and invited friends of Scottish Blood Bowl will enjoy some revelry to kick-off the biggest Blood Bowl weekend of the year!
Pre-tournament support from Team Scotland in relation to key information, roster advice and guidance on what to expect, particularly if this is your first Europen.
Get your application in!
Ok so that was a bit of a read, but hopefully you’re as excited as I am about playing for Scotland in Eurobowl XVI in Budapest next year. So what are you waiting for? Hit the apply button below.
Athens, Round 1: Clement0, Team France and BB_Jock, Team Scotland
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