DarkStar20
Front Page Editor
I've wanted to create this thread for a few weeks now, but I wasn't quite sure I was ready to share my feelings across the boards just yet, but now I think I'm ready! The main reason is because I hope that I can help inspire other upcoming talent to really strive for success and never give up their dreams!
The goal I've made: Get people playing Pokemon in Southern Oregon. Here's the story:
This has been are really fantastic year for me. But for those of you who don't know me too well, (Everybody reading this), I should tell you a little about myself. I was born and raised in Southern Oregon, and I have played Pokemon ever since I was 10. I used to compete in tournaments and league play when Wizards was in charge, but in my area, the game kind of died out, and everyone lost interest. I basically took 7 years away from the game, but recently began playing again. Soon after, I found POP.
After about a year of playing the game again, I found POP at the beginning of this year, and found that there weren't any leagues or tournaments within 150 miles! I kind of already knew that there wasn't any Pokemon around where I lived anyway, so I started my own league. I had always dreamed of owning a Pokemon League and organizing events like the ones I had participated in, and my dream came true.
After a few months of successfully leading the league in Ashland, I attended the North-Western Regional competition. (And traveled a pretty long way to do so.) I was glad I did. It was the most magical experience I have had in a long time. The one bummer of the day was hearing the news that Texas had held a regionals that was bigger than ours! @_@ (Unlike last year when we had the biggest.)
That fact disappointed me, especially knowing that there was an entire Half of the State of Oregon that wasn't competing. So I decided to make this goal for myself for the upcoming year. Currently, most of the organized play in Oregon is north of Eugene. So I decided to strive to get leagues started in Ashland, Medford, and Grants Pass, thus connecting the southern cities of the state to the Northern cities. I figured, if I could get the Southern Cities playing, maybe we could make a showing at Regionals next year, and help show the rest of the country that the North-West is the true Representative for Pokemon in the US. However, the gap between Grants Pass and Eugene is still pretty wide. But Much to my delight, another Pokemon league happened to Pop up in a city right between the too, Roseburg!
Since Regionals, my Ashland league has grown and flourished, and I have found hobby shops in both Medford and Grants Pass to hold Leagues and Tournaments, and everyone is having fun. Also in the works is a Pre-Release being planned in Medford this August, and hopefully a Battleroads down here in the Fall. I would love nothing more than to bring a City Championship down here as part of the Championship Series for 2009, and take a large group of players with me to the 2009 Northwest Regionals, lets show them what we got!! :thumb: All this is defiantly one of the greatest things I've ever done, and I am so grateful for all the people that have made it possible. I'm going to do my best to make sure we Keep on rollin' and not only meet our goals, but Exceed them!!
-Jason
dark::colorless20)
Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:
I was also pretty exited about making the Top 4 in the final Oregon Battle Roads!
I remember back to when I was in those tournaments as an 11 year old, I never even came close to
winning a pokemon Tournament! But it just goes to show, the longer you play this game, the better you
get! You can only get good at this game by playing it, and losing is the greatest way to learn and grow
as a trainer, it shows you what you did wrong and how you can improve your deck and gameplay. So for
everyone out there, whether your a 10 year old just starting out playing, or a 10 year experianced
tournament orgaizer, I hope you'll all reach for the stars, and never stop striving to make your dreams
come true, cause it's certainly worth it when it does!
-Jason
dark::colorless20)
The goal I've made: Get people playing Pokemon in Southern Oregon. Here's the story:
This has been are really fantastic year for me. But for those of you who don't know me too well, (Everybody reading this), I should tell you a little about myself. I was born and raised in Southern Oregon, and I have played Pokemon ever since I was 10. I used to compete in tournaments and league play when Wizards was in charge, but in my area, the game kind of died out, and everyone lost interest. I basically took 7 years away from the game, but recently began playing again. Soon after, I found POP.
After about a year of playing the game again, I found POP at the beginning of this year, and found that there weren't any leagues or tournaments within 150 miles! I kind of already knew that there wasn't any Pokemon around where I lived anyway, so I started my own league. I had always dreamed of owning a Pokemon League and organizing events like the ones I had participated in, and my dream came true.
After a few months of successfully leading the league in Ashland, I attended the North-Western Regional competition. (And traveled a pretty long way to do so.) I was glad I did. It was the most magical experience I have had in a long time. The one bummer of the day was hearing the news that Texas had held a regionals that was bigger than ours! @_@ (Unlike last year when we had the biggest.)
That fact disappointed me, especially knowing that there was an entire Half of the State of Oregon that wasn't competing. So I decided to make this goal for myself for the upcoming year. Currently, most of the organized play in Oregon is north of Eugene. So I decided to strive to get leagues started in Ashland, Medford, and Grants Pass, thus connecting the southern cities of the state to the Northern cities. I figured, if I could get the Southern Cities playing, maybe we could make a showing at Regionals next year, and help show the rest of the country that the North-West is the true Representative for Pokemon in the US. However, the gap between Grants Pass and Eugene is still pretty wide. But Much to my delight, another Pokemon league happened to Pop up in a city right between the too, Roseburg!
Since Regionals, my Ashland league has grown and flourished, and I have found hobby shops in both Medford and Grants Pass to hold Leagues and Tournaments, and everyone is having fun. Also in the works is a Pre-Release being planned in Medford this August, and hopefully a Battleroads down here in the Fall. I would love nothing more than to bring a City Championship down here as part of the Championship Series for 2009, and take a large group of players with me to the 2009 Northwest Regionals, lets show them what we got!! :thumb: All this is defiantly one of the greatest things I've ever done, and I am so grateful for all the people that have made it possible. I'm going to do my best to make sure we Keep on rollin' and not only meet our goals, but Exceed them!!
-Jason
dark::colorless20)Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:
I was also pretty exited about making the Top 4 in the final Oregon Battle Roads!
I remember back to when I was in those tournaments as an 11 year old, I never even came close to
winning a pokemon Tournament! But it just goes to show, the longer you play this game, the better you
get! You can only get good at this game by playing it, and losing is the greatest way to learn and grow
as a trainer, it shows you what you did wrong and how you can improve your deck and gameplay. So for
everyone out there, whether your a 10 year old just starting out playing, or a 10 year experianced
tournament orgaizer, I hope you'll all reach for the stars, and never stop striving to make your dreams
come true, cause it's certainly worth it when it does!
-Jason
dark::colorless20)
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