Independents Cup 8 Sign-Up Thread

[IAC Organising Committee]

INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

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IAC-1 | IAC-2 | IAC-3 | IAC-4 | IAC-5 | IAC-6 | IAC-7

Pretty soon many of the association football-playing nations of NS Sports will be thinking about their CAF, or Campeonato, or Copa: it's the Big Three's regional championship time, and you're not invited...

The IAC-OC is pleased to open sign-ups for the eighth installment of the tournament for those footballing nations who are not eligible for the Big Three championships (AO, Rushmore and Esportiva). They can be puppets of big three nations as long as they are based outside the regions.

HOSTING
IAC-8 is open for host applications. Single or joint host applications are welcome, from users who have experience in hosting competitions of this scale. Bidders must be signed up for the present competition and users behind the nation must have competed in one of the previous installments, even if under a different flag. Host bids should be posted in this thread and include the usual details including methodology, formulae, and indicative scheduling - please read guidance on expectations for format and scorination further down this post. A vote will be organised if more than one bid is received, and in this case it is likely signed up nations with at least one previous user entry will be eligible to vote.

Reçueçn has been selected as the host for IAC-8!

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SIGN-UP RULES FOR IAC-8

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ELIGIBILITY & ENTRY
Any nation that is not a resident of the Big Three sporting regions - AO, Rushmore & Esportiva - at the time of this post may sign up to compete in the IAC. You may have been resident there in the past and may have competed in their international tournaments previously. You may plan to move to the sporting regions in the future and participation in this tournament does not preclude that, although it would be considered extremely bad manners to do so at the time of participation. Note, even if you've participated in the IAC in the past, you cannot participate with us if you're currently residing in a Big Three region, especially if you've signed up for their tournament.

The Independents Cup is not, of course, a WCC-sanctioned tournament, and while it uses official WCC rankings it has no impact on those rankings. Nations that have participated in WCs and nations that have not are both welcome to compete in the IAC, by signing up in this thread.

PUPPETS
Puppets of main nations resident in the Big Three are still eligible to compete in the IAC provided the puppets themselves are not resident in the Big Three, and it is permissible to create puppets just to take part here - all eligible nations are welcome. Puppets should be declared for transparency.

Previous entrants may enter two nations into the IAC provided they meet eligibility criteria. This means any user who competed and RPed (roster + minimum 1 post) in the last edition of the Independents Cup (it doesn't have to be the nation they are signing up to the IAC with). When entering two nations, please declare puppet status.

Everyone else may enter one nation to this tournament.

FORMAT & SCHEDULE
Precise arrangements will be confirmed by the host once selected and as the numbers become clear, but the guide for prospective hosts will be for a group stage of 3/4 games dependent on group size followed by a knockout bracket from 16 qualifying nations. Hosts will decide on a cap, with puppets taken out of the draw first if sign-ups exceed this at their discretion if necessary, last in first out.

The timetable will likely run in tandem with the Big Three championships; precise dates to be confirmed and dependent on the rate of sign-ups, taking cue from the other tournaments. I advise hosts to plan 48 hours between each cut-off to allow good time for RPing.

SCORINATION
The tournament will be scorinated using the host's preferred method which will be confirmed in due course. WCC ranks will be used to provide a general continuity within NS football, but RP bonus amounts must be sizeable enough to potentially allow new and consistently high quality RPers a good shot at the title: see unranked Veldgouwen's run to the final in the first edition.

SIGN-UP & DISCUSSION
Sign up in this thread to participate in the eighth edition of the IAC. Questions and clarifications welcome. Please remember to declare puppets.

This post confirms Drawkland's sign-up.

Sign-Ups
1. Drawkland
2. Lisander
3. Fleuronordicia
4. The Cybyl Tribe
5. Bliuji
6. Widovia
7. Kurovija
8. Abanhfleft
9. Space
10. Free Republics
11. Sajnur
12. Silver Beach
13. The PenguinLand
14. Darkmania
15. Squornshelan Remnant States
16. Reçueçn
17. Port Ember
18. Kavagrad
19. The Andromeda Archipelago
20. Omerica
21. Juvencus
22. Ouna
23. Fujai
24. Tamgu
25. Kelssek
26. Aquatic Mammal
27. Plane of Possiblity
28. The Dragons and The Bronies
29. New Lusitania and The Algarves
30. Barsland
31. Monglechabagd
32. HUElavia
33. Aaaaaa
34. Greater Vakolicci Haven
35. Terre Septentrionale
36. Britonisea

[Drawkland]

This post confirms Drawkland's sign-up.

^^^^^^^

Welcome to answer any questions and facilitate discussion as well.

[Lisander]

Signing up first. I'll never leave for the last days again.

[Fleuronordicia]

The host of the 3rd International Cup of 7ball imposes its flowery, northern self upon international soccer (yes, they call it soccer, or le socceur in French) for the first time in this tournament.

[The People of the Cybyl Tribe]

We're in!

Possible host bid depending on how Xanneria's CE25 bid goes.

[Bliuji]

Bliuji is in

[The Authoritarian Republic of Lochario]

In!

[Widovia]

Quite interesting

[Kurovija]

Yes. Yes, it is.

[Abanhfleft]

In.

[Space]

to return

[Free Republics]

The IAC 4 champs will return

[Sajnur]

Sajnur in

[Silver Beach]

Of course my good friends. Puppet of Banija.

[ThePenguinLand]

In for a return!

[Darkmania]

Why not? Sign me in.

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

SRS will return

[Recuecn]

Reçueç-in

[Recuecn]

the Eighth Independent Associations Championship
in Reçueçn

The IAC is a unique tournament. What sets the Championship apart from the Copa, the Campeonato, and the Cup is not what its members have in common, but what they don't. It is the place in nationstates sporting world for the homeless, the small, and the fiercely independent. Its fans may have a sort of self-deprecating humor, but this is belied by a deep love for the tournament--woe be to the outsider who snubs the IAC. It is a welcoming place for all, rewarding the dedicated newcomer: see unranked Veldgouwen's final run in the first edition... or that of some unranked small-fry called Reçueçn to third place in the last.

But enough quotes stolen from the sign-up thread and enough melodrama. Reçueçn bids to host the eighth IAC.

In-Context Information

Reçueçn, a very small country having only recently returned to the football multiverse, managed to create two impressive showings in the most recent World Cup and IAC, both while unranked. The nation has decided to follow up on its success with a hosting bid, for the purposes of which it has managed to find eight stadiums that might be able to hold international matches. Thus, concerning tournament format, there is an upper limit of 8 groups. Here are some possible formats, based on the number of sign-ups:

24: 6 groups of 4: top 2 teams plus 4 best 3rd place teams
28: 7 groups of 4: top 2 teams plus 2 best 3rd place teams
30: 5 groups of 6: top 3 teams plus best 4th place team
32: 8 groups of 4: top 2 teams
36: 6 groups of 6: top 2 teams plus 4 best 3rd place teams.

Formats using groups of four are highly preferred, and we will most likely try to either hold out for a good number, or close sign-ups when it looks like it will work out. But if there are more teams than this (or fewer) we will find a similar format that works. The idea is to have a group stage straight to a round of sixteen, preferably with no byes at any point, and definitely with none during the knock-out rounds.

Tiebreakers will be: points, goal difference, head-to-head points, head-to-head goal difference, coin flip.

Out of Context Information

Experience: Although I have never hosted a tournament on this forum, I have hosted a couple events of a similar scale: my own domestic league (if that counts) and a college football tournament for my region, The West Pacific. I feel very comfortable with the scorinator, the rp grading process, etc., and don't foresee any issues.

Scorination: I will be using the latest version of Xkoranate with the NSFS formula and additive style modifiers. Home advantage will be off, but I will give myself a small bonus to compensate. If I make it to the knock-out rounds, third-party scorination will be requested for my matches. WC ranks will be used, but unranked nations with a history of participation in the IAC will also get a bonus--in both cases, only if a roster is posted. A generous, degrading (although never to zero) RP bonus will be used to give lower-ranked nations who put in the effort a solid chance. Posting a roster, which as mentioned will be required for rankings to be applied, will also come with a bonus of its own.

Schedule: I'm assuming you guys would like to wrap this up before the olympics, so I am prepared to host the tournament from October 6 to 12--that's two weekends and the week between them. If sign-ups move more slowly than that, I will push it back another week, in which case only those who make it to the knock-out rounds will have any conflict with the Olympics. If sign-ups are really dragging, the Olympians will just have to deal with it. Matches will be scorinated daily, and cut-off will hopefully be around 10 or 11 pm for me in UTC +2, which would mean around 9 pm UTC or 5 pm EDT.

[Recuecn]

We were discussing running a championship for IAC nations' domestic champions in the old thread, but as Drawk pointed out, this is a better place for that conversation. My guess is that it sounds like there is enough interest for that to happen, in which case I would be happy to host that as well. There's lots of little details that go into that kind of thing, but I think the two really big questions would be

1. When do we hold it?
and
2. How and where do people sign up?

To address number 1 first, the big three's domestic championships are held in conjunction with UICA, which is the default. I would advocate for (and it seemed that at least Squornshelan Remnant States thought this might work too) linking it to the international cycle instead. We could hold it either once per cycle, after the WC, or twice per cycle, after the WC and IAC. This would allow people to finally straighten out their timelines--they can still do it however they want, but at least the conversion between the domestic cycle and the international cycle won't constantly be in flux. If people wanted to stick with the UICA schedule, that would still be possible too since people could just resubmit entries until they rescorinate for UICA.

That's my pitch as far as that goes (although I could say more). I'd just be very happy to get my timeline sorted out, but I obviously understand if other people aren't in favor of that idea. I'd like to hear which side people come down on, though, because right now I have only anecdotal evidence. Either decision is fine, linked to the UICA time-frame or the WCC one, but I think we should just make up our minds as the IAC community once and for all by the time we have the inaugural edition of a potential domestic tournament.

To address number 2, it depends on the answer to number one. If we stick with the UICA schedule, people can just post in the IDSNW thread like normal. If we don't, we could still use that thread, or we could use a dedicated IAC thread. (Although now that I think about this, it doesn't really seem like there's any reason to ditch the IDSNW at all.)

What do people think?

[Port Ember]

Its on like donkey kong!

[Kavagrad]

After 2 Semi-Final defeats in a row, the Redhearts are coming back with a vengeance!

Kavagrader fans are baying for Omerican blood (but hopefully beating them in a game of football will be enough).

[The Andromeda Archipelago]

The Andromeda Eagles are in.

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

1. When do we hold it?
and
2. How and where do people sign up?

Personally, I'm undecided on the points of timing and signup method, which I think go hand in hand. I think we would definitely get better participation if we take the latter option, with nations signing up for the IAC also having the option to enter however many teams in the ICC (or whatever we name it). I'm wary, however, of asking a host to scorinate two tournaments presumably simultaneously. I also like the idea of having all of the regional club competitions occurring in conjunction. I'm not sure if there is an NSS equivalent to the Club World Cup, but having our club competition operating on the same schedule as all the others would streamline participation in such a tournament. The main problems with simply using IDSNW that I see are 1) unpredictable timing and 2) poor visibility possibly leading to low participation. Holding the tournament in conjunction with UICA would also necessitate having either a permanent host, or a system by which hosting duty could be rotated, so that someone would be ready to start getting things together once the UICA cutoff goes up (as I type this though it occurs to me that we could organize to designate a host in response to the cutoff announcement post).

Anyway, those are my thoughts for the time being, nothing really definite as you can tell, but I definitely think its an idea we should move forward with.

I can also think of a ton of other questions about how to actually go about implementing the tournament, but these two are plenty to discuss for the moment.

[Drawkland]

1. When do we hold it?
and
2. How and where do people sign up?

Personally, I'm undecided on the points of timing and signup method, which I think go hand in hand. I think we would definitely get better participation if we take the latter option, with nations signing up for the IAC also having the option to enter however many teams in the ICC (or whatever we name it). I'm wary, however, of asking a host to scorinate two tournaments presumably simultaneously. I also like the idea of having all of the regional club competitions occurring in conjunction. I'm not sure if there is an NSS equivalent to the Club World Cup, but having our club competition operating on the same schedule as all the others would streamline participation in such a tournament. The main problems with simply using IDSNW that I see are 1) unpredictable timing and 2) poor visibility possibly leading to low participation. Holding the tournament in conjunction with UICA would also necessitate having either a permanent host, or a system by which hosting duty could be rotated, so that someone would be ready to start getting things together once the UICA cutoff goes up (as I type this though it occurs to me that we could organize to designate a host in response to the cutoff announcement post).

Anyway, those are my thoughts for the time being, nothing really definite as you can tell, but I definitely think its an idea we should move forward with.

I can also think of a ton of other questions about how to actually go about implementing the tournament, but these two are plenty to discuss for the moment.

I likely wouldn't support an Independent club cup if it wasn't run concurrently with all the other regional UICA-based events. I understand the desire to host it alongside the IAC for visibility reasons, but everybody's timelines are already so haphazard that it probably won't help matters having it out of sync. My take on the visibility thing is that anybody who is already interested enough in domestic ball probably already actively reads the thread and contributes just for UICA's sake. As long as we posted a suitable announcement with time in advance, there should be no problem getting Independent people to join in. I don't think we should active cater to people who aren't already involved with UICA by linking the domestic tournament to the international regional cup, because chances are those people aren't interested since they're already not participating in the biggest domestic event.

Sure, the initial cycle may slip under the cracks for those who don't pay real attention, but after one cycle of real results it'll most certainly catch on for anybody who pays any sort of attention. So that's why I would much rather support the independent domestic cup being run alongside UICA and the other regional domestic cups.