Update 12:43pm: Aaaand we’re full. Please use the Wait List to add your team. We nearly always have teams drop out, so don’t delay!

H16 Registration is open: Go!

Follow along on the Bracket page. When you register, don’t forget to pledge your balls to Higgyball, and add a few songs to the Music Registry list.

If you don’t have a partner, please add yourself to the Free Agents list. When all team spots have been filled, the Wait List will open up.

While you’re there, don’t forget to buy a Shirt (sales end May 12) and add to the Food Registry.

Please email mark.r.walker@gmail.com if you have any problems or questions. Good luck!

Here’s your reminder that Sign-up Sunday is fast approaching. Mark your calendarios for Sunday, May 5, 2019 at 12:00pm at www.higgyball.com. The cost is $10 per team, paid via PayPal (credit/debit card or PayPal accepted). You must have two team members to register, or you can use the Free Agent list if you don’t yet have a partner. If the 28 slots fill up before the event, we’ll open a Wait List for the slowpokes. During registration, we’ll also ask you to pledge your balls, just like last year, and allow teams to request music for the event playlist. Note: the top four teams from last year will get early registration, so watch your inboxes for that.

Also, H16 T-shirts are now available to order. Act fast; we’ll close T-shirt sales at 11:59pm on May 12, so don’t delay! Some great choices from Paddy this year.

Finally, take some time now or later to sign up on the Food Registry. It takes a village to feed this army, so we ask that you bring some items to share.

Even though the groundhog is a filthy liar, warm weather is right around the corner, which means it’s almost time for Higgyball 16! This year’s event will be on Saturday, May 25, 2019 (with a rain backup date on the next day) at our usual location, the fabulous Tincher-Mann estate on King Rd. Please know that your industrious High Council has been meeting in earnest to make the event as fun as ever!

Write a caption for this photo in the comments on the website, and the winner gets a prize. Many more Higgyball-related details will be forthcoming in the next several weeks.

In the meantime, some local polar bears decided to play some “Snocce” (snow bocce). Try it out during the next snowfall, and let us know the results.

Due to popular demand, we’ve reopened orders for H15 T-shirts. Don’t be the only one in your knitting group without one, act fast. Orders close again on Monday, June 4, forever this time (for reals, we mean it). Click here to order.

It’s always great when we get a new name on the Higgyball cup, and H15 gave us just that: Congratulations to Marc Tincher and Egon Kraan for the victory! The final matchup between them and 509 Girls provided one for the ages, with the final throw deciding the match, 12-10, for Cougar Bait. Rounding out the top four were Cheese and Pinkley Ford. Good job all around!

If you have a collection of photos from the event, feel free to send them to your friendly neighborhood High Council member, and we’ll get them archived here on the site. Also, if you’re missing anything, we always have leave behinds, so let us know. Finally, it’s never too late to think about next year, so let us know what worked well, what didn’t work so well, and we’ll do our best to make Higgyball 16 even better!

Well, after three days of perfect weather, we’ve made it to the big day. It looks like we may have a pop-up shower or two throughout the day, but we’re going to try to play through it. Don’t forget your rain gear, and we’ll all get through this together!

Hey folks,

As most of you have probably heard by now, the Montavon family has fallen on hard times. Within the spirit of friendship and community, consistent with the ideals of Higgyball, your humble high council would like to offer a Split-the-Pot fundraiser during this year’s tournament.

Tickets are one ticket for $1.00, or 6 tickets for $5.00. We will pick a winner at random just before the Final Four games take place. Half the proceeds will go directly to the Montavon family in the form of a Kroger gift card. Cash only, please.

Thanks for you support, and good luck at the tournament!

Some notes about Saturday:

• Our hosts have asked people to bring extra ice (even if you haven’t signed up for it). It’s going to be HOT on Saturday, so we will use the extra ice. We also need a few extra tables for the food and deck areas. If you have some easily portable tables to lend for the day, please let mark.r.walker@gmail.com know. Lastly, we apparently have a surplus of mustard. If you signed up for mustard, you’re off the hook, don’t bring it.
• The Bracket and Wait List have gone through some transformations lately. If you’ve signed up and your plans have changed regarding Higgyball, please let me know, and we’ll take care of you. And by take care of you, I mean shun you mercilessly.
• The weather forecast for Saturday is still being coy about rain. We’ll probably avoid the rain like we always do, but if we do have to postpone to Sunday, we’ll make that call on Saturday by 9:00am. If you don’t hear anything, we’re still on! In the event that we are forced to postpone, any parties that cannot participate on the rescheduled day will be refunded in full.
• I will be reaching out to those that pledged their balls to Higgyball to remind them to bring their bocce sets. We can’t have Higgyball without your balls!

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Higgyball is next weekend! To the things:

• We need your tune requests. Visit the Music Registry and give us your favorite songs to fill out the soundtrack of our lives. We won’t judge your poor taste in music.
• Take a peek at the Food Registry and let us know if you can bring anything else (we always need more ice). Or look at the contribution list to remind yourself what you promised to bring.
• We cannot stress this enough: BE ON TIME. We’re going to kick off at 11:00am, and if a registered team isn’t there in full, we’ll have to drop you and pick up the next team on the waitlist. If you do get dropped, you’ll get a full refund, but the Swiss Pairing format requires all teams playing at the same time. Let us know well in advance if a registered team cannot attend.
• Speaking of Swiss Pairing, make sure you understand the rules, especially our newcomers. It’s not hard once we get into the swing of things, and we’ve found it makes the early rounds more competitive. As usual, we’ll run everything through a computer on the deck, and I’ve hopefully fixed a few bugs from years past regarding matchups and field assignments. I’ll have a Wi-Fi network set up (but not connected to the Internet) so that you can use a smartphone with a web browser to follow along as the tournament progresses. This isn’t a requirement, however; you can get score updates and field assignments from the deck.
• H15 checklist: chairs, sunscreen, bug spray, sunglasses, hat, cooler, bocce set (did you pledge your balls?), coozie, food, beverages.

This Sunday at noon is your last chance to order an H15 T-Shirt, so act fast!

A few items remain on the Food Registry, so if you haven’t already, please let us know you’ll bring something.

We’re just about two weeks away, so it’s time to start watching the weather. Currently, it’s showing rain for the big day, but that will likely change a dozen times between now and then. If we do need to call it, we’ll let people know that morning, and re-schedule for the next day. Fingers crossed!

Finally, check out the new field map. Our gracious hosts have reconfigured their green space, so we’re looking forward to spreading out a bit, and avoiding some of the problem areas of past Higgyballs.