Newsletter #3

22.04.2022

 

TO BE or NOT TO BE

A question that we need to answer soon. So, let’s take a look at the factors influencing it.

 

Covid pandemics – In Romania everything seems to be back to normal, no more restrictions, no one wearing mask anymore. In most European countries restrictions seem to be lifted as well.  The problem is Asia, especially China, where the situation looks very tough. This affects the participation at the congress and we may lose hundreds of participants from China, Japan and Korea.

 

War in Ukraine – We do not believe that Russia will attack a NATO country so we think that even if we are close to the Ukrainian border the congress will be 100% safe from this point of view.  Nevertheless, this also affect the participation rate and we may lose around 100-150 players from Russia and Ukraine.

 

All this means that even if we go ahead and organize the EGC we can expect heavy losses in terms of participation. Moreover, many players from Europe are in a wait and see mood, postponing their decision until the last moment.  This poses great problems for the organizers. First of all, if the budget from entry fees doesn’t reach a certain threshold it’s impossible to cover the financial costs of congress preparations and a decent prize budget. Another big problem is the lack of predictability. If we expect 200 participants, rent rooms and arrange tables and chairs for this number and then get 500 in the last moment it will be too late for preparations. In a similar fashion if we prepare for 500 participants and we get 200 we will have big problems as well and would have spent needlessly a lot of money that we will not have on preparations.

 

As a conclusion, we really want to go ahead and organize the EGC but we need your help. All players who intend to participate but did not register should do it ASAP. Trip preparation, especially the reservation of accommodation it’s very urgent as well because accommodation capacity of the town is diminishing rapidly due to high tourist interest for Vatra Dornei in summer.

 

Our final decision depends completely on you, if you want a live EGC this summer please register, pay the entry fees and plan your trip. 

 

 

EGC practical info

 

TRAVEL  Many people seem to believe that Vatra Dornei is hard to reach. Well, it’s a matter of perspective. Compared to many other congresses like Tuchola, Lecksand, Olstzyn or Oberhoff, Vatra Dornei will be easier to reach because we provide bus pick up from airports.  There is a natural balance between a large city with an airport and a place in the middle of nature. The latter is harder to reach but more pleasant to be in. 

 

ACCOMMODATION As time passes this tends to become a very serious problem for people who didn’t plan their trip yet. It will be close to impossible to find a last minute accommodation in Vatra Dornei because the town gets really full in summer.  We have reserved a few strategic locations and are ready now to release the rooms still available:

Vila Seva****:  

double room price           31Eur/day/person (acc + Breakfast)                         8 rooms

Vila Vanatorul****:

double room price           26Eur/day/person (acc + Breakfast)                         14 rooms

Casa Bucovineana**:

                                     30 Eur/day/person (acc + 3 meals)                          14 rooms

Hotel Kaban*****:

double room price           43Eur/day/person (acc + Breakfast)                         11 rooms

Booking accommodation at these locations should be done by contacting us.

Please note that we don’t handle accommodation except the few locations we have reserved. For the rest you need to consult our comprehensive accommodation list on the site and contact the hotels yourself.

 

MEALS  Will not be a problem because we arranged to have a street food festival along with the congress, boasting quality food that can easily compensate a meal in the restaurant.

 

VENUE Main playing venue is the Sports hall that is part of Loisir relaxation facility, just between the town stadium and Casa Bucovineana guest house. It is a place with a lot of green and some relaxation facilities where we will have a very pleasant, safe and fun environment. Football amateurs will find it easy to play to their heart’s desire, organized or disorganized matches.

We will build a terrace on the grass in front of the hall so that people who take a break or finish their rounds can go out and hang there, eating, drinking, reviewing or playing games, watch top games transmissions on large monitors installed there. Small tents for pro activities will be around as well as generous grassy fields to lay down and enjoy Go and summer in good congress fashion.

 

Additionally, the senior EC will be played at Vanatorul Vila, which means the top players who are likely to participate in the EC should rush to reserve rooms there. It’s a really nice place close to the forest and to some of the planned surprises. It’s a 10 min walk down the hill to the main venue but for people who prefer a quick trip we will have a shuttle bus connection between our congress locations.

 

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS  Our call was heard and we got a very nice international team shaping up. Depending on number of registrations in the following 30 days we may need a few more playing hall referees, otherwise the team is pretty full and ready to roll.

 

CALENDAR OF CULTURAL EVENTS  The concept is more clear now and we have a plan for the first 10 days of the congress. Because we start with a SEYGO youth event on the 22nd-23rd July we will prioritize activities dedicated to children and youth during that time. We will continue with a Traditional ‘Land of Dorna’ Fair from Sunday 24th to Tuesday 26th, have our free congress day on Wednesday dedicated to trips and relaxation and then continue from Thursday to Sunday with the ‘Days of Dorna’ festival organized by one of our youth NGO’s from Vatra Dornei. The schedule of cultural events will be announced in detail and you’ll also get complete info in your Congress welcome bags.

 

WYGC 2022 in Vatra Dornei: 12 of the best European youth players will represent Europe at the World Youth Go Championship 2022. This year the event will be held online. The first 4 round are held between 1st – 6th August during the 2nd week of EGC. The 12 youth players from 7 European countries will gather in Vatra Dornei and we plan to have daily transmissions and reviews by EGF pros live or on Twitch with their games.

Because the children tournament is also scheduled during the 2nd week of the congress it looks like we will have a 2nd week full of interesting activities for children.

 

Stay tuned for future updates!

EGC2022 team