The idea has been brought up to start, at some point in the future, a trails night for Emerald and Sapphire darters only. Please feel free to post any questions or comments on this subject below.

So, how do you quantify someone as "Sapphire" or "Emerald"?

What if they only play Trails and don't play league? Or if someone bounces back and forth from Diamond to Emerald from season to season? Or someone that played Diamond but hasn't played in a while and is just getting back into it? Just some things to think about when establishing the "rules."

Would establishing a "S & E only" trails take a night away from the Diamond darters? Or would you have two separate locations on the same night? Then you need two separate locations and two separate directors.

Or would it be better to pick a very popular trails with a lot of boards and run 2 separate brackets simultaneously? You only need one director (maybe they get extra points for running two brackets), and if there's a low number of total players on a given night, everyone could play in one bracket.

What follows, of course, is just my humble opinion and in no way reflects the opinions of any board members. (My little disclaimer so nobody yells at the board if they disagree with anything I say here)



The idea was kicked around making it a regular night but having diamond players in one side of the bracket and emerald and sapphire in the other side with the winners meeting in the finals. As of right now thre is no Thursday night Trails at all, so we thought it might be a way to kick start a night that has traditionally gotten poor turnouts for trails.
As far as how we distinguish, that would be up to Dusty Schulz, The Trails Director, and Chris Baus, the Second Vice Pres (as trails falls under his responsabilities), to decide the qualifications. A lot of it I'm sure would fall under the common sense heading, but the rule I went by for The LEDA Championships was you played under the highest division you were involved in during the previous 3 seasons. If you had not played recently, it went by your highest level ever, and if you had never played league it was a judgement call made on the spot by the person running it(ME).
It's just an idea right now, and may never happen. My hope would be that it would just get people started in trails and let them see that it's a good time and that no matter what level you play at you can win. I have been beaten on several occasions by Sapphire darters, but they don't try in many cases because they look at it like they have no chance. I know of at least a few that have won trails or come in the top few on big nights.

I understand the reasoning behind giving this a try. But, I don't think it is necessary. I have been to trails at several different locations and (on a good night) there have been a number of saphire and emerald darters. I am a pretty average Saphire 4 darter, the diamond darters don't scare me away. I go to trails to have a great time, and I do. A chance to beat a diamond player only makes the occasion sweeter. The diverse level of skills at trails only helps me be a better darter.

If other saphires or emeralds are too pansy-assed to play at trails because they are afraid of diamond darters, then they miss out on a hell of a good time. One of the purposes of trails is to earn enough points for a trip to a tournament. If I only ever play saphire level players, how on earth would I ever compete at a big tournament?

Great point, and there ARE a lot of Sapphire and Emeral darters that come to trails and become better players because of it (you included). Thanks for your support and I hope you keep coming and your reply brings out more like you that see that it's a good time, win or lose.

would it be possible for the first round singles losers to play one more singles match, maybe for 1 point or half a point. All first round losers chips redrawn for one more match. this may help get the sapphire and emerald divisions out to trails. alot of nights its one and done, then sit for 2-3 hours while waiting for blind draw to start. another match against a different opponent can only improve your game. this could work at the bigger trails sites ( Players club, Linos).