Honoured, overwhelmed, chuffed, and a little embarrassed. But most of all, proud, and very, very excited.
To get so close to victory last August was pretty galling, and although we were so proud to be the first England team to gain a Silver at an ECOAP or WCOAP, at the time it felt like it was so near yet so far. We had an amazing team, and victory would not have been unjust (not trying to detract from the Irish win though - they fully deserved it). To get a second chance is just incredible - huge thanks to APAT! I now have one target and one objective, and like last time, I will give this role everything it deserves and more.
Some say the hardest part of this job is selecting a team - I tend to disagree.... the hardest part is saying thanks but no thanks to so many fantastic players and friends that request (and deserve) a place.
Like last time, and as per APAT rules, one place on the England team is already decided by virtue of being the highest placed English player in the individual table of the most recent APAT online league. That honour goes to Tony Trippier, who lead the league from several weeks out, and although it went to the very last game until it was decided, ended up winning it be a healthy margin. The second placed player that pushed Tony close was... er... me, and despite scoring in most rounds, I could get nowhere near Tony who seemed to be ever-present on the final table. Tony was also in the team that won Silver at the ECOAP in 2012, where he fully justified his place by scoring heavily in all rounds. Congratz to Tony.
Once again, I will select a team of players that are able to show good recent form either inside or outside of APAT, are passionate about their poker, are even more passionate about England, and most of all, they will be active contributors to APAT and it"s community. With that, I would like to open this up in the usual way for people to apply by PM. Please help me with the decision making by sharing some relevant details as above.
To make sure people have enough time to secure their travel plans, I would like to finalise the team before the end of February, therefore closing date for applications is Sunday 24th February - team will be announced shortly after.
(http://www.warstore.co.uk/ekmps/shops/marlina/images/england-st-george-charger-5-x-3-flag-2937-p.jpg)
We are England, and this is our time.