Herbotamia Tournament

The **Herbotamia Tournament** was a marble sports tournament based in Herbotamia.

## History

The original members of the Minty Maniacs started to compete in local tournaments which featured a a variety of events that made use of their surroundings. The team would perform a Catwalk along a wooden beam or a Quartet Jump down a slope into a lake. These tournaments started to become popular throughout Western Asia and were conducted with no audience due to the hot, dry summer climate. The Minty Maniacs decided to make an official tournament which they named the Herbotamia Tournament which they competed in against the Black Jacks and the Golden Wisps. The next season more teams from the region joined the tournament.

In the tournament's second year a featurette about marble sports went viral and led to an increase in interest in marble sports. This led to the tournaments that were featured, like the Knikkegen Marble League, increasing in popularity while smaller, less well-known tournaments, like the Herbotamia Tournament, stagnated. The cost of maintaining the tournament without sponsorship started to become too high, especially after the announcement of Marble League 2016.

The Minty Maniacs were planning to retire when they were approached by Jelle Bakker. They were focused on running Marble League 2016 but missed running a regional tournament. Jelle offered to sponsor the Tournament and it was rebranded the Hubelino Tournament.

After Hubelino Tournament 2018, some of the teams decided to retire. As well as this, there was a lack of revenue and interest from fans, despite Jelle's best efforts, and the Tournament was cancelled.

In 2020, a Herbotamia Tournament reunion exhibition tournament was planned for teams that had competed in the Herbotamia and Hubelino Touraments and was hosted in at the Pepper Field, the stadium of the Minty Maniacs, in Chlorotopia, a city in Herbotamia. There were nine Hubelino teams, so they decided to invite some other local teams (to preserve the spirit of the original tournament) to make up the numbers to twelve. The participants were the nine Hubelino teams plus the Yarble Yellers, the Grape Nuts and Team Plasma. There was limited seating so only family and friends could watch. The audience were also asked to hold their applause until the very end, again to replicate the original lack of in-person audience. The tournament was played behind closed doors and those who attended signed non-disclosure agreements so the results are unknown.

In early 2021, the Minty Maniacs ventured to deliver eight different teams an invitation to participate in the 2021 Herbotamia Invitational, which consisted of five events. At the end of the tournament, the top two teams, the Solar Flares and the Gliding Glaciers, both separated by one point, were approached by Jelle Bakker to participate in the Marble League 2021 Qualifiers due to their exceptional performances.

## Teams

Teams that have participated in at least one Herbotamia Tournament include:

* Balls of Flame
* Black Jacks
* Bluefastics
* Bumblebees
* Gliding Glaciers
* Golden Orbs
* Grape Nuts
* Green Gang
* Minty Maniacs
* Ruby Rollers
* Solar Flares
* Team Phoenix
* Team Plasma
* Valiant Violets
* Yarble Yellers

## 2021 Herbotamia Invitational

### Points System

* 1st: 10 pts
* 2nd: 8 pts
* 3rd: 6 pts
* 4th: 4 pts
* 5th: 3 pts
* 6th: 2 pts
* 7th: 1 pt
* 8th: 0 pts

## References

1. ↑ Stynth, NordiqueWhaler (26th October 2021). RetRollSpective – Minty Maniacs. Project Marblearth.
2. ↑ Stynth (30th October 2020). Offseason Moments – ML2020 Part 1. Jelle's Marble Runs.
3. ↑ Stynth, The Emperor (30 June 2021). RetRollSpective – Gliding Glaciers. Project Marblearth.
4. ↑ Stynth, The Emperor (30 June 2021). RetRollSpective – Solar Flares. Project Marblearth.