On February 15th 2014, in Zagreb, Croatia, will be held the second edition of the BJJ East European Championship. In the first edition, which was played this year, a large number BJJ players from the whole Eastern Europe region participated. For the 2014 event, event organizer Bojan Mirkovic is planning a bigger and even more exciting event with among other things, black belt superfights. Check out what Bojan has to say about this:
1. Hi Bojan please tell us about the upcoming BJJ East European Open that you are organising.
Hello to the East European BJJ community! I am so delighted to see BJJ growing and spreading all over the region. Well, in February 2014. Croatian BJJ Federation and Werdum Combat Team are organizing the 2nd BJJ East European Open Championship in Zagreb, Croatia. This event is always bringing something new and we always try to improve in terms of organization, and distinguish us with some special features which are not so common in BJJ tournaments, like prizes, accommodation, live streaming and many new that we are bringing up this year. Our goal is to give athletes so much deserved attention.
2. How was last year’s event?
Last year was our first event in hopefully many events to come, and it was a pure success. We had more than 230 competitors from 26 teams all over Europe, and that places us in top tournaments in region. Critics were just great, but as we are still growing we always seek for improvements. This year we are working on many new features like real-time online brackets, so competitors and audience can follow their progression through the brackets, improved live streaming and TV coverage, special announcer for final fights and superfights, and we are adding senior categories this year as well.
3. We have heard that you are organising some black belt superfights. Can you tell us more about this?
Yes, as we have good contacts with world’s top competitors, we are preparing some BJJ delights for our audience – Black Belts Superfights. We already have some BJJ stars applied, like Alan Finfou Nascimento, Yuri Simoes, Fabricio Nascimento , Valdir Linhares Kabeza, and some regional BJJ black belts . We will only have up to 5-6 superfights, as we are very limited with time, but we will only choose the best for our audience. We are still thinking of applying submission only rules for this category. But let us hear what audience wants, first.
4. Who are main sponsors for the tournament?
We are very lucky that our work was recognized even before the first tournament, and we had really great support from our sponsor Budosport, from Croatia. This year we are bringing some new players on the market, like Grips athletics, which will provide some great sponsor prizes like GIs and Grips t-shirts for all registered competitors. Grips was already in for this years 4 Rivers in Karlovac, 2 weeks ago. We are still seeking for more sponsors that might find their interest in this market.
5. Any last words?
Yes. As referees are always an issue, we will accept applications from any certified and experienced BJJ referees willing to work hard and fair, and get paid good. Referees should be the last thing to be talked about after the tournament is over unlike the hostesses we are bringing once again.
For more info and upcoming news on the BJJ East European, please keep visiting our website www.hbjjs.hr/EEOC/
