Get Your Kicks at BTE: Enter Our 5-a-Side Soccer Tournament

Here's a chance you might not get again -- the opportunity to kick the ankles (and maybe more) of some Light Reading editors without getting arrested.

How so? Well, Light Reading is organizing a charity five-a-side soccer/football tournament to be held during this year's Big Telecom Event in Chicago June 9 and 10, and we have room for eight teams, one of which, of course, will be a Light Reading team. (So we have room for seven other teams -- don't tell me I'm not good at math!)

And how will that work, you may ask? Well, because BTE 2014 (the first) was such a big hit, we had to move this year's event to a bigger venue, namely McCormick Place in Chicago, which, for those of you who used to attend Supercomm will know, has plenty of floor space. So we're filling some of ours with a five-a-side soccer pitch and inviting all-comers to enter a team into our competition.

Now, Light Reading has a long history of winning its own sporting challenge events -- pool, bowling and so on -- and we intend to lift our own virtual trophy again. So who will stand in our way? Come on, you know you want to.

Of course, there are what some might call "terms and conditions" to this challenge. As the tournament takes place on the show floor at BTE, the only people who can take part are those who are registered to attend BTE.

But why wouldn't you register? It's THE industry event to go to this summer because it offers:

Want to know more about NFV, SDN, IoT, data center interconnect, advanced analytics, 4K/8K video management, network security and 4G evolution? These topics and many more will be covered at Light Reading's second Big Telecom Event on June 9-10 in Chicago. Get yourself registered today or get left behind!

So now that you know BTE/Chicago is your destination for early June, I can tell you're wondering how you can find four other able-bodied and willing colleagues in your company who have the stamina and skill to party late at the Leading Lights awards on the Monday night (June 8) and then take part in a high-octane soccer tournament (and do some work!) the next day.

If you can, great! You can enter a complete squad and get to choose an amusing team name that's linked to your company. (I'm thinking something like the Brocade Bruisers or Sprint Socceroos). If not, then you can enter yourself into the five-a-side "pool" and play in a multivendor team (a great way to show how your company is fab at interworking with partners and even rivals).

To get your name in the frame, there are three things you need to do:

— Ray Le Maistre, , Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading