Makes notes about American tournament clashes (6)

I believe the answer is:

jousts

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'tournament clashes' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to natural events as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'makes notes about american' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'american' could be 'us' (abbreviation for United States) and 'us' is found in the answer.
'notes' could be 'jots' (jot is a kind of note) and 'jots' is present in the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for jousts that I've seen is " contests on horseback".)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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