MAPS / MSSL 2008: THE FALL CHALLENGE

DOUGHBOY FIELDS, FORT DIX NJ

BOYS & GIRLS -  NOVEMBER 15-16, 2008

 

Dear Coach / Manager:

 

Welcome! We expect you are reading this because your team has applied to THE FALL CHALLENGE on Saturday November 15th and Sunday November 16th. Please review the following information carefully, ALL OF IT IS IMPORTANT! Yes, its lengthy, but 90% of what you will need to know is all here in one place!

 

A)   APPLICATION

 

Please note that your application is not complete until payment has been received. We will accept teams after their online application has been entered and their payment received.

 

Teams not accepted will be placed on a waiting list. If not ultimately accepted, any refunds will be issued after the event concludes.

 

B)  LODGING

 

A requirement for acceptance for out-of-area teams is that your team utilizes sanctioned tournament lodging. Note that we reserve blocks of rooms at these facilities well in advance to ensure that our participating teams’ needs are adequately met. If we do not utilize these reserved rooms, the hotels may not make these rooms available at future events, especially at times of the year when lodging demands in the area are greatest. Therefore, your cooperation here is expected.

 

If your room situation has still not been squared away, please contact Lodging Coordinator Kristi at kristi@titanlodging.com as soon as possible. Additional Lodging Information is found at http://www.socceragency.net/maps/Lodging/INFO_Lodging.htm.

 

C)   FORT DIX SECURITY & ON-SITE CONCERNS

 

This applies to all teams scheduled to play at Fort Dix.

 

Please advise all team members who will be entering the base that each vehicle must have:

**  Valid Vehicle Registration

**  Valid Vehicle Insurance Card

**  Valid Drivers License for the Driver

**  Plus a Drivers License, Passport or other Picture ID for each additional adult in the vehicle

 

The first three items are required on a vehicle by law at all times, yet it has become surprising how many vehicles trying to enter the base can not produce these items upon request. Failure to produce these documents has required parents to leave their vehicles at the entry gate.

 

Each team also has to submit online a Security Roster, listing all team members and spectators entering the base. This Online Security Roster is accessed from The Fall Challenge Homepage by clicking on FORT DIX ONLINE ENTRY DATA INPUT. We will be contacting Team Managers about two weeks before the tournament to provide them with their screen name and passwords. If your roster is not fully settled, if you are still waiting on guest players, and so on, just input the best roster information you have as of the moment. If in doubt, always err on the side of being more inclusive rather than less. This roster will not impact the "playing roster" you present at registration.

 

Teams that have done such an online security roster for an event in the last year will only need to update their existing entries. If you are provided with a different ID and password than In the past, it should still allow you to access previously inputted info; if it doesn’t, contact the office at 732-940-5599. (Also, inputted info will now be available for attendance at future Fort Dix events.)

 

You can start preparing for this procedure by reading the FORT DIX GATE ENTRY INFO LETTER accessed from The Fall Challenge Homepage and posted at http://www.socceragency.net/maps/venues/FortDix_Security_Info.htm.  There is also a form you can print to help you start collecting data on the Homepage, posted at http://www.socceragency.net/maps/Venues/FortDix_SecurityData.pdf.

 

Make sure to allow yourself at least 20 minutes additional to get through the gate, in addition to the team’s normal pre-game / warm-up time. We want to make sure everyone has adequate time to prepare for their games.

 

D)  RULES & REGULATIONS


Rules of Play and conduct are found at:
http://www.socceragency.net/maps/INFO_tournament_rules.htm
Your team is responsible for being familiar with the contents.

 

Major items: No smoking, no alcohol, no pets, no abusive behavior. Obey traffic directives. Please pick up your trash. Simple.

 

E)      TEAM REGISTRATION

 

We will have Registration at the fields where your first game will be played. You must arrive to register at least a full hour before your first game.

 

All teams must have:

 

A copy of the team roster they can leave with Registration officials. Pencil in any Guest players being used.

 

Player Passes for all participating players, rostered and guest.

 

Authorizations for Medical Treatment, more commonly referred to as Medical Releases, for all participating players. The ones executed when the player was first registered with the team for the season are usually adequate. Remember, these documents are critical to ensure that a player can be admitted to an ambulance, clinic or hospital for treatment, especially in the absence of a parent or legal guardian in attendance. These documents have to show original signatures. (And preferably be notarized, as we have heard of clinics that questioned how they could confirm the signature was actually a parent’s or legal guardian’s.)

 

Permissions To Travel for those out-of-state teams (non-New Jersey) using USYS passes from state associations that require a Permission To Travel.

 

Remember: All players on your team must have player passes from the SAME governing body, whether USYS or US Club or AYSO, etc.

 

F)      SCHEDULE OF GAMES

 

The schedule of games for THE FALL CHALLENGE will be posted on the Tournament website, as separate schedules covering individual Age BRACKETS that you will be able to print out. All schedules are accessible from the Homepage located at

http://www.socceragency.net/maps/2008/0810/challenge.htm

 

Please check and re-confirm the dates, times and fields of your games as soon as possible after they are posted. Within two weeks of the Tournament, any teams affected by changes in schedule will be notified by email. Team Contacts (as provided on your application) are responsible for checking their emails on a regular basis, especially the last week before the event, to ensure that no last minute communications are ignored.

 

G)   FIELDS & TRAVEL DIRECTIONS

 

Directions to all venues is posted on the Tournament Homepage on the web. You can also find field layout maps on the Homepage.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR TEAMS PLAYING AT FORT DIX: Do NOT rely on GPS SYSTEMS indiscriminately to get to Fort Dix, you will almost always be directed to the wrong gate. Carefully READ the TRAVEL DIRECTIONS posted at http://www.socceragency.net/maps/Venues/directions_FtDix.htm .

To obtain directions to the FORT DIX fields online, go to  www.google.com, and click on MAPS. For an address for the Special Events Gate enter:  “New Jersey Avenue and Pointville Road, Fort Dix NJ”

Also, READ the boxed section that comprises the second half of the Travel Directions, for important information about your Fort Dix visit.

 

H)   REFRESH YOUR WEB BROWSER / CONTACT MOBILE PHONE# / MESSAGING

 

Whenever checking your online information, click REFRESH on your WEB BROWSER. This ensures you are seeing the actual information available online, and not a previously-memorized page being stored in your computer cache. (Failure to do so is the most common reason teams discover they have incorrect information.)

 

Please check your team account on www.GotSport.com and make sure there is a valid mobile phone number listed for the TEAM CONTACT PERSON INFORMATION. This will be the first number called if there is a scheduling or weather problem at the fields.

 

Also, make sure you avoided using corporate or government email addresses for your team contacts entered in www.GotSport.com. These networked computer systems tend to have strong firewalls and spam filters that invariably prevent group messaging functions such as we rely upon from operating. Please provide email addresses from residential accounts (AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, Comcast, Verizon, Optonline, etc.)

 

Finally, do NOT list the same person for coach, manager and team contact. If there is a problem in communicating with that individual, it is useful to have alternatives. That is the whole point for the system allowing multiple contact listings.

 

*********************

 

Some simple rules for each facility we use:

·         Park only in designated spots. RESPECT THE FACT THAT WE ARE PRIVILEGED TO BE USING A MILITARY BASE THAT HAVE PARKING REGULATIONS! Do not park just park anywhere on the grass.

·         No pets, on a leash or otherwise.

·         No smoking anywhere near the showcase.

·         Please pick up your trash. The pitch is sacred ground, and shouldn’t be buried in discarded water bottles and wrapping tape.

·         Cooperate with tournament officials and field marshals. Anyone caught abusing the above items will be evicted from the premises, and it may lead to early termination of an offending team’s participation.

 

Sorry to sound restrictive, but there is no reason to feel constrained if everyone uses common sense.

 

**********

 

Thanks for your cooperation. We are looking forward to an exciting tournament.

 

Bohdan E. Porytko
Director - MAPS / MSSL Programs

973-998-9731

bohdan@mssl.org

 

Tournaments and Showcases: www.socceragency.net/maps
League Information: www.cjysa.org/