RE-PRINT OF EMAIL SENT OUT THURSDAY  DECEMBER 12, 2002 AT 5:00PM

ALL SHOWCASE GAMES FOR THIS WEEKEND ARE CANCELED

We fought the good fight against Mother Nature, but ultimately we lost. Fort Dix has informed us that the fields will not be made available to us on December 14 and 15, as anticipated.

While most of the snow has indeed been melting off the fields as expected, it has not been getting absorbed as customary with the normally forgiving soil conditions at Fort Dix. The exceptionally cold weather in recent days and especially nights has frozen the ground deeply, so there is only a surface thaw that pools on the top of the field without properly draining, exacerbated by recent rains. This in turn is creating recurrent freeze/thaw cycles, leaving the fields treacherous to play on, incapable of proper marking and susceptible to long term damage which the base groundskeepers will not permit.

We tremendously regret this final decision. We fully appreciate the need for high school seniors and college coaches to attend these Showcase opportunities. Especially in these northern regions where fading daylight, cold and encroaching holidays limit the available window of time to hold such events.

PLAYER PROFILE booklets will be sent to each Northeastern college soccer program on our list from New England through Maryland. Other college programs can receive the booklet upon request.

The Player Profile forms have been compiled and reproduced, and will be mailed to about 250 schools in New England, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, DC and Maryland.

Refunds will be issued in the coming week to all teams originally accepted to the 2002 MAPS / Central Jersey Winter Showcase.

82% of the entry fees will be refunded to all teams originally accepted to participate on December 7 & 8. After covering necessary expenses, we are returning as much of the entry fees as is reasonably possible.
[Note that we are exceeding the newly enacted NJYS Guidelines on refunds for events that have to be totally canceled, even though those Guidelines do not become effective until September 2003. We appreciate the spirit in which they were enacted, and certainly are trying to meet or exceed those standards.]

We thank you for the patience and courtesy that was extended by all participating teams throughout this process, and hope that better conditions avail all of us in the future. And most importantly, we hope that all those Seniors we have tried to support do find their way into the schools and programs that are best met for their needs and desires.

Bohdan E. Porytko
MAPS Director

PS - A modest run (thankfully) of MAPS Showcase long-sleeve tee shirts and sweatshirts is now become a collector's item (at best). Anyone/any team with interest can get a really good price. Details will be posted on the website.
BP