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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: “5830 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/
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