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MAPS 2009 FALL CHALLENGE
MAPS
CUP 2009
DOUGHBOY
FIELDS, FORT DIX
NJ
- BOYS & GIRLS - U9
to U14
PHILADELPHIA
SC, PHILA. PA - BOYS & GIRLS - U15 to U19
NOVEMBER
14-15, 2009
Dear Coach / Manager:
Welcome!
We expect you are reading this because your team has applied to the
MAPS 2009 FALL
CHALLENGE on Saturday November 14th and Sunday November 15th.
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!
We also welcome the teams participating
in MAPS CUP 2009 at Fort Dix,
alongside the FALL CHALLENGE activities. The same administrative
considerations apply to both events.
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 applying late or 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 Alan at alan@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 and MAPS CUP will be posted on the Tournament
website, as separate schedules covering individual Age BRACKETS that you will
be able to print out. All CHALLANGE schedules are accessible from the Homepage located at
http://www.socceragency.net/maps/2009/0910/challenge.htm
and MAPS CUP schedules are accessible from the
Homepage located at
http://www.socceragency.net/maps/MAPS_Cup/mapscup.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) AWARDS
Awards will be presented to each Bracket Champion. Please
come to the field HQ after your last game for a presentation if your team
qualifies!
H) 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.
I)
WEATHER-RELATED ALERTS
We avoid cancelling games due to adverse weather if at
all possible, and choose venues that have a high resistance to adverse
conditions. So do not assume games are being cancelled without firm
confirmation. Also, do NOT assume that the weather conditions outside your
window are the same at the gamesite fields;
experience has shown that weather patterns in our area can be highly
localized.
In the event of lightning, we will
cease play immediately. We may also suspend play in the event of a
substantial downpour. Games in the second half will likely be declared as
completed. Please have your team get to shelter, and have a system for
contacting each team member. Twenty minutes after a stoppage, send ONE team
representative to HQ, where we will inform all affected teams of the current
status of play, and when we expect to resume.
When circumstances warrant, we will also leave updates on
a Weather Hotline at
732-940-5599. Please do not try to leave messages on this number, it will not
be monitored during the weekend.
The other place for off-site information is the
Tournament Homepage, where weather updates will appear as warranted.
In the event of precipitation or wet fields, there will
be NO WARM-UPS within the four corners of the field, including Keeper
warm-ups. The fields will be used strictly for game play.
Finally, if games are halted for lightning activity, then
so are warm-ups on the field. Some past teams have exhibited a bizarre notion
that lightning can strike during a game, but won't hit teams merely warming
up on the same field before the "all clear" signal is given.
J) 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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