MEMORIAL DAY 2012 MSSL EXPLOSION

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST NJ  -  BOYS & GIRLS -  U9 to U19

MAY 26-27, 2012

Dear Coach / Manager:     

Welcome! We expect you are reading this because your team has applied to the MEMORIAL DAY 2012 MSSL EXPLOSION on Saturday May 26th & Sunday May 27th. 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 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)   JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST SECURITY & ON-SITE CONCERNS

 

This applies to all teams scheduled to play at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

Please advise all who will be entering the base that each vehicle must have:
**  Valid Vehicle Registration
**  Valid Vehicle Insurance Card
**  Valid Driver’s 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 cannot produce these items upon request. Failure to produce these documents will require drivers to park their vehicles off-base (no parking area will be provided) and arrange to be ferried to the fields by other team parents.

If you have a rental or leased vehicle, make sure you have your Driver’s License, and the documentation for the rental or lease. All documents need to be current, and should clearly inform gate personnel that the vehicle is properly insured. (Since the documents vary from state to state, we will NOT be further elucidating that last stipulation.) The person behind the wheel entering the gate must be a named driver, if one or more are listed on the documents. 

 

No motorcycles or bicycles can be used on the Base by visitors. The increased mobility offered by the use of these vehicles is considered a security risk to Base operations. We request that visitors be respectful of these concerns.
       

Make sure to allow yourself at least 15 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 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 MEMORIAL DAY 2012 MSSL EXPLOSION will be posted on the Tournament website, as separate schedules covering individual Age BRACKETS that you will be able to print out. All EXPLOSION schedules are accessible from the Homepage located at

http://www.socceragency.net/maps/2012/1205_explosion/homepage.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

 

Medals will be presented to each Bracket Champion and Finalist player. 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 JOINT BASE / 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_JBMDL.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 North Pointville Road, Fort Dix NJ

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

The first place for off-site information is the Tournament Schedule Homepage, where weather updates will appear as warranted. This is the GotSoccer page you are directed to when you click on the SCHEDULES BY AGE BRACKETS button on the Showcase Homepage. (This is the fastest webpage for us to update quickly.)

When circumstances warrant, we will also leave updates on a Weather Hotline at 732-432-7200. Please do not try to leave messages on this number, it will not be monitored during the weekend.
      
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

 

If you are having difficulties seeing information clearly on the MAPS/MSSL Tournament website, note that the site seems to work best on Internet Explorer. Consider changing your Web Browser when accessing the site.

    

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. You may be ticketed!

·         No pets, on a leash or otherwise.

·         No smoking anywhere near the showcase fields or staging areas (basically, once you enter the grounds inside the parking lots).

·         Teams must pick up their 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 really 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/