Author Archives: Josh

Thank you!

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for coming!

Thank you for an unreal 2nd annual Pioneer Valley Invitational!

The 75+ volunteers and I thank you for being such wonderful teams! We couldn’t be happier with how things turned out, and a HUGE part of the success of the event if because of teams like yours!

If possible, please forward this message to all members of your team.

Some good stuff for you:

1) We’d like everyone that attended the event — players, coaches, chaperones, spectators — to fill out this short online feedback survey. The information you submit will helps us build an even better event in 2016! We know that filling out feedback surveys can be a drag, but know that the best way for us to improve the event, by far, is to hear from you… and, as a bonus, everyone who fills out the survey has the option of being entered into a raffle for a tournament hat and shirt!

2) Mark your calendars for May 14th and 15th, 2016. That’s the date we are targeting for the 3rd Annual Pioneer Valley Invitational. We will almost certainly be returning to the same weekend in May in the same location – The amazing Oxbow Marina! I will email all of you as soon as the date is 100% confirmed.

3) We’d love to see any and all photos and video that you took this weekend. Please post whatever you can share to the PVI Facebook page. If it’s easier, feel free to email me content or links.

4) Please look over the reported game scores: Girls Divisions, Open Division. Let me know via email (josh@pvinvite.org) if you see any numbers that aren’t right. At this point I have posted all submitted game scores as well as all spirit results.

5) All spirit scores are now online (XLS): Girls Division, Boys Division:

[Green means above average for the division and red means below average for the division.]

Girls Division Spirit Scores

Girls Division Spirit Scores

Boys Division Spirit Scores

Boys Division Spirit Scores

Thank you again for attending the 2nd annual Pioneer Valley Invitational!

See ya’ll on the field!

 

– Josh Seamon
josh@pvinvite.org
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Sunday AM Check-in

Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 7.36.36 AMAll teams must check in at tourney central on Sunday morning at least 30 minutes before their first game. Most teams have a game starting at 8:30am. 

Thank you for an amazing day of Ultimate! Scores for all 57 of today’s games are now posted along with all first-round match-ups for tomorrow:

Girls’ Division Schedule
Boys’ Division Schedule

If you have any questions about tomorrow’s schedule, please email me at josh@pvinvite.org.

Please, please, please remember to drive carefully on Island Road!

See you tomorrow am!

Good morning!

Please remember to text in your scores to Josh (802-748-9857) in the following format:

Girls/Boys – Team1 – Score – Team 2 – Score

You will be submitting all of your spirit scores on paper at the end of the day on a WFDF spirit scoring sheet. You must hand this in to get your team’s cell phone back.

Also, we made Gazette this morning!

@PVInvite on Twitter (#PVI2015)

PVInvite on Facebook

Girls’ Division Schedule

Boys’ Division Schedule

Field Map

PVI2015 Program (PDF)

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Saturday morning check-in

PioneerValley_LogoFINAL-2-wideAll teams must check in at tournament central on Saturday morning by 8:15am at the latest. Here’s what will happen when you check-in:

  • You will show me all of your medical authorization forms.
  • You’ll hand me your dinner check, if you still owe me one.
  • I’ll ask you about players that are listed on your online roster that are not cleared to play because they have not paid their USAU dues and/or signed the online waiver. [These teams have rosters that list players that are not all cleared: Needham B Boys, Amherst JVA Boys, Concord B Boys, Cumberland Boys, Fryeburg Girls, Somerville Girls.]

Please be prepared to take of all of these things before you check-in.

The Team Status spreadsheet is online right here.

The captains’ meeting will begin at 8:30am at tournament central and last no more than 5 minutes.

Have you watched the captains’ meeting intro video?

See you soon!

Program and Final Schedules

PioneerValleyAd_Portrait-01The finalized game schedules are now online:

Girls’ Division Schedule
Boys’ Division Schedule

The event program is also now online (PDF).

Please look over the schedules and event program in detail. In particular, all team leaders and coaches should make sure they are deeply familiar with the “Captains’ Meeting Notes” section of the program.

Here’s a short video outlining some important points about the event everyone should know:

Please remember:

1) Drive carefully and with extreme prudence on the last road leading to the fields, Island Road! The fields open at 7:15am.

2) All teams must check in at tournament central by 8:15am at the latest. This is when you’ll hand me dinner checks, show me medical authorization forms, and complete any other miscellaneous outstanding tasks.

3) Make absolutely sure your online USAU roster is squeaky clean. Delete players that aren’t coming. Make sure all of your players have paid their dues and signed the online waiver. A player must be fully rostered in order to be allowed to participate.

Draft Schedules

Screen Shot 2015-05-12 at 6.01.07 PMDRAFT game schedules for the girls‘ and boys‘ divisions are now online.

PLEASE look them over in detail and let me know if you see any errors or things that look off. Anyone that finds something medium to large receives a really, really big handshake from yours truly, a very tired tournament scheduler (Josh).

I will be taking comments on the schedules until Wednesday, 5/13 at 6pm.

Written explanations of the schedules:

Girls’ Division Saturday: 13 teams are spread across 3 pools of 3 and one pool of 4. Everyone plays everyone in their pool during pool play and teams are re-ranked. The 1-seeds are paired off and play one game against each other for placement in Sunday’s champs bracket. The 2 seeds play all the 3 seeds. The winners of those 4 games become the 2 seeds and the losers become the 3 seeds. (The team that finished 4th in the pool of four doesn’t have a crossover game.)

Girls’ Division Sunday: The top two teams from each of the four pools play in a standard 8-team elimination bracket. The bottom team from each pool (bottom two from the pool of 4) will play in a consolation round robin schedules on Saturday evening based on input from those 5 teams.

Boys A Division Saturday: 8 teams are spread across 2 pools of 4. Everyone plays everyone in their pool and is then reranked. The top three teams in the two pools are done after pool play. The bottom team in each pool plays one crossover game.

Boys B Division Saturday: 12 teams are spread across 3 pools of 4. Everyone plays everyone in their pool and is then reranked.

Crossovers on Saturday: The four top teams from the B Division are paired off and play for the chance to play the bottom teams from the two A division pools. The winners of those games become the 4th seeds in the two A division pools.The 2 seeds from the B division play all the 3 seeds from the B division. The winners of those 4 games become the 2 seeds and the losers become the 3 seeds.

Boys A Division Sunday: The 8 teams in the A division play in a standard 8-team elimination bracket. All teams play 3 games.

Boys B Division Sunday: A 12-team elimination bracket with the top 4 teams getting a bye to the quarters. All teams play at least 3 games.

Things to keep in mind:

1) ANY boys team has the chance to win the A or B division.

2) I did everything I could to maximize the number of quality games while minimizing the chance of repeating an opponent.

3) I did everything I could to minimize the amount of moving teams have to do.

4) I thought starting early and ending early on Sunday was preferable to starting late and ending late. (Lots of teams have to travel tremendous distances on Sunday.)

5) All teams will play 3 or 4 games on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.

6) The schedules are NOT LOCKED UNTIL TOMORROW NIGHT. Please, please, please look them over in detail and let me know if you see any issues. After 7 hours of staring at pools and brackets and doing battle with various online systems, I am tired and probably made some errors. I GREATLY appreciate all the help I can get!

The best way to reach me is via email at josh@pvinvite.org.

5/10 Update

We’re less than 7 days away from first pull! All of us on the tournament organizing committee absolutely cannot wait for all of you to arrive! We have 45+ volunteers working on many fronts to make absolutely sure you have an amazing weekend of spirited Ultimate!

The tourney organizing crew!

The tourney organizing crew!

My job is to make sure ya’ll are set up for success BEFORE you step onto the field.

Here’s what you need to do to find that success. Please make sure you read all of the information that’s listed below. I know it’s a bunch to get through, but it’s super important.

0) The last road you drive on before getting to the fields is Island Pond Rd. It’s rather narrow and lots of houses are right up against the road. Please drive SUPER carefully on the road. Please! The road is not that long so even if you go quite slow, it won’t take you very long at all to get to the fields.

1) All teams need to, again, look over the Team Status spreadsheet and let me know ASAP if you see anything that’s off. Also, that sheet will let you know what you still need to do. Of particular note, the following teams are NOT YET cleared to play because they have yet to complete at least one large outstanding item:

Team Name Division
Longmeadow B Youth Open
Longmeadow C Youth Open
Longmeadow JVA Youth Girls
Longmeadow JVB Youth Girls
Longmeadow V Youth Girls
Needham B Youth Open
North Country Loggers Youth Open
Ottawa Youth Open
Ottawa X Youth Girls
PVPA Youth Open

2) All teams will be required to check in by 8:15am on Saturday morning unless given explicit permission to check in later. You only need to send one representative to check in. At check in I will be making sure all of your items have been turned in. The two most common items I will be checking are medical authorization forms and that you’ve turned in your dinner payment. At this point DO NOT mail me checks. Hand them to me on Saturday morning. Checks should be made out to “Ultimate Good”. The exact amount each team owes is listed on the Team Status spreadsheet and right here:

Team Name Division $ owes for dinner
Needham A Youth Girls $132
Montpelier Youth Girls $154
Northampton JVB Youth Open $154
Needham B Youth Open $165
Northampton V Youth Girls $165
Northampton V Youth Open $165
Cumberland Youth Open $176
North Country Loggers Youth Open $176
Northampton JV Youth Girls $198
Somerville Youth Girls $220
Columbia JV Youth Open $264
Beacon Youth Girls $363

3) Housing assignment emails will go out in the next 24 hours. If you do not receive yours by Monday evening, 5/11, please check with your team organizer and then email housing coordinator Megan Zinn at mrzinn88@gmail.com.

4) Please login to the USAU website to triple check that your roster is accurate. Delete players who are not coming to the event. Only players listed on your roster as fully cleared (waiver done and membership paid) are allowed to play in the event. If you are found to be playing with unrostered players your team will be immediately disqualified and you will not be allowed to return to the event. 

5) Disc spiking, in any form, will result in an immediate conversation with me and a likely team ejection from the event. Please make sure this message is clearly communicated to your team.

6) The Clarion Hotel located just minutes from the fields is offering a special room rate of $179. No rooms will be held but rate will be offered based on availability. 2 Night Minimum stay required.

7) Of course there will be plenty of water for the players throughout the weekend. However, we do not have easy access to potable water sources and so ask your help in facilitating the “flow” of refilling water bottles. Each player should bring at lease one labeled (name of team and player) water bottle. Please come each morning with a full bottle of water. We are in need of additional 5 gallon water dispensers. If you can loan us one for the weekend, we’ll offer an extra loud cheer! Contact Melinda (volunteers@pvinvite.org) if you can contribute to the cause.

8) Breakmark will have a full lineup of tournament gear available!

9) Please remember that an adult chaperone must be with you team at all times. That includes at all games, at the dinner, and at host homes.

10) We are hoping to finalize the game schedule in the next 24-48 hours. That being said, here are the key times:
Saturday, 8:15am: All teams must check in by this time
Saturday, 8:30am: 5-minute captains’ meeting
Saturday, 9am: First game starts
Saturday, 4:15pm: Shower open up at Northampton HS
Saturday, 6pm: Last round of games end
Saturday, 6:30pm: Dinner opens at Northampton HS
Sunday, 8:30am: First round of games begin
Sunday, 5:30pm: Absolute latest awards ceremony will end
Note: A few teams will have byes most rounds.

11) If you’re looking for quality games on the weekend of 5/23-24, I recommend heading up to the Kingdom Ultimate Tournament (formerly the St. Johnsbury Academy Invitational). You can learn all about the event right here.

12) Here’s the first draft of team rankings. I will be open to suggestions regarding changes for the next 36 hours:

Team Name

Division

Draft Ranking

Ottawa X

Youth Girls

1

Somerville

Youth Girls

2

Fryeburg

Youth Girls

3

Northampton V

Youth Girls

4

Four Rivers V

Youth Girls

5

Beacon

Youth Girls

6

Longmeadow V

Youth Girls

7

Newton North

Youth Girls

8

Needham A

Youth Girls

9

Montpelier

Youth Girls

10

Longmeadow JVA

Youth Girls

11

Ottawa Y

Youth Girls

12

Northampton JV

Youth Girls

13

Longmeadow JVB

Youth Girls

14

Ottawa

Youth Open

1

Northampton V

Youth Open

2

Newton North A

Youth Open

3

Concord-Carlisle A

Youth Open

4

Amherst JVA

Youth Open

5

PVPA

Youth Open

6

Hartsbrook

Youth Open

7

Cumberland

Youth Open

8

Fryeburg

Youth Open

9

Amherst JVB

Youth Open

10

Acton-Boxborough

Youth Open

11

Hopkinton

Youth Open

12

Concord-Carlisle B

Youth Open

13

Four Rivers Boys JV

Youth Open

14

Columbia JV

Youth Open

15

Longmeadow B

Youth Open

16

Northampton JV

Youth Open

17

Needham B

Youth Open

18

Northampton JVB

Youth Open

19

North Country Loggers

Youth Open

20

Longmeadow C

Youth Open

21

13) Oh, and if you’re not already super spectacular excited for the event, take a look at these photos from the fields from yesterday:

See you soon!

Please let me know ASAP if you have any questions!

 

– Josh
josh@pvinvite.org

Water

Water, water, water

Water, water, water

Of course there will be plenty of water for the players throughout the weekend. However, we do not have easy access to potable water sources and so ask your help in facilitating the “flow” of refilling water bottles. Each player should bring at lease one labeled (name of team and player) water bottle. Please come each morning with a full bottle of water.

We are in need of additional 5 gallon water dispensers. If you can loan us one for the weekend, we’ll offer an extra loud cheer!

Contact Melinda (volunteers@pvinvite.org) if you can help us out!

5/5 Paperwork Update

Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 7.36.36 AMThe Team Status spreadsheet is updated as of 5/5 @ 3pm. All teams should look it over immediately and let me know if you see anything that isn’t accurate.

If you have yet to start your online USAU roster [Columbia Girls, Amherst JVB Boys, John Jay Boys]… you have until this Friday 5/8 @ 6pm to get it started or I will drop you from the event.

If you have yet to add a chaperone to your USAU roster [Hopkinton Boys, Longmeadow B Boys, Longmeadow C Boys, Longmeadow JVA Girls, Longmeadow JVB Girls, Longmeadow V Girls, Needham B Boys, PVPA Boys]… you have until next Tuesday, 5/12 @ 6pm to get one added or I will drop you from the event.

If you have players on your USAU online roster that won’t be at the event… please remove them. Do not keep them on your roster listed as incomplete. That creates lots of extra work for us. So, please clean up your roster as needed.

If you need housing and/or dinner tickets and didn’t fill out the online form before the 5/1 deadline… email me (josh@pvinvite.org) and ask very nicely for the form to be reopened.

Coming up soon:
1) Initial seeding
2) Tournament program
3) An incredible weekend of Ultimate!

May 1st Paperwork Deadline Approaching

Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 7.36.36 AMAs I’m sure all of you are well aware, the May 1st paperwork deadline is coming up in less than a week. Everything you need to know about what needs to get done is on the Paperwork page.

A complete run down of the status of everyone’s paperwork is online on the Team Status page.

If you think you’re going to have any trouble making that deadline, please let me know immediately. I do have a little bit of leeway on some of the items, but not many.

That being said, there are two BIG items that MUST be completed by May 1st at 6pm:

1) All teams need to fill out the Dinner & Housing Form. If you don’t fill out the form by then, I will assume your team will not need any housing or dinner tickets.

2) All teams must start a roster in the USAU rostering system AND have a cleared chaperone listed on their roster.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Josh
josh@pvinvite.org