Author Archives: Josh

A few scheduling notes

Screen Shot 2014-05-04 at 8.52.34 PMIf you see a difference between a print schedule and the online Scorereport schedules, go by what is shown on the Scorereport schedules — Those are the ones that are most up to date.

Since printing the programs last night, I’ve made a few tweaks — Those changes, listed below, have been made to the Scorereport (Girls, Open) and online PDF versions of the schedule, but alas, I don’t have the ability to modify paper printouts, and I’m not super keen on taping over hundreds of sheets of paper 🙂

1) In the Open division, Cumberland and Cape Elizabeth have switched places.
2) All Sunday Girls B Division games start at 10am.

Also note:

1) Field 9 is not being used for any scheduled games. All other fields are being used for all rounds, except for three fields on Sunday morning from 8-10am. If you’re looking for a place to drill during your byes, please use field 9.

2) I’ve done by best to minimize how much teams have to move, but there was no way around lots of team movement between fields that just has to be done. Given that there is 30 minutes from hard cap to the start of the next round, teams should have a comfortable amount of time to change locations. Please be aware of where you need to be at what times and start (and end!) your games on time.

3) Please keep sidelines as clear as you can. Tents must be at least 5 yards away from any sideline.

5/15 Update

Screen Shot 2014-05-04 at 8.52.26 PMAll 1,000 things we can control to pull off this event are coming together quite well. We are SUPER excited to see all of you this weekend! Here’s we stand:

1) Remember that the captains’ meeting is at 8am on Saturday at Tournament Central. All teams must be represented regardless of byes. The meeting is super important and will last 5 minutes or less. Cool, eh?

2) The tournament program is now online (PDF). Please look it over and let me know if you have any questions.

3) Team paperwork is looking quite good. Rosters are by and large looking fantastic. If you still need to make roster modifications/updates, you actually still have time! I got USAU to keep the roster system open until this Sunday. So, go to it and make sure your roster is 100% clean.

4) Remember, your team will not be allowed to play until your dinner ticket payment has been paid. We will accept cash or checks. Checks should be made out to “Ultimate Good”. Here’s what teams owe:

Amherst JVB Open MA $80.00
Concord-Carlisle Girls MA $120.00
Concord-Carlisle A Open MA $160.00
Concord-Carlisle B Open MA $180.00
Cumberland Open ME $80.00
Cumberland Girls ME $90.00
Falmouth Girls ME $100.00
Falmouth Open ME $200.00
Lexington Girls MA $100.00
Needham A Girls MA $130.00
Needham B Girls MA $100.00
Ottawa Open ON $50.00

5) Yes, we are keeping a close eye on the weather. Right now it looks like we’re going to get decently hammered with rain on Friday night, but that the rain should taper off on Saturday morning. Our fields dry out quick, so we’ll be good to go on Saturday. That being said, please plan on dealing with some wet weather. I will let you know immediately if the weather is going to impact game schedules. Right now, everything looks fine.

5/14 Update (am)

And the fun continues…

1) Everyone now has about 8 hours remaining to totally clean up their rosters. Please make sure this gets done. Why not login to your USAU account now and triple check that all your players are 100% set on your PVI2014 roster? As always, you can check the status of your PVI paperwork right here.

2) The weather is looking better and better!
weather

3) Please share these exciting offers with PVI Teams, Players, Coaches, Parents and Friends!

One of the many benefits of the Pioneer Valley Invitational is that we have been able to negotiate discounts, offers, and promotions for all our teams and players. We hope you will take advantage of these as they benefit you and build the power of this event!

Breakmark is offering a 10% discount on all Team Orders for those who participate in the PVI good until December 31, 2014! Visit Breakmark.com, talk to Mat, and mention discount code “PVI2014”

Friction Gloves is offering all players and friends a 10% discount on Friction Gloves, good Only until the PVI Tournament! Visit FrictionGloves.com and use discount code “PVI2014”

Nike Ultimate Camps is offering a $15 discount to all PVI players who sign up for any Nike Ultimate Camp by May 15th! Visit the registration site and enter discount code “PVI2014” into the comments field during registration.

5/13 Update (pm)

Here’s where we are:

0) The captains’ meeting will be held at at 8am on Saturday at Tournament Central (Look for the big tent.). All teams must be represented regardless of if they have a first-round bye. The awards ceremony will take place at 4:15pm on Sunday.

1) The following teams are still not quite cleared. A representative from each of these teams need to immediately email me (josh@pvinvite.org) a status update. You can check what you’re missing right here.

Cumberland Girls Clear more players
John Jay Open Send in med forms
Lexington Girls Submit check
Montpelier JV Open Clear more players
Needham B Girls Clear more players

2) In order to account for a girls team that had to drop this afternoon, I redid the schedule for the Girls Division. The top 8 teams in the girls division play in two pools of four that feed into a standard 8-team champs bracket. The 9th through 15th initially ranked teams play a 7-team round robin. All teams in the girls division will play 6 games.

3) Here’s what teams owe for dinner. At this point, please do not mail checks. Bring your payments with you and hand them off to me before the captain’s meeting. Your team’s dinner payment must be submitted before your team will be allowed to play.

Amherst JVB Open MA $80.00
Concord-Carlisle Girls MA $120.00
Concord-Carlisle A Open MA $160.00
Concord-Carlisle B Open MA $180.00
Cumberland Open ME $80.00
Cumberland Girls ME $90.00
Falmouth Girls ME $200.00
Falmouth Open ME $200.00
Lexington Girls MA $100.00
Needham A Girls MA $130.00
Needham B Girls MA $100.00
Northampton JV Girls MA $150.00
Northampton JV Open MA $150.00
Northampton V Girls MA $150.00
Northampton V Open MA $150.00
Ottawa Open ON $290.00
Ottawa Girls ON $330.00

Checks should be made out “Ultimate Good”.

4) All teams should triple check their rosters to make sure everything is 100% correct. The rostering deadline is tomorrow, 5/14, at 3pm.

A note about the weather

Yes, we are quite aware that there is some precipitation heading our way:

Screen Shot 2014-05-13 at 2.24.01 PM

Feel free to track the same pages we are:
Weather.gov
Accuweather.com
Wunderground.com
Weather.com

Here’s what you need to know
1) It’s quite likely that we’re going to get a healthy amount of rain on Saturday, and a bit on Sunday. Please plan your gear accordingly.
2) It would take an utterly colossal amount of rain for the event to be in danger. The fields we’re on drain very well, and they are currently comfortably dry.
3) I will let you know via email the moment the weather even has any chance of impacting the schedule of the event.
4) There is no rain date. Well before we even get close to having to cancel the event, we’d modify the schedule.

Right now, we’re fine.

It’s going to be warm and the fields will be soft and a bit slick. #perfectforlayouts

Initial schedules online!

PVI2014-Disc-LogoThe preliminary schedules are now online: Girls Division, Open A & B Divisions. Please look them over and let me know if you see any issues. Theses schedule are NOT yet finalized. I reward people, well, for pointing out errors. [Good work! It only took 30 minutes to find the first error! :)]

The field map is also now online.

Executive scheduling summary: All 15 fields will be used during all 8 rounds for a grand total of 120 games.

The Girls division (16 teams) starts off with four pools of four. After pool play the top 2 teams from each pool will play in the 8-team champs bracket. The bottom two teams in each pool will play in the 8-team consolation bracket. Each team plays 3 games on Saturday and 3 games on Sunday.

The Open A division (16 teams) has the same schedule as the Girls division.

The Open B division (7 teams) will play in one pool of 7. After pool play, 1 will play 2, 3 will play 4, and 5 will play 6 to determine final positions. The team that finishes 7th after pool play will not have a 7th game. 6 teams (1st-6th) will play 7 games (3 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday) and one (7th) will play 6 games (3 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday)

5/13 Update

Good morning everyone! Here’s where we stand:

1) All team leader’s should make sure they read the captain’s meeting notes (PDF). Please email me (josh@pvinvite.org) if you have any questions.

2) Rosters are looking better and better every day! Please make sure you fully clean up your roster by 3pm tomorrow (Wednesday, 5/14). I’ve put a master roster export online for the entire event for easy checking. Several (cleared) teams have small items they need to fix. The following teams are not yet cleared:

You can check and see what items you are missing right here: http://bit.ly/pvi2014-teamstatus

Berkshires Open
Cumberland Girls
John Jay Open
Lexington Girls
Longmeadow A Girls
Longmeadow B Open
Montpelier JV Open
Needham B Girls

3) Here is draft 2 of the tournament seedings. Let me know by Wednesday morning, 5/14, at 8am if you see any issues that need to be addressed. (Click on the images to enlarge.)

4) My goal is to post a first draft of the tournament schedule in the next 24 hours.

5) Please let me know ASAP if you have any questions. The best way to reach me is by email at josh@pvinvite.org.

Spirit Rubric

Here is the 5-point spirit rubric we’d like teams to use when giving out spirit scores this weekend:

5 – Highest level of respect shown throughout game towards opponents, officials, and spectators. For the level of play, showed excellent knowledge of the rules and abided by them throughout the game. Any conflicts were resolved amicably and without incident. Opposing team’s conduct added to our enjoyment of the game. The opposing team unfailingly played fairly and with an excellent attitude.

4 – Respect shown throughout the game towards opponents, officials, and spectators. For the level of play, showed above average knowledge of the rules and abided by them throughout the game. Any conflicts were resolved favorably and without incident. Opposing team’s conduct did not detract from our enjoyment of the game. The opposing team played fairly and with a good attitude.

3 – Generally exhibited respect towards opponents, officials, and spectators. For the level of play, showed adequate knowledge of the rules and abided by them during the game. Any conflicts were resolved plainly and without incident. Opposing team’s conduct generally did not detract from our enjoyment of the game. The opposing team generally played fairly and with a decent attitude.

2 – Exhibited a lack of respect towards opponents, officials, and/or spectators. For the level of play, showed a lack of knowledge of or disregard for the rules at points during the game. Any conflicts were resolved heatedly or led to contentious incidents. Opposing team’s conduct detracted somewhat from our enjoyment of the game. The opposing team played unfairly and/or with a poor attitude.

1 – Exhibited a major lack of respect towards opponents, officials, and/or spectators. For the level of play, exhibited no knowledge of the rules or blatantly disregarded them during the game. Conflicts were resolved acrimoniously or led directly to contentious incidents. Opposing team’s conduct made the game basically unenjoyable. The opposing team played unfairly and their attitude was abysmal.

Not yet cleared to play

PVI2014-Logo2The following teams are not yet cleared to play. Remember, the absolute final rostering deadline is this Wednesday (5/14) at 3pm. Please make sure your roster is super shiny complete by that time. Delete players who are not coming. Make sure all players that are coming are on your roster. Complete team status can be viewed right here.

If you have questions about tasks you need to complete:
1) Check out the Paperwork page
2) Email me (josh@pvinvite.org)… immediately

Not yet cleared to play:

Cumberland Girls
Lexington Girls
Longmeadow A Girls
Needham B Girls
Berkshires Open
John Jay Open
Longmeadow B Open
Montpelier JV Open
PVPA Open

Coming soon:

1) Seedings: Round 2
2) The first draft of the game schedule

Also, by this point, all teams that requested housing should have received an email connecting them to their host. Please let me know if you have not received the email.

Oh, and the fields are looking great!