Club Directors and Coaches:
The Icebreaker Invitational is fully subscribed and fast approaching, and we are working hard to ensure that it is one of the most competitive and enjoyable tournaments that you attend this year. This email contains a significant amount of information about the tournament. Please review closely and send to all of your participating coaches as well.
We are happy to announce that our website is hot and pools are posted. Here is the link:southernvolleyballshowcase.com. There is a great deal of information about the tournament on the website, so we encourage you to explore it fully. We’re not planning on having a coaches’ meeting, which makes it doubly important for your coaches and other attendees to read this in its entirety. We do, however, require that coaches check in with us at the tournament desk to pick up their rosters and complete a housing form if the team is traveling from out of town.
A NOTE ABOUT POOLS AND INITIAL PAIRINGS:
We started the process by seeding teams based upon their finish in last year’s SRVA championship tournament and end-of-season rankings. We then modified that initial product based on the results of tournaments played last weekend. Lastly, we tweaked the resultant pairings to ensure that teams from the same club were in separate pools to the extent possible, and also to minimize the instances in which teams from the sister clubs (A5/GA5; Tsunami South/Tsunami DeKalb) were pooled together. We also separated clubs from the same city where possible; certainly Rocket City shouldn’t have to travel to Atlanta to play NASA in an initial pool. So whether your team is listed first, second, third or fourth in a pool, we hope you will recognize that our goal is simply to provide all attendees with top competition in this early-season tournament. Computer rankings will take over soon enough.
MATCH FORMAT
Matches will be the standard best two out of three sets, the first two sets being played to 25 points; a tiebreaker, if required, will be played to 15. All sets must be won by two points with no limitation.
LIBEROS
May serve.
COMPETITION PROTOCOL
All teams will compete in pools of four on Saturday. All teams will play a minimum of two matches on Sunday. Teams competing in the Championship match will play three matches on Sunday.
13’s and 14’s age brackets have 8 teams. Pool play on Saturday will be to determine seeding in the championship bracket on Sunday. All teams will advance to the Gold Bracket.
15’s through 18’s have 12 teams, which are divided into three pools of four on Saturday. Teams finishing first or second in their initial pool will remain in contention for the Championship. These teams will be placed into two pools of three teams each on Sunday; the winner of each pool will play for the Tournament Championship. Teams finishing third and fourth in their pools on Saturday will compete on Sunday in silver or bronze pools respectively.
Ties will be broken per SRVA protocol. When the results of a tie determine whether a team remains in contention for the tournament championship, a single tiebreaking set to 25 will be played. When only seeding is involved, SRVA tiebreaking protocol will be invoked. See the SRVA Handbook for elaboration.
See the pool/bracket information posted on the website for further information.
RECRUITING
We’re expecting 40 – 60 college coaches to scout the event. Accordingly, in conjunction with Captain U we are compiling a recruiting package to give to college coaches in attendance. But the package is only as good as the athletes make it. If you don’t want to be left out (and—trust me—you don’t want to be left out, as it takes only one parent to take a look at the recruiting packet, see that their daughter’s team was not included and take it out on the offending coach or the club director), the following needs to happen for all teams 16 and older (15’s are welcome to participate if they like) prior to close of business Wednesday, 1/26:
Each Coach/Team Manager will need to go to the following website to set up your team roster and provide access to all of your athletes and ensure your inclusion in the player book. (I believe this has already happened, but please make sure.) CaptainU Website: > http://www.captainu.com/youth_coaches?event_id=26824.
If your team is already registered on CaptainU, then you will just need to login to your team account and add the Icebreaker to your events page. If you have any questions about CaptainU, or getting your team set up, consult the FAQ Page or contact Lindsay, CaptainU representative, at Lindsay@captainU.com.
The next step in ensuring a good turn-out of college coaches is for each of your prospective student athletes to call or email the top ten coaches on their list; tell them that they will be playing at the Icebreaker and ask them to come watch your team. We can’t over-emphasize the importance of this. If coaches know that they will be able to scout athletes who are interested in attending their school, they are much more likely to make the effort to come.
FACILITY/PARKING
Here is a link with directions to the facility: suwaneesportsacademy.com/direction.htm
Parking at Suwanee Sports Academy (“SSA”) is free but limited. Earlybirds will be able to park in the lot adjoining the courts, but others will have to drop off their kids and coolers at the entrance and find other parking opportunities nearby. There exists a well-marked overflow lot right off McGinnis Ferry Road which is fine. The parking lot across the street from SSA that serves the adjacent church is ok on Saturday but NOT ok on Sunday and you will be towed if you park there. Parking is not allowed on McGinnis Ferry Road either. It is permissible to park on Burnett Road, the non-curbed road that serves SSA, provided that the wheels of your vehicle are not touching the paved surface, but are all the way on the shoulder. Again, cars that intrude upon Burnett Road will be towed.
Do not park in the parking lots of adjacent businesses. It is an aggravation to them and they will likely tow you if they are working on the weekend. We will post “no parking” signs to alert you to problem areas, but sometimes those signs walk off, so we’re emphasizing it in this email. Beyond the above, there are side roads off Burnett that are fine. Just bring your walking shoes!
HOTELS
If you’re traveling from out of town and have not already made your hotel arrangements, SSA’s Housing Bureau has reserved a block of nearby hotel rooms at special rates for the Icebreaker. While you are not required to use the Housing Bureau—no stay-to-play policy at the Icebreaker—those who used it last year were highly complementary. These rooms are convenient to SSA and were blocked months in advance to ensure housing for the teams, coaches, refs and parents the weekend of the event. You must book your rooms together through the Suwanee Sports Academy Housing Bureau rather than call the hotel direct to ensure housing at these rates.
To register for a hotel at this event, please use the following directions:
- Go to the facility’s website: www.ssasports.com
- Under the “Registration” tab, click on “Hotels.”
- Locate your event in the list and click on “Register.”
- Complete the Housing Registration Form and click “Submit.”
In your room count, it is important to include the total rooms needed for the team and parents. This will ensure that your entire group will be located at the same hotel. The credit card info holds the block of rooms for your team until you submit the rooming list where you can make payment changes.
- If you are housed in your first or second-choice hotel, you will receive within 24 hours or the next business day an email confirmation letter stating the hotel selected, rate, room type, check in and out dates and hotel contact info and a rooming list.
- If your first and second choice hotels are both booked, you will receive a phone call from Suwanee Sports Academy Housing Bureau to discuss the next best option for your team. Once a hotel selection is made, you will receive an email confirmation letter stating the hotel selected, rate, room type, check in and out dates and hotel contact info and a rooming list.
- On the rooming list, you will have the opportunity to specify who will be in each room and the option to add credit card numbers. Parents can also call the hotel with their credit card numbers once you submit the rooming list.
- Both the confirmation letter and the rooming list should be completed and faxed to the hotel as soon as possible.
- Any further room cancellations or additions or special requests should be made directly with the hotel.
If you have any difficulties in using the Housing Bureau, please bring them to my attention. Again—the intent of setting this up is to make the tournament a better experience for all teams and spectators.
FOOD TABLES
Are fine. The food area is just inside the entrance to the facility. Space is limited, so please be judicious about your use of it. We will mark tables with team names. Please confine yourselves to the marked area so that we don’t to have to referee any food fights.
We will also have a smoothie bar open near the concession stand for your convenience.
GATE
$5 per adult per day. Children under 10 are free.
FOLDING CHAIRS
Are prohibited. They damage the wood floor over time. There is abundant bleacher space to facilitate spectators on every court.
TRAINERS
A certified trainer will be on site for the duration of the tournament.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Championship team photos as well as photography support throughout the tournament will be provided by Russ Ensley Photography. Take a look at the attached brochure or visit ensleyphotos.com for more information.
TEAM REFEREE OBLIGATIONS
Referee schedules are included in the pool assignments posted on the website. Durng bracket play and after pool play, losing teams will ref the next match on that court. 2, 14’s teams will be required to ref the 8:00 A.M. Sunday match before they play, so again, please check the website as well as the pools and brackets that will be posted at the tournament. Teams with 8 a.m. ref assignments must be in place on the court no later than 7:45.
As the 15’s through 18’s age brackets transition from pool play to bracket play on Sunday, the third-place finisher in each of the four gold medal pools will be required to ref the match immediately following completion of their pool.
Coaches, please remind your players that MP3 players and Cell Phones are not to be used while working the score table and that snacks and drink bottles should not be on the table. They should lift the score board and show the score frequently, minimally at serve changes and time outs.
Please feel free to call or email either of the undersigned with questions. Emergency/last-minute contacts and phone numbers are included below. We look forward to seeing you at the Icebreaker Invitational on the 29th.
Michael Fletcher Kurt Matthews
Co-Director, A5 Mizuno Volleyball Club Head Volleyball Coach, Oglethorpe U
Tournament Director Tournament Co-Director
michael_a5volleyball.com kmatthews@oglethorpe.edu
404-936-6723 (404) 895-1155
