Design your ideal tournament

notintheface

notintheface

GOLD
Was thinking about all of the tournaments I've attended, and was trying to come up with a perfect tournament, and what that would look like.

First, the time. Labor day weekend. The kids have had months and months of training, are clicking together, and are gearing up for league play. This is the time to flex, right before the slog of league really kicks in. Labor day gives that extra day of games, also, so you get those semifinal rounds that the kids love.

Next - the fields. Oceanside, minus the bugs. That breeze that comes up that hill from the ocean makes the temperature perfect all day. Nice grass covering, flat, plenty of room between fields, just an all-around good set of fields.

Facilities - Silverlakes is pretty good, there's nothing quite like watching the early morning game then going to the clubhouse and watching Aston Villa get screwed by VAR again. Orlando isn't bad at all obviously but I'm trying to keep this a local perfect tournament.

Parking - I'd put "none" here but the tournaments that get spread out amongst the Irvine park system can usually handle the amount of traffic and they're free parking and relatively close to the fields. Vegas isn't bad either, again because of free parking.

Stay and Play - no perfect tournament could ever be stay and play, but Vegas wins this by default. Just don't take the team to Fremont street.

Overall atmosphere - I originally thought State Cup for this for that competitive spirit, but that's also when the really psychotic parents come out and completely ruin the atmosphere. So I'll say one of the more chill tournaments, like Celtic Cup?

What do you all think?
 
Completely agree about grass.

For me, format also matters. A local 2 day tournament with a 4 game guarantee is just about perfect.

Yes, it means consolation games. Better to play for 7th place than not to play at all.
 
Staying within the limits of what can be done in a holiday weekend - 3-day tournament. 5-team brackets, with each team getting two short games Day 1 and Day 2. The winners (first and second in a bracket, or one each from two 5-team brackets) play a full-length game the third day.

Even better would be a weeklong tournament - one full game per day, bracket winners (and maybe runners up) play toward a final on the last day. To keep things interesting for teams knocked out after pool play, offer friendly "showcase" games for one or two days at the end.
 
notintheface said:
Was thinking about all of the tournaments I've attended, and was trying to come up with a perfect tournament, and what that would look like.

First, the time. Labor day weekend. The kids have had months and months of training, are clicking together, and are gearing up for league play. This is the time to flex, right before the slog of league really kicks in. Labor day gives that extra day of games, also, so you get those semifinal rounds that the kids love.

Next - the fields. Oceanside, minus the bugs. That breeze that comes up that hill from the ocean makes the temperature perfect all day. Nice grass covering, flat, plenty of room between fields, just an all-around good set of fields.

Facilities - Silverlakes is pretty good, there's nothing quite like watching the early morning game then going to the clubhouse and watching Aston Villa get screwed by VAR again. Orlando isn't bad at all obviously but I'm trying to keep this a local perfect tournament.

Parking - I'd put "none" here but the tournaments that get spread out amongst the Irvine park system can usually handle the amount of traffic and they're free parking and relatively close to the fields. Vegas isn't bad either, again because of free parking.

Stay and Play - no perfect tournament could ever be stay and play, but Vegas wins this by default. Just don't take the team to Fremont street.

Overall atmosphere - I originally thought State Cup for this for that competitive spirit, but that's also when the really psychotic parents come out and completely ruin the atmosphere. So I'll say one of the more chill tournaments, like Celtic Cup?

What do you all think?
Click to expand...

I'll agree with you on Silverlakes.

Time: The week between Christmas and New Years. Most people are off and driving back to NorCal on Memorial Day or Labor Day sucks. My daughter guested in a few of the Orange Classic tournaments during that time in Fort Lauderdale.

Fields: I'll go with the Eagles' fields in Camarillo. The grass was immaculate when we played in their tournament a few years back. There was a solid little taqueria walking distance as well.

Atmosphere: "The Best of the Best" - Original version.

Parking: Any DA Tournament since it was free. One of the few things DA got right.
 
kickingandscreaming said:
Time: The week between Christmas and New Years. Most people are off and driving back to NorCal on Memorial Day or Labor Day sucks. My daughter guested in a few of the Orange Classic tournaments during that time in Fort Lauderdale.

Fields: I'll go with the Eagles' fields in Camarillo. The grass was immaculate when we played in their tournament a few years back. There was a solid little taqueria walking distance as well.
Click to expand...

The reason I didn't put a winter timing is because the kids are just burned out from the grind of league play. I agree about the drive during the holidays being really poor.

Camarillo is good in the spring, but wow those fields are rock hard in the winter, like Galway Downs level bad.
 
kickingandscreaming said:
I'll agree with you on Silverlakes.

Time: The week between Christmas and New Years. Most people are off and driving back to NorCal on Memorial Day or Labor Day sucks. My daughter guested in a few of the Orange Classic tournaments during that time in Fort Lauderdale.

Fields: I'll go with the Eagles' fields in Camarillo. The grass was immaculate when we played in their tournament a few years back. There was a solid little taqueria walking distance as well.

Atmosphere: "The Best of the Best" - Original version.

Parking: Any DA Tournament since it was free. One of the few things DA got right.
Click to expand...
There is already tournaments just like you describing, but it is a HS tournaments and they are in OC, not Camarillo
 
Week long tournament. 1 game per day for 2 days, then a day of rest. 30 minute halfs for u14 and younger. 40 minutes for anything older. Unlimited subs with referee approval, but no "Sub-bagging" with a 1 goal lead with 5 minutes left. I'd even be ok if teams could only sub at certain moments of the game (IE - about halfway through a half). Everyone on the team must play at least 15 minutes per game (unless injured).
Surf Cup sports park or Great Park location.
Teams that are local to each other won't meet until at least the semi-finals.
Re-seeding of brackets after each game to keep all games competitive. (No problem with an ECNL team vs a Flight 3 team in the opening games. Just adjust accordingly. If the Flight 3 team keeps it close, then seed them accordingly for the next round).
Guest players are allowed, but need to be submitted at least 1 week in advance and approved by tournament committee.
All 11 v 11 teams must start the tournament with at least 15 players. No more than 18 allowed to be rostered.
3 refs for all games with a maximum of 4 games per day, per ref.
All parents sitting in bleachers away from the field.
Events between games to allow teams to mingle with other teams. Possibly even some sort of gift/jersey exchange.
 
How about one where Surf doesn't find every way possible to suck money out of your pocket. Surprised they haven't charged a sunshine tax yet.
 
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