Tournament Information

HOST CITY DIVISIONS In conjunction with the regular NAGVA tourney, The 2007 DC Turkey Trot is offering two NON-Championships-Eligible divisions. These divisions are being offered as an alternative to regular NAGVA tournament play (based on the request of former and potential teams). For insurance purposes, players playing in the Host City Divisions WILL need to be current with their NAGVA individual fees, and teams will need a current NAGVA Team #. These divisions are essentially a separate social tournament and will not qualify players for eligibility for NAGVA Championships nor should any reratings be applied. Host City 1 will be a B+ division. Entry into the division is open to all B players. In addition, up to 4 BB players will be eligible to play on an individual roster, too. High-skilled BB players are encouraged to NOT request to play in the B+ division. Host City 2 will be a BB+ division. Entry into this division is open to all B and BB players. In addition, a team may have up to 3 A players. Former AA players and the high-skilled A players are encouraged to NOT request to play in the BB+ division. BB-player eligibility for B+ divison and A-player eligibility for the BB+ division will be on a per-person review by committee. Please submit full rosters prior to confirmation. Changes to rosters in the B+ and BB+ divisions must be approved in advance of Friday registration.

PLAYING FACILITY -- Lost Volleyballs The Reckord Armory has multiple air-handlers and other overhead traps for volleyballs. The University of Maryland will not allow the use of the 'cherry-picker' during the tournament, so any volleyballs that may become trapped in/on/around overhead infrastructure will be retrieved by neither the University nor the tournament. The tournament will not proffer any refunds or other compensation for volleyballs that may become so trapped.

T-SHIRTS In prior years, the DC tourney has provided a set of numbered uniforms to each team. This year, no shirts are being provided as part of the entry fee. (A limited number of shirts will be available for sale at the playing venue.) Instead of providing shirts, the DC tourney will be giving each player a ball pump.

PLAYING FACILITY -- Sunlight The Reckord Armory is a wood-floored facility with tall windows along both long walls. Depending on the weather, a LOT of sunlight can pour through the windows onto the volleyball courts (causing visual issues directly and from the reflection off the court). The University of Maryland will not place shades/filters on the windows nor will it allow the tournament organizers to do so. In prior tournaments, we have been fortunate to have cloudy skies throughout (most of) the tournament time. We have had periods of bright sunlight, too. Be advised that no court reassignments will be made due to sunlight issues nor will any refunds be made to teams claiming 'injury' based on playing on one or more sunny courts.

REFFING ASSIGNMENTS Teams are responsible for monitoring their own reffing assignments. For pool play, on Saturday, the schedules will be available both at registration and at the playing venue. For elimination play, on Sunday, reffing assignments for the first match of each court will be posted with the seeding information (at the host hotel near the front desk). Most of the other reffing assignments will be based on results of elimination play. Usually, the loser of a match will work the next match on the same court, however, not all reffing assignments will be on the same court (nor will they necessarily be the next match on another court). There WILL be some reffing assignments for non-losing teams, so that elimination play can proceed efficiently. Any team that does not 'show up' for its reffing assignment(s) will forfeit its next game(s) on a 1-for-1 basis. A team that is late for a reffing assignment, such that the tournament staff is called upon to intervene and recruit a volunteer work crew (even if the scheduled work team arrives before the start of the then-delayed match), will forfeit its next game. If the next game is a losers' bracket match, the team will have forfeited out of the tournament (and will likely draw another reffing assignment). Please be proactive in monitoring your team's reffing assignments. Unfortuately, it has happened that a winning team found itself forefeiting the first game of its second-round winners' bracket match. Any team as a whole, and each of the individual team members, that ignores its reffing assignment(s) may be subject to disciplinary action by both NAGVA and the DC Tourney. (Fortunately, the DC Tourney has not encountered such circumstances. This information is being provided to avoid situations that have arisen at other NAGVA tournaments.)

ANNOUNCEMENT/POSTING of SEEDINGS Seedings (and first assignments of each court) will be posted at the host hotel. The same information will be available at the seeding party at Titan on Saturday evening. Please note that the DC Tourney schedules the matches and reffing assignments for elimination play, on Sunday, such that early in the day, when avoidable, teams will not be assigned to 'work' immediately prior to their first matches. This means that high-seed teams (even first and second seeds) may be assigned to work the first match on a court on Sunday. (See entry above, titled: Reffing Assignments.)

NO FOOD IN THE GYM AREA No food or beverages (other than water) is permitted in the gym at the Reckord Armory. Any team found in violation of this policy may forfeit its current/next game. (This policy is not to be taken lightly. The amount of garbage and spillage generated from the food/beverages in the gym over prior tournaments have put future availability of the space in jeopardy. Thus, all food/beverages are restricted to the lobby and the lower floor and outside of the Armory.)

ONLINE AND FRIDAY REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS ALL players from all teams shall pay their individual NAGVA registrations online before Monday, 11/19/2006 (presuming the NAGVA website is up and running). Configuration of online logins for new players (and/or players having login issues) may have a several-day lead time -- plan and submit configuration requests accordingly. ALL players from all teams should plan to register on Friday evening at registration (location: host hotel). Registration will resume at the playing venue on Saturday morning at 7:30 am. All players needing to register on Saturday should arrive in time to complete registration not later than 8:00 am. Any team found playing with one or more non-registered players will forfeit its current/next game. Please make sure your players know to register, so this policy need not be invoked.

GENERAL INFO Registration will be from 7:30 - 10:30 pm on Friday, 11/23/2006. (Location: Host Hotel) Reffing and Scorekeeping Clinics will be held during registration on Friday, 11/23/2006. (Location: Host Hotel -- Reffing clinic starts at 8:45 -- Scorekeeping Clinic starts at 9:45) Record Armory will open at 7:30 am on Saturday and Sunday. Pool Play (Saturday) will start at 8:00 am. Matches will NOT be timed except for Modified-AA (due to long overruns when using untimed matches in Mod-AA in prior years) -- courts are expected to maintain good flow. Playing and/or reffing teams may be subject to point penalties if a court idles between matches (extended warm-ups may also constitute an idle court). All pool play matches will be two 25-point games (start at 0 play to 25), rally scoring, no cap. Elimination Play (Sunday) will start at 8:00 am. Information on elimination play formats will be as follows.... Winners' Bracket: best of 3 .. first 2 games to 25 (start at 0), no cap -- deciding game to 15 (start at 0), no cap Losers' Bracket: Single game to 30 (start at 0), change sides after first team reaches 15, no cap.

AWARDS The DC Tourney will NOT be voting for nor awarding All-Star/MVP awards. The DC Tourney is NOT planning to award trophies this year. Instead we are planning to award individual medals to each member of the 1st/2nd/3rd place team rosters (8 medals per team). In addition, individual awards will be presented to the members of each divisiion-winning team.

DEADLINE FOR SCORE CORRECTIONS Throughout the day on Saturday, Pool Play results will be posted near the tournament desk. Team captains/reps are responsible for double-checking that the posted results for their teams are correct. Any discrepancies should be brought to the attention of the volunteer staff at the tournament desk. After each division's last match of pool play, captains will be given 10 minutes to verify the results. No corrections will be accepted or implemented after that time.

NOTES TO CAPTAINS Modified-AA Captains, please note: if a team in the AA division becomes ineligible to play, due to a non-rated player becoming the 4th AA player on the roster, the team captain will be required to file a course of action (see below). BB Captains, please note: if a team in the BB division becomes ineligible to play in the BB division, due to a non-rated player becoming the 2nd A player on the roster or becoming a AA player, the team captain will be required to file a course of action (see below). B Captains, please note: if a team in the B division becomes ineligible to play in the B division, due to a non-rated player's new rating causing the roster to become ineligible for the B division, the team captain will be required to file a course of action (see below).

COURSE OF ACTION The following options will be made available to captains of teams that become ineligible for the divisions in which they registered and played Saturday pool play. Captains must file their course of action at the tournament desk at the playing facility not later than 10 minutes after the final pool play match of the day. 1. The team captain may choose to drop one or more players to keep the team eligible for its registered division. If a team captain drops players from its roster, no refund from NAGVA or the tournament will be provided the affected players, the team, or the non-affected players. 2. The team captain may choose to enter elimination play in a higher division based on the eligibility of the team roster. 3. The team captain may choose to withdraw from tournament play. If a team captain withdraws from tournament play, no refund from NAGVA or the tournament will be provided to the team or its individual players. Affected teams (those required to file a course of action) will have a defacto option #2 invoked if the captain does not otherwise file a separate course of action (with the following exception). If a AA team's roster makes it ineligible for the division AND the team captain does not choose to invoke option #1 AND since there is no higher division available to invoke option #2, the team captain will make a defacto choice of option #3.

REFEREES AND SCOREKEEPERS In accordance with NAGVA guidelines, each team will be required to provide its own certified referee and scorekeeper for its work assignment during pool play matches. If a team does not provide its own certified referee or scorekeeper, the team will be charged $60 (payable in cash only) per role, and the tournament will provide one certified referee/scorekeeper for each of the team's work assignments. Any team that does not provide its own certified referee/scorekeeper and does not pay the $60 fee per role will be removed from the tournament. In that event, no refunds from NAGVA or the tournament will be provided to the team or its individual players. Both a reffing clinic and a scorekeeping clinic will be provided on Friday evening coinciding with registration. Anyone may sign up for the clinics. There is no cost for either clinic. The written exams will be administered on Friday at the clinics. Clinic attendees are expected to have studied/reviewed the current USAV rules and scorekeeping procedures prior to attending the clinics. Players that pass a written exam will be scheduled for practical exams on Saturday during pool play. Players that have not passed the respective written exam may not work as first referee nor as scorekeeper. If a team does not have any certified referees or scorekeepers and only sends one person to the respective clinic and the attendee does not pass the written exam, the team will be required to either pay the $60 fee per role, provide its own certified referee/scorekeeper, or be removed from the tournament.