12U C State in Bentonville - Sorry Earl

True Fan · July 01, 2008, 01:36:21 pm

This weekend, due to rain on Saturday, the entire losers bracket was dropped and the tournament was changed to single elimination on Sunday. A lot of teams played one game and went home. Did ASA refund any entry fees to the teams who weren't given the 2 game guarantee? The teams who got first round byes went up Friday and stayed 2 nights and might have only played 1 game.

I just wondered if anybody on here was directly affected.

Badger Cubs · July 01, 2008, 02:00:31 pm

I am willing to go out on a limb here and say that ASA probably didn't give any refunds.

Probably considered charging double gate fees on Sunday to make up for the missed gate revenue on Saturday.

As Don himself once put it to me, "It's a business"

OLDBEAR · July 02, 2008, 01:49:52 pm

The loser's bracket change did not directly affect my team because we were winning at the time, and still played five games. But no, there was never any discussion from ASA about refunds. Several teams in a 25 team bracket were affected. I felt more sorry for the teams that lost on Friday night and could have gone home but were not told about the decision until late Saturday afternoon. They were already in for a second night's stay in a hotel.

passion4thegame · July 02, 2008, 02:34:11 pm

Who won?

True Fan · July 02, 2008, 02:41:46 pm

I didn't know what time those teams were contacted. I knew it was probably after checkout. We won Friday and played 4 Sunday, so we weren't affected either. Except that 1 loss meant 2nd place.

Oldbear, I'll see you this weekend at Jacksonville.

True Fan · July 02, 2008, 02:42:45 pm

1st Renegades 96
2nd No Xcuses
3rd Pink Sox
4th Panther Pride 96

Blind Man · July 03, 2008, 09:44:01 pm

For those that weren't there, Bentonville got a lot of rain Friday night after the games.

When I got there about 7:30 Saturday morning, Bentonville Parks and Rec had at least 8 people working on the fields. They had at least 3 hand pumps and one electric pump draining water off the field. After discussion with the grounds crew chief, the tournament director projected that games could start at 2 PM.

About noon, more rain came. About 2 PM the tournament director and the grounds crew chief decided that there was no way the fields could be gotten in shape to play games that day. The tournament director then considered various options including rescheduling the entire tournament to a later weekend and decided that the best solution for everyone was to change the format to a single elimination tournament. A major considerations was to finish the tournament and allow teams to return home sometime Sunday night. The 25 teams were then notified as quickly as possible.

On Sunday, games began at 9 AM and finished about 4:30 PM.

I honestly don't know how this could have been handled any better. No one was happy about the rain or the change. The Bentonville Parks and Rec field crew made a tremendous effort to get the fields in playing shape and should be commended for their efforts. (I don't think there are many places in Arkansas who could or would expend this much effort to get the fields in playing shape.)

As far as getting money back, if anyone KNOWS the answer, please let us all know.