Thanksgiving Showcases

Unfortunately, both of our girls '03 games were played on Field #1 at Polo. Standing water all over the field, especially on the outer 1/3s. Pretty much unplayable and a hazard...I'm just glad nobody was seriously injured. The ball just died no matter how hard it was passed....it was beyond a joke. The 2nd day (7:30am) was just as bad...the lakes turned into swamps. In some areas the players entire shoe was underwater, ankle deep. I attached some pictures but they don't do it justice, I'm telling you it was bad.

Now for the good news....we had 50+ college coaches attend our games (34 on Saturday's 9:20am game and 21 on Sunday's 7:30am game)...23 were DI schools, but had a good variety of local/out of state, public/private, small/large, Ivy/Pac12, etc.... US Scout was there for both games as well. So I was happy that the girls (from both teams) got the exposure, but the gameplay at times was not the best.

My vote will be to stay home next year...
 

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Aren't most tournaments stay and plays? The cold wind I get but you also get a fair amount of teams from Texas and Colorado coming. The reason you get the CA teams as they use it as a tune up for National Cup
 
Yes but I think the concern with the Stay and Play in Vegas is staying on the strip where it is smokey and can be expensive and not a ton of cost effective food choices. The cold isn't that cold. People expect Vegas to always be warm.
 
Actually my complaint about the Stay and Play is the limited number of rooms they have available at the "good" hotels. And the 3 night minimum.
Red Rock is close to some of the fields and is a great location. But the Stay and Play at Red Rock option sells out in a hurry. Even though I could book at Red Rock on my own (and at a lower rate). But you need to book it through the VegasCup site or they threaten to cancel your tournament entry.
And since it's Vegas- many people in So Cal travel there quite a bit and comps/discounted rooms are somewhat common. But you can't use these special rates for the tournament.
And in many cases your 1st game isn't play until late in the day on Saturday. From So Cal, you could drive/fly in early Saturday. And if you don't make the final round on Monday, you could bug out on Sunday.
But they require you to stay from 1/17/2020-1/20/2020.

The rates are decent (and might even be lower than what you would pay if you booked from the hotel's website). But the 3 night minimum is a killer.
But they don't have any of the "really nice" hotels avaialble (Aria being the current exception, but only 31 rooms left). But there are plenty of rooms left at The Golden Nugget for $180 per night.
List of Hotels and Rates:

JJRP Sports Travel

JJRP Sports Travel
events.jjrptravel.com
 
vegasguy said:
Yes but I think the concern with the Stay and Play in Vegas is staying on the strip where it is smokey and can be expensive and not a ton of cost effective food choices. The cold isn't that cold. People expect Vegas to always be warm.
Click to expand...

We've attended the players showcase and thought it was one of the better ones for college exposure. We had around 50 coaches watching the 4 games and it gave everyone enough playing time to be seen.

Returning this year, Vegas is one of places I don't mind traveling to lots of things to do/see for the adults also.
 
timbuck said:
Actually my complaint about the Stay and Play is the limited number of rooms they have available at the "good" hotels. And the 3 night minimum.
Red Rock is close to some of the fields and is a great location. But the Stay and Play at Red Rock option sells out in a hurry. Even though I could book at Red Rock on my own (and at a lower rate). But you need to book it through the VegasCup site or they threaten to cancel your tournament entry.
And since it's Vegas- many people in So Cal travel there quite a bit and comps/discounted rooms are somewhat common. But you can't use these special rates for the tournament.
And in many cases your 1st game isn't play until late in the day on Saturday. From So Cal, you could drive/fly in early Saturday. And if you don't make the final round on Monday, you could bug out on Sunday.
But they require you to stay from 1/17/2020-1/20/2020.

The rates are decent (and might even be lower than what you would pay if you booked from the hotel's website). But the 3 night minimum is a killer.
But they don't have any of the "really nice" hotels avaialble (Aria being the current exception, but only 31 rooms left). But there are plenty of rooms left at The Golden Nugget for $180 per night.
List of Hotels and Rates:

JJRP Sports Travel

JJRP Sports Travel
events.jjrptravel.com
Click to expand...

I don't mind the 3 day minimum, its the same for Surf Cup or Blues Cup on the minimums.

What I really dislike about stay & play for the Vegas Cup is
1. you pay for one room when you book and you have to book way in advance
2. they take the other 2 nights 1 month out
3. you can't cancel the room for any reason, like idk your kids does their ACL or gets sick etc (you have to go back channels and hope your club has a good relationship)
4. there is a min number of rooms per team, so say you have 15 travelling and want to book 6 rooms, 5 for chaperones & kids and one for the coach … so, you need to book 8

I like the play & competition (hate that the fields are all over the place but whatever), but it feels like a complete $ grab and that you are being shafted … and my kids do a lot of travel tournaments so I'm used to being shafted … Vegas is different though.
 
timbuck said:
Mandatory hotel stays / minimums.
Strange scheduling (7pm game followed by an 8:30 am game the next day).
it can be cold and windy.
Competition is usually solid, but sometimes you’ll drive all the way to Vegas to play a club located in your same city.
Click to expand...

You forgot the 15 years old referees......
 
First time playing over Thanksgiving. Did November Nights. All games on Turf. All games 40 minute halves. Played Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, no issues. Hotels through their website were cheaper than through Kayak. Stayed in Carlsbad. Girls 05 so only saw a couple coaches, but our coaches did get a nice team evaluation. Best parts were the girls hanging around with each other, Mexican food in Old Town, and finishing first in our group. Overall a great weekend, and so much better than some of the Dance Competitions I had to go to. :)
 
mlx said:
For the record, at the past ECNL event in Las Vegas, the 16-year-old referee we got was way better, by far, than the other 2 30-something referees.
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haha yeah fair....I've seen a good young referee before that was far better than his older peers.....but many of the LV referees are young and not used to higher level teams....
 
I wonder how many of the people bitching about Surf College Cup that will have kids still playing in 2020 will be back next year. I hear a lot of complaining about the tournament and the problems this year, but would bet almost all of you will be back for Surf College Cup 2020. The only way to get Surf to change is for no one to attend their tournament, and we all know that will not happen. Too many of you need to be able to brag to your buddies or coworkers, “I spentThanksgiving weekend in San Diego. My kid was playing the Surf College showcase and 50 college coaches were watching her/him and going to recruit her/him.” If everyone just stayed home next year and enjoyed the long holiday weekend, then maybe Surf would make some changes.
 
Played Nomads years ago. 3 games plus a semi-final all played at different locations. Check-in on Thanksgiving night is the dumbest thing ever!!
Never again.

November Nights is just another tournament. Played that a few years ago. I asked the check-in table if any college coaches had showed up and the guy sitting there said he saw ONE. And that he couldn't even remember the school which says alot as well I think. Never again.

We missed everything last year due to my G03 GK being injured. Went camping and riding to the desert instead.

This year she was asked by two different teams to guest play. One for Nomads (NOPE) and the other for Silverlakes. I asked her what she wanted to do. She said she'd rather go riding. I said hell yeah!! We expected it to be cold. But the riding was good and the kids got to play in the snow a bit too. Given the weather, playing conditions, schedule, etc...it sounds like we made the right decision!!
 
timbuck said:
Actually my complaint about the Stay and Play is the limited number of rooms they have available at the "good" hotels. And the 3 night minimum.
Red Rock is close to some of the fields and is a great location. But the Stay and Play at Red Rock option sells out in a hurry. Even though I could book at Red Rock on my own (and at a lower rate). But you need to book it through the VegasCup site or they threaten to cancel your tournament entry.
And since it's Vegas- many people in So Cal travel there quite a bit and comps/discounted rooms are somewhat common. But you can't use these special rates for the tournament.
And in many cases your 1st game isn't play until late in the day on Saturday. From So Cal, you could drive/fly in early Saturday. And if you don't make the final round on Monday, you could bug out on Sunday.
But they require you to stay from 1/17/2020-1/20/2020.

The rates are decent (and might even be lower than what you would pay if you booked from the hotel's website). But the 3 night minimum is a killer.
But they don't have any of the "really nice" hotels avaialble (Aria being the current exception, but only 31 rooms left). But there are plenty of rooms left at The Golden Nugget for $180 per night.
List of Hotels and Rates:

JJRP Sports Travel

JJRP Sports Travel
events.jjrptravel.com
Click to expand...

Sounds like illegal tying...

Tying is an often illegal arrangement where, in order to buy one product, the consumer must purchase another product that exists in a separate market. Tying falls under the wider legal umbrella of illegal competition.
 
Yak said:
Sounds like illegal tying...

Tying is an often illegal arrangement where, in order to buy one product, the consumer must purchase another product that exists in a separate market. Tying falls under the wider legal umbrella of illegal competition.
Click to expand...

You mean all Stay and Plays are illegal? Stay and Play is pretty much the norm.
 
vegasguy said:
You mean all Stay and Plays are illegal? Stay and Play is pretty much the norm.
Click to expand...
I’ve said it before- it will just take one pissed off parent/lawyer with enough time and money to blow this whole thing apart. By “whole thing”- I mean all of it. Non-profit. Field permits. Tournaments using mandatory “volunteers”. Stay and play. Fundraising. Club Contracts. Payment and refund policies. Coach payments. USSF involvement. Field conditions. Injury care.
 
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