General Information For Tournament Teams - IMPORTANT!!!

[Daniel Morris]

If your team has been identified as an MCLA Division I or II program that has already received, or has the potential to receive, an automatic qualification or at-large invitation* to the 2008 National Tournament in Dallas, Texas, the infomation below will be very helpful.

Below you will find:

1) information to aid you in your travel arrangements,

2) a list of items required for submittal by you prior to your bid acceptance and arrival at the tournament. Your team’s entrance to the tournament is contingent on providing this requested information in a through and timely manner.

*Please note that the winning of the conference’s automatic qualification or MCLA’s awarding of an at-large invitation requires your team’s mandatory attendance at the tournament. Teams are required to stay through completion of all winner bracket and consolation games. Failure attend the tournament after receiving an entrance bid or leaving the tournament without completing all scheduled games will result in fines and sanctions against the offending team and their conference.

Tournament Information:
Tournament dates are Tuesday, May 13th through Saturday May 17th, 2008.

First round, quarterfinal, and consolation games will be played in the Ross Stewart Soccer Complex, in Farmers Branch, TX.
http://dallastexans.com/complex.php

Semifinals and Finals will be hosted in Texas Stadium, Irving Texas.
http://www.dallascowboys.com/stadium_directions.cfm

We will be holding a mandatory coaches orientation the evening of Monday, May 12th. This meeting will require a representative from each team, preferably head coach, and we will go over everything you need to know about the tournament week. If you are one of the top four Division II teams that has a bye on the first day of the tournament and will not be arriving until Tuesday, please contact me. Otherwise, please take this into account when planning your travel.

The location and final time of the meeting will be provided when the tournament field is set.

The schedule breakdown will be as follows:

· Tuesday — First round (Top four Div II seeds have a bye). Games begin at 1pm.

· Wednesday — Quarterfinal round, Consolation games

· Thursday — Consolation games, Stadium walkthrough for semifinalists

· Friday — Semifinals

· Saturday — Finals

CollegeLAX (www.CollegeLAX.us) will be offering a live televised online webcast of the final four games from Texas Stadium (Two Division I Semifinals, Division II Championship, and Division I Championship) in addition to live game scoring updates (winners bracket games only), articles, photos, stats, and more.

Division I Semifinals and Division I & II Championships will be nationally broadcast in early June.

Travel Arrangements:

MCLA Championship Tournament website: http://mclachamptx.com

Here you can find information on hotels, ticket packages, game schedules and venues.

We ask that all teams begin securing hotel accommodations ASAP. Reservations can be cancelled without charge 7 days prior to arrival.

Please contact Sue Davis (972) 392-9800 sue@travelallseasons.com our travel contact in Texas, to help with all reservations. We have arranged special pricing with a variety of area hotels, and Sue will help find the accommodations and vehicle rentals best suited for your teams’ budget and needs.

Required Information/Submittals

With a new national television deal in place and our first ever live web broadcasts, there is little room for error this year. The below items are non-negotiable and must be verified and/or provided to the tournament committee by the specified dates. If you have a chance to be at the tournament, please do not wait on these items. Failure to provide this information will result in fines and/or sanctions against your team and conference.

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE SECURED A BID TO MEET THE TOURNAMENT REQUIREMENTS!!!

1) Rosters

All rosters must be accurate and verified on the MCLA website ASAP. Pay strict attention to the spellings of names and jersey numbers. All fields must be completed. Please contact your conference director if you need access to the website to make updates or corrections. Jersey numbers can only be changed in the case of an emergency (destroyed, bloody) and any change must be immediately communicated to the tournament and media directors. Rosters must be finalized by Friday, May 2nd.

2) Team Information

Please email me the following. In the subject header, write “Program Information – Team Name.”

Team Name
Head Coach
Assistant Coach(es)
Conference
Team Colors

This information must be sent by Friday, May 2nd

3) Team Photos

Please do your best to have a horizontal orientation. The printed versions will be approximately 5" wide by 3" high. Team pictures should be serious team poses and focus on the players and not background.

SUBMIT PICTURES THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN WITH THE HIGHEST RESOLUTION ON YOUR CAMERA.

Resolution needs to be 300 dpi (minimum) for printed material. Lower resolution photos will be fuzzy and pixilated, so please send a high resolution picture!

Bottom line: team photo should be 5” X 3” at 300 dpi (minimum)

Please email photos to: Larry Monaco ldmonaco@tx.rr.com by Sunday, May 4th.

4) Team Logo

Same as team photo above. We need a minimum of 300 dpi image (1.5” x 1.5”) to avoid pixelization.

5) Eligibility Forms

Tournament teams need to bring with them to Dallas a certified player roster (downloaded from the MCLA webpage), which the head coach will hand to Eligibility Chair Doug Carl personally.

The act of physically handing it to Doug is for accountability reasons--no "team captain was supposed to fax it" excuses that we had to deal with this year on numerous occasions.

Teams are welcome to fax Doug a copy just to be safe, but all teams will be required to bring a roster certified by the registrar, signed by the head coach to the respective coaches meetings.

To contact Doug Carl:
coach.carl@sonomalacrosse.com
cell 707-799-9570
fax 707-238-1480

6) Human Interest Segments for Television Broadcast

The one item on this list that is not required, but is highly recommended.

We are looking for compelling human interest segments about the MCLA to fold into our television broadcasts. This could be about a player in a unique situation or beating immense odds, a team overcoming adversity, or something else that showcases the myriad faces and stories that make up our nearly 200 teams and thousands of players. This would be a good opportunity for film/broadcast/journalism student and if selected, will receive a national broadcast.

We are asking schools—with the help of their campus television and audio/visual production departments—to create a well-produced 90 second to 2.5 minute segment on BetaSP or DigiBeta tape. These segments must be completed and mailed by Wednesday, May 7th.

Any questions regarding taped segments should be directed to James Jeter at jeter@jdjtv.com

If you have any other questions about the tournament, I can be reached at the contacts below or post questions here and I will respond.

Daniel Morris
National Tournament Director, Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association
danmorris29@gmail.com
Work: 617.632.6527
Cell: 617.359.0401

[Gvlax]

It says send team photos by th 4th but teams who are waiting for an AL bid have to wait till the 5th to find out if they go... should i send the picture anyways?

[Sonny]

It says send team photos by th 4th but teams who are waiting for an AL bid have to wait till the 5th to find out if they go... should i send the picture anyways?

Yes.... If you receive an At-Large Bid next Monday afternoon, there won't be time to take/send in a photo.

If you are in the running for an AQ or an At-Large bid, you should send in your photo NOW.

[Gvlax]

It says send team photos by th 4th but teams who are waiting for an AL bid have to wait till the 5th to find out if they go... should i send the picture anyways?

Yes.... If you receive an At-Large Bid next Monday afternoon, there won't be time to take/send in a photo.

If you are in the running for an AQ or an At-Large bid, you should send in your photo NOW.

10-4

[Daniel Morris]

It says send team photos by th 4th but teams who are waiting for an AL bid have to wait till the 5th to find out if they go... should i send the picture anyways?

Yes.... If you receive an At-Large Bid next Monday afternoon, there won't be time to take/send in a photo.

If you are in the running for an AQ or an At-Large bid, you should send in your photo NOW.

Sonny is correct and I need to make this clear:

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE SECURED A BID TO MEET THE TOURNAMENT REQUIREMENTS!!!

If you even have a remote shot of going, you need to be prepared. There just isn't enough time after May 5th to get everything done.

[WallyLaxFan]

I know the seedings don't come out until Monday, but I was wondering if a schedule was released for the tournament. For example, on the opening tuesday of the tournament, what time does the 6 vs. 11 game start? and the 7 v. 10? 8 v. 9? 5 v. 12? Does anybody have an idea, or will we have to wait till monday? It said games start at 1PM Monday, but I'm curious as to what seeding matchups will take place when.

[Sonny]

I know the seedings don't come out until Monday, but I was wondering if a schedule was released for the tournament. For example, on the opening tuesday of the tournament, what time does the 6 vs. 11 game start? and the 7 v. 10? 8 v. 9? 5 v. 12? Does anybody have an idea, or will we have to wait till monday? It said games start at 1PM Monday, but I'm curious as to what seeding matchups will take place when.

there are three possible start times on Tuesday, May 13th:
1, 4, and 7pm Central Time.

exact start times will be announced on Monday or Tuesday of next week AFTER the tournament field is known.

[laxdad03]

I understand there will be 2 games at 1pm, 2 games at 4pm, and 4 games at 7pm (per mclachamptx.com), but which teams / seeds will be assigned to those game slots is apparently unknowable yet, except perhaps for guessing that the less "exciting" games would be at 1, and a bit of playing the odds, if you dare. Good luck...

[Sonny]

I understand there will be 2 games at 1pm, 2 games at 4pm, and 4 games at 7pm (per mclachamptx.com), but which teams / seeds will be assigned to those game slots is apparently unknowable yet, except perhaps for guessing that the less "exciting" games would be at 1, and a bit of playing the odds, if you dare. Good luck...

It would be a good bet that the top seeds and closer seeded games (D1) will be playing at either 4pm or 7pm on Day 1.

Just like last year -- One 7pm game will be picked as the featured game for radio broadcast. Maybe the 8/9 game or the 7/10 game.