WCLL Playoffs Info/Schedule

[DG]

It's not $12. It's $15 ....each day.
This is generating alot of anger around the league and in the Bay Area.

I live just minutes away from Miramonte, and I won't be going. I can't spend all day watching games, and might only be able to catch a half of one game. Unfortunately for me, that's not worth my $15.

DG

[Sonny]

As posted on WCLL.com:

Apr 23 Q1 ARIZ at UCSB 1:00 PM
Apr 23 Q3 SCU at SSU 1:00 PM
Apr 23 Q2 CHICO at CPSLO 1:00 PM
Apr 23 Q4 CHAP at UCSD 7:00 PM

[CATLAX MAN]

Does anyone know who is the contact person for the organizing of this tournament? The postcard that was sent out has a return addres of 1880 Lombard Street, SF, CA 94123, but does not have a contact name, telephone number or email address. Incidentally, that address is the offices of Hill & Co. Real Estate, so the connection to the tournament is not readily obvious. I called their offices and they had no idea who to refer me to.

Does anyone have any info here?

[CATLAX MAN]

I just spoke to Steve Dini, the Cal Coach, who is one of the members of the organizing committee. The reason for the charge is that they have incurred a large expenditure in promoting the event, providing security, field rental, cost of the youth games, etc. and need to cover the cost of putting together this event. It is an expensive proposition to put on an event like this.

While I can fully understand this, it would seem to me that they would get much better attendance by discounting the children & student fee of $12 to some nominal charge. It also seems to me that they are missing the boat on a number of potential attendees who otherwise might attend this event because of some personal connection to one of the WCLL players, but are not lacrosse fans per se. I know that, in my personal situation, I have to question whether I would ask some of my friends & their families, who otherwise could care less about lacrosse but would go to see somebody they knew, to drop the better part of $60 per day to do this.

If there are others of you who are in a similar situation, I think it would be important to let the organizers know exactly how many potential attendees they may be missing out on. I have already indicated to Steve that I believe that this could be a significant number. In my case, it's got to be somewhere between 20-30 people. If you multiply that by the number of Bay Area players that are on the 4 teams that will be in this tournament, the dollars could be very significant.

I would suggest to send Steve an email that is respectful & tactful, but let them know how this affects the potential attendance of the people that you know. If the number is significant enough, perhaps the organizers will consider an alternate fee structure. Steve's email address is Stephendini@msn.com.

[Maple Leaf]

any word on the times of the games for the finals? i know the semifinals for a are sat, and the a and b championships on sunday, but any word on the starting times?

[strykr11]

While I can fully understand this, it would seem to me that they would get much better attendance by discounting the children & student fee of $12 to some nominal charge. It also seems to me that they are missing the boat on a number of potential attendees who otherwise might attend this event because of some personal connection to one of the WCLL players, but are not lacrosse fans per se. I know that, in my personal situation, I have to question whether I would ask some of my friends & their families, who otherwise could care less about lacrosse but would go to see somebody they knew, to drop the better part of $60 per day to do this.

I would suggest to send Steve an email that is respectful & tactful, but let them know how this affects the potential attendance of the people that you know. If the number is significant enough, perhaps the organizers will consider an alternate fee structure. Steve's email address is Stephendini@msn.com.

Then what is really being stated is that Dini &Co. have miscalculated the price elasticity of demand for WCLL playoff games at Miramonte HS....In other words they believe the demand is far more inelastic than do the members of this Board.
As for price, CAL charges adults $5.00/game admission at their Lax games and I think kids are charged $3.00 and in additon if one drives, they have to pay about $5.00 for parking. Here the charge per game is 50% more for adults which seems reasonable for a playoff game but for kids it is 100% more. In addition if one is only going to see one of the games the price becomes 100% and 200% higher. If they were able to charge on a per game basis and lowered the rates to a 50% premium over Cal regular admission I don't think there would be a lot of complaints regarding price and I believe they would maximize their admissions revenue....

[CATLAX MAN]

Most WCLL teams do not charge any admission to see games. Cal seems to be the exception to this rule. Now when you compare that to what is being charged, I think you can see some of the problems people have with this price structure.

[CATLAX MAN]

This posting appeared in another forum:

I have received 1 phone call from a concerned parent about ticket prices for the WCLL Championship weekend, and have reviewed the postings on a couple of the forums.
Let me make a few points.

1) This is a fundraiser for the UC Berkeley men's lacrosse program and Miramonte lacrosse. The 2 teams, the organizers and the representatives from Miramonte and Lamorinda lacrosse have been working on this since mid February. There are over 85 volunteers working on this event. This is the first I have heard of anyone objecting to the prices. All the proceeds go to these 2 programs that receive little support from the University and the high school. We have costs associated with the event that include professional security, field rental, professional design, production and mailing of 5000 postcards announcing the weekend, 500 color posters advertising the weekend, weekly email blasts to the entire lacrosse community reminding everyone of the weekend, equipment, portable toilet and fencing rentals, insurance, etc.

2) $15 for 2 games and $8 for the second game only for adults
$12 for 2 games and $6 for the second game only for kids
A little perspective is in order. This works out to be about $2.75 per hour of entertainment for the sport we all love and support. A movie is $10 for 2 hours. Lunch at a fast food restaurant is $6.00. A single CIF North Coast Section high school lacrosse playoff game is $5-$6 depending on the location. No discount for age. A high school football game is $10. This is family entertainment at it's best and watching the highest level of West Coast College Lacrosse is the treat. It is outdoors in the new football stadium, great food, an exciting atmosphere, top college lacrosse, 40 junior games played over the weekend that are free. We have arranged a tent village with vendors, exhibitors, raffles for merchandise, raffles for day camps and overnight camps. We have a 20 page color program with photos of the teams, rosters, etc.

This is great value. The WCLL tournament has been under appreciated, under attended, and under promoted for years. We as the committee, as Cal, and as Miramonte are trying to make this the most professional lacrosse weekend ever, and to have this be the beginning of well promoted, well attended, and well appreciated lacrosse tournaments in California. We are trying to promote the sport of lacrosse through this venue. We hope you all appreciate what we are doing and plan to attend and to bring your friends. See you Saturday April 30 and May 1, 2005

Jay Costello
President Cal Lacrosse Boosters
415-321-4274
jcostello@hill-co.com

Feel free to let this man know your opinions also.

[pistol pete]

Hey thats cool, just tell it like it is up front. Its a weekend lacrosse fundraiser festival. the WCLL playoffs just happen to be there.

Too bad no one outside of the bay area youth lax community knew this. I mean, youd think we would have heard about about this, i dunno, maybe on some wcll team website, the wcll website, perhaps this website? Are any of those color posters or mailers gonna make the bulletin boards of WCLL playoff teams? I just wanna know why we WCLL lax fans know so little about our event?

[CATLAX MAN]

The only reason we know this right now is someone from Lamorinda Lightning Youth Club posted the text of an email he got on another forum or we probably wouldn't even know this today.

Interestingly enough, those color postcards and mailers did not seem to mention the cost involved or have a contact name or number where information could be gotten. Were they just going to spring this information on people at the gate when they arrived?

I agree with Pistol Pete. It does seem like the WCLL playoffs have been hijacked from its purpose (watching our sons, family & friends play lacrosse) and turned into a fundraiser and I find that somewhat objectionable.

The guys (or more likely their families) on these four teams have to pay their entire cost for these teams to be there and they're not getting a piece of this. Something is wrong with this picture.

[Baller1]

Maybe you could have a raffle of some sort incorporated into the event so people could actually win something too while supporting their friends and fmaily playing lacrosse.

[CATLAX MAN]

That is already on the agenda along with vendor tents, food concessions, and other fundraising activities.

[WaterBoy]

Well, crap. I wrote out a long reply, and apparently never hit submit.

Anyways, I am in agreement as to the less-than-ideal handling of the event. I consider myself to be a pretty avid forum surfer and try to keep myself well informed of what is transpiring on the USLIA forum and on the WCLL website. I check the site multiple times a day (a loner, I know) and not once did I see any mention of the fact that the WCLL playoffs were going to be second billing.

I understand that this is a great opportunity for spreading lacrosse in the area, but at the same time, I feel like this has been something of a... violation of my trust as a fan. I could understand the increases in fees for attendance if it were to cover costs of the event. The moment that it became a fundraiser for Cal and Miramonte High, I feel as though the funds were being allocated... inappropriately. The fact that this was the first point he addresses in his response to the complaint concerning the fees causes me great distress, wondering how much this is geared towards propelling the WCLL, and how much it is geared towards merely raising money for the hosts.

PolyLax stated earlier that he felt that the league should be taking in part of the revenue, and I couldn't agree more.

I think in an ideal situation, if the event is truly designed and intentioned to propel the status of the WCLL as a whole, then the funds need to put to causes of the league. Clearly Cal should not be put out financially for the hosting of the event. If their club benefits from the event, I also think that is fair. I think it is almost unfair however, to use the price of the WCLL tickets to cover the costs of a local highschool's event.

I can say as a fan of the league, that if I thought the entire cost of the ticket was being applied to the cost of the event and the benefit of the WCLL, then I would have no problem paying the ticket price.

Make no mistake, the prices will not keep me from the playoffs. I intend to go and have a good weekend and enjoy some quality lacrosse. I will, however, say that this has caused me to raise an eyebrow at the decisions made in the planning of this event.

If you want to build a fan base, keep the fans happy.

[CATLAX MAN]

Actually, Waterboy, the WCLL playoffs are front and center on their mailed advertisement. What does not appear anywhere on the mailer is not only the price of admission, but also the fact that this is a fundraiser for Cal & Miramonte High. That information was also conveniently omitted.

[sohotrightnow]

While I do not agree with the way that this event is being handled or the fact that Cal and Miramonte stand as the only programs to benefit financially, I think some people are blowing this out of proportion. Yes, it is expensive and outrageous for a kid to pay such an exorbitant amount for a club lacrosse game, but no parents should be complaining. I know a fair amount of the players on the teams in the WCLL playoffs, and I think it's fair to say given their pedigree, that their parents are not being hit hard in their pocketbooks with the price of admission to this event.

Cal chooses to charge people to attend their games. So what? There isn't a law that says you can or can't. Hell, I got charged to attend a game and I went to the damn school. They choose to do it because they need money and they do not have as dedicated alumni as other schools, so this is their way of raising some money. I can almost guarantee that over the past 5-6 years, Cal's dues have been some of the highest in the country, and charging admission is one way to help alleviate those costs.

That being said, I would hope that the WCLL stands to profit from this event, but if they don't, then next year, and the following years, whoever is the host team should do some research to determine what people would be willing to pay before they throw out an arbitrary price like I feel they did this year.