Welcome to the fourth annual First Lady’s Challenge, sponsored by Children’s Health
Care of Atlanta Sports Medicine—the organization that provides the fine trainers at all
of our tournaments. Our goal is to provide the opportunity for you to play lots of
volleyball against a variety of opponents in this early season tournament, making this
competition one you’ll want to come back to year after year. Every team will be
guaranteed a minimum of seven matches, and more than half will play 8, 9 or even 10
matches over this three-day event.
To ensure diversity of play, we have combined many of the divisions for pool play only—
for example, 16 power has been combined with 15 power to create a 13-team division.
To help eliminate blow-outs and ensure competitive matches, when a division is repooled in day two, those pools will be comprised of teams who fared equally well the
day prior. E.g., those who won their pools on day one will be pooled together on day
two, those who finished second will be pooled together, and so forth—all with minor
adjustments to minimize repeat matches. On day three the divisions which had been
combined will be separated based on their registration (e.g., in the example above, 16
power will be separated from 15 power) and they will play in separate championship
brackets, the seeding of which will be based on the results of pool play. Except for the
U12 ten-team round-robin pool, no team will be eliminated from contention for the
tournament championship based on the results of pool play.
REAL-TIME, ON-LINE UPDATES:
We’ll be paperless at the First Lady’s Challenge. The competition schedule, along with
results, will be continuously posted in real time on advancedeventsystems.com. We will
have i-pads available in the gym for those needing to check schedule obligations,
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results, ref assignments, etc. However, participants may wish to spare themselves the
walk to the central desk (and at every AES-scheduled tournament thereafter) by
downloading the AES app. Simply go to the app store, search on aes xpress, and follow
the prompts.
A NOTE ABOUT SEEDS AND INITIAL POOL PAIRINGS:
Seeding the first several tournaments of the year always involves some amount of
guesswork—particularly when age brackets are combined and teams from different
regions are competing. We seeded teams from the Southern Region primarily based on
their current regional records and/or rankings, which are beginning to level out and
make sense. We investigated W/L records and/or tournament finishes for out-of region
teams and placed them in the competition as best we could. Beyond that, we
endeavored to put teams from the same or sister club in separate pools where possible.
Lastly, given that all teams in all age brackets advance to Gold Medal Bracket Play on
Monday, we’ve ensured that no team will be eliminated based on their initial seeding in
pool play.
Play starts in the morning at 8:00 a.m., and in the afternoon at 3:00 p.m. It is important
to check your specific age bracket for starting times and/or officiating responsibilities on
AES, as last-minute changes sometimes occur.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
We will have fifteen courts available at the Georgia International Convention Center
(“GICC”).
17/18 Power –A.M. Wave – courts 1 - 4
There are six teams in the 18 Power division and eight teams in 17 Power. The fourteen
teams will be combined during pool play to facilitate diversity of competition. On Day
One, the combined division will be organized into one pool of four teams and three
pools of three teams each. At the conclusion of the first round of pool play in the threeteam pools, teams will be rotated and organized into another set of three, three-team
pools, with the first place finisher in pool 1 being pooled with the second place finisher
in pool 2 and the third place finisher in pool 3 and so forth.
On day two, the winners of each of the pools will play each other in a four-team pool,
while second-place finishers will be pooled together, as will third-place finishers (with
the 5th-place finisher from pool 1 participating in that last pool, which will include five
teams).
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18 Open and 17 Open teams will be broken apart for the Championship Brackets on Day
three, with the results of pool play determining their seed. All teams will advance to the
Championship Bracket.
15/16 Power – A.M. Wave – courts 5 - 8
There are seven teams in the 16 Power division and six teams in 15 Power. The thirteen
teams will be combined during pool play to facilitate diversity of competition. On Day
One, the combined division will be organized into one pool of four teams and three
pools of three teams each. At the conclusion of the first round of pool play in the threeteam pools, teams will be rotated and organized into another set of three, three-team
pools, with the first place finisher in pool 1 being pooled with the second place finisher
in pool 2 and the third place finisher in pool 3 and so forth.
On day two, the winners of each of the pools will play each other in a four-team pool,
while second-place finishers will be pooled together, as will third-place finishers (with
the 5th-place finisher from pool 1 participating in that last pool, which will include five
teams).
16 Power and 15 Power teams will be broken apart for the Championship Brackets on
Day three, with the results of pool play determining their seed. All teams will advance
to the Championship Bracket.
13/14 Power – P.M. Wave – courts 1 - 3
There are seven teams in the 14 Power division and five in 13 Power. The twelve teams
will be combined during pool play to facilitate diversity of competition. They will be
organized initially into three pools of four teams each. This division will compete in
three pools of four teams each again on Day 2, with the top-finishing teams being
pooled together, the next-highest finishers being pooled together, and the lowest
finishing teams likewise being put in a common pool – with a minor adjustment to
minimize redundant team pairings. (i.e., 1A, 1B, 1C &2C comprise round 2 pool A; 2B,
2A, 3A and 3C comprise round 2 pool B and the remaining teams comprise round 2 pool
C)
14 Open and 13 Open teams will be broken apart for the Championship Brackets on Day
three, with the results of pool play determining their seed. All teams will advance to the
Championship Bracket.
12 Club – A.M. Wave -- courts 12 - 14
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Ten teams are entered in this division. They will be organized into a pool of ten teams,
which shall compete with each other in a round-robin format from Saturday through
Monday morning. At the conclusion of pool play the top finishers in the pool will
compete in the Championship Match.
17/18 Club -- A.M. Wave – courts 9 - 11
There are seven teams entered in 18 Club and three in 17 Club. The two divisions will
be combined during pool play to ensure diversity of competition They will be organized
into a pool of ten teams, which shall compete with each other in a round-robin format
from Saturday through Monday morning. At the conclusion of pool play the top two
finishers in pool play registered for 18 Club will compete for the 18 Club championship,
and the top two finishers in 17 Club will likewise play for the championship of their
division.
15/16 Club--P.M. Wave –courts 4 - 9
There are eleven teams entered in both 15 Club and 16 Club divisions. They will be
combined during pool play to ensure diversity of competition, and broken apart for the
single-elimination Championship Bracket on Monday, to which all teams will advance.
The combined divisions will compete in four pools of four teams each, and two pools of
three teams each. Members of the three-team pools will play cross-over matches (1A v
2B; 2B v 1A; 3A v 3B) at the conclusion of Round 1 pool play.
The teams will be re-pooled on Sunday, with top teams being pooled together, 2nd-place
together, etc., with minor adjustments to avoid repeat matches.
Teams will be separated into their respective divisions for the Championship Brackets
on Monday. The results of pool play on Day Two will be used to determine seeding in
the single-elimination Championship Brackets, to which all teams will advance.
13/14 Club –P.M. Wave –courts 10 -14
There are eleven teams entered in 14 Power and six in 13 Club, so to ensure diversity of
play, the divisions will be combined during pool play and then broken apart for
Monday’s Championship Bracket, to which all teams will advance.
They will compete in two pools of four teams each and three pools of three teams each
on day one. At the conclusion of the first round of pool play in the three-team pools,
teams will be rotated and organized into another set of three, three-team pools, with
the first place finisher in pool 1 being pooled with the second place finisher in pool 2
and the third place finisher in pool 3 and so forth.
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All teams will be re-pooled on Sunday, with top teams being pooled together, 2nd-place
together, etc., with minor adjustments to avoid repeat matches.
The divisions will be broken apart for the Championship Bracket on Monday. The results
of play on Day Two will be used to determine seeding in the single-elimination
Championship Brackets, to which all teams will advance.
18 Boys – A.M. & P.M. waves – Saturday only – court 15
Boys will play in a five-team pool on one court on Saturday during the a.m. and p.m.
waves. The top four finishers in pool play will advance to the Championship Bracket.
MATCH PROTOCOL AND WARM-UPS
All matches except where specifically noted will be based on two out of three sets to 25
(3rd, if necessary, to 15). Accordingly, it is imperative that we move quickly from match
to match if we are to remain on schedule. Referees have been instructed to start the
10-minute warm-up clock immediately upon completion of the previous match, so
please have your teams ready to go.
TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURES
Are more fully described in the SRVA handbook, which is posted on the SRVA website
and will be available at the tournament desk. However, since tie-breaking matches will
be played only to the extent that the results affect advancement to gold bracket play,
and all teams advance to the gold bracket, we do not anticipate playing any tiebreakers in this tournament.
TEAM REFEREE OBLIGATIONS
Referee schedules are included in the pool assignments. With the exception of those
still engaged in pool play, teams losing in bracket play on Monday will ref the next
match on that court. Several teams will be required to ref the 8:00 A.M. Monday
match before they play, so again, please check the website as well as the pools and
brackets to see if your team is effected. Teams with 8 a.m. ref assignments must be in
place on the court no later than 7:45.
Coaches, please remind your players that MP3 players and Cell Phones are not to be
used while working the score table and that snacks and drink bottles should not be on
the table. scorekeepers should lift the score board and show the score frequently,
minimally at serve changes and time outs.
FACILITY/PARKING
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Parking at the Georgia International Convention Center is plentiful and we have been
able to negotiate a charge of $5/vehicle/day rather than the normal fee of $10.
FOOD, COOLERS, ETC. MAY NOT BE BROUGHT INTO THE VENUE
The concession stand will be open, and there will be multiple stations available for
athletes and spectators to refuel.
GATE
$7 per day; $15 for the entire weekend. Children 10 and under are free.
TRAINERS
A certified trainer from our sponsor—Children’s Health Care of Atlanta—will be on
premises during the competition.
PRACTICE/WARM-UP VOLLEYBALLS
Please bring your own; inasmuch as participating clubs are located within driving
distance of the venue, we will not be providing warm-up balls at this event.
RECRUITING
As an added bonus for participating in Hope & Will First Lady’s Challenge, we are putting
together a recruiting package, in conjunction with University Athlete, to give to any
college coaches in attendance. But the program is only as good as you and your athletes
make it. If they don’t want to be left out, the following needs to happen prior to close
of business Wednesday, 2/12:
Club Directors or Coaches or Team Managers:
Make sure your team roster is entered on
https://www.advancedeventsystems.com/
Players:
Login or sign up to your free account at UniversityAthlete
(http://universityathlete.com). With your free account, you can even link your
YouTube video clips to your profile so coaches have immediate access to your
video while they are looking at your profile. And email college coaches of those
universities you’re interested in; tell them you’re playing at the First Lady’s
Challenge and ask them to come watch you.
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College Coaches:
Visit uaweb.mobi from your device to download UA Recruiter to your iPhone,
iPad, Android, or Blackberry.
About University Athlete:
University Athlete is the premier communication tool connecting collegiate
coaches and prospective student athletes. They are NOT a recruiting service;
they don’t sell athletes to colleges or promote them in any way. UA combines
the convenience of an online database with the efficiency of iPhone, Android,
and Blackberry software to assist coaches’ recruiting efforts at tournaments.
At a tournament, recruiters can instantly find any player, identify new players,
evaluate and take notes without losing valuable time needed to watch courts.
More than 300 DI and more than 500 D II, III, JUCO and NAIA programs utilize
University Athlete’s services and that number is growing. Athletes now have the
tools at hand to get the correct information into the hands of the recruiters at
NO COST.
Feel free to call or email either of the undersigned with any questions. Feedback is
welcome. We hope you enjoy the tournament.
Michael Fletcher
Southern Volleyball Tournaments
[email protected]
c: 404-936-6723
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Kurt Matthews
Southern Volleyball Tournaments
[email protected]
c: 404.895.1155