TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Welcome to the Mizuno Northern Lights January Thaw and 18's National Qualifier. We hope that you enjoy your participation or viewing.
Team Check in
All teams participating in the 18's National Qualifier portion of the Tournament must check-in/register at the Convention Center on Thursday evening between 4:30-9:00pm. There is no check-in on Friday morning for teams participating in the 18's National Qualifier.
All teams participating in the January Thaw portion of the tournament must check-in/register at the Convention Center before their first match on Friday evening but no later than 4:30pm. See our webpage for complete information on check in. Matches will not be held waiting for a team to check-in, and any team that plays a match before completing check-in will officially forfeit that match regardless of the outcome of the match.
All teams who play in the 3:30 pm wave must be checked in prior to 2:30 pm on the first day of the tournament. Teams not checked in by that time will be dropped from the schedule and not put back in. This includes teams who do not play or ref the first match.
All teams who play at 6:30 pm wave must be checked in prior to 4:30 pm on the first day of the tournament. Teams not checked in by that time will be dropped from the schedule and not put back in.
Tournament Schedule
There will be no printed schedules handed out at the tournament. All schedules will only be posted on this website.
At the Convention Center there will be Results Look Up Stations for everyone to use. You will be able to view the results and see your future schedule on these stations. The official schedule is the one you see on the Internet and at the Results Stations.
General Tournament Format
The tournament is broken down into 3 parts for all divisions. Preliminary pool play, power pool play, and elimination playoffs.
All play will be match play best 2 out of 3 games. Games 1 & 2 will be rally score to 25 points with no cap. If required, the third game will be a 15 point rally score game with no cap. The third game is only played if needed to decide the match. Teams will switch sides in the third game.
Matches may be accelerated no more than 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled starting time. The only match which may be accelerated any further than 15 minutes is the last match of a pool, and only if all playing and officiating teams agree. For the purpose of determining forfeits, the scheduled time is the match time and any forfeit may only occur at the scheduled starting time.
In the January Thaw portion of the tournament, on Sunday virtually every team will play at least 2 matches. Even if you lose your first bracket match, you will most likely have another match scheduled later in the day. For example: you are playing in the Gold Bracket at 9:00 am and you lose the match, you will ref the next match on that court and then you have another bracket match later in the day.
All teams are responsible for determining when they will play their next match. Read the schedules carefully.
Three Team Pools
If a pool during the event changes from the published 4 team pool, to a 3 team pool due to a team dropping out, this new 3 team pool will play matches which play 3 games to 25 points. Standings in these new pools will be based on match wins. Even if you win the match in 2 games, the third game is still played and it will be used in any game percentage calculations that may be needed for the tie breaking procedures.
Tie Breaking Procedure
The tie breaking procedure is posted on the Results Website. Basically there are no tie breaking games played in the January Thaw portion of the tournament. All pools are ranked mathematically using the criteria listed in the tie breaking procedure on the Results website.
Teams participating in the 18's National Qualifier will have the normal USAV tie breaking procedures in effect.
Officiating Assignments
Teams are required to officiate as noted on the master schedule. During the pool play rounds the officiating teams are designated on the schedule. Teams must supply a down referee, lines people, scorers and ball shaggers. It is required in this tournament that a rostered coach be the 2nd referee in all matches requiring a non tournament supplied 2nd referee. In lieu of a rostered coach being the 2nd referee, a team may supply a USAV registered non-playing Regionally Certified Official to fulfill this position. In a 5 team pool where a team must officiate two courts, it is acceptable for one of the two courts to utilize a player as the 2nd referee only if the officiating team does not have 2 rostered coaches in attendance.
On Day 3 on most of the courts the losing team will stay and officiate the next match on their court. Check the schedule for verification of your ref assignments.
The definition of "next match" is the next match that requires an officiating team on that court. For example, a team which loses a match at 8:30 am will normally officiate the next match which is scheduled at 9:30 am, however if there is no scheduled match at 9:30 or the 9:30 match is forfeited by a team, the scheduled officiating team will ref the next match which occurs on that court.
In order to start the tournament on Day 3 1/2 of the teams that play at 9:30 am will have to line, score, & ball shag at 8:30 am. These teams are noted in both the master schedule and on the playoff charts. On the playoff chart the officiating teams are those teams which are highlighted in yellow and have a box around them. Check the schedule carefully.
Missed Officiating Duties
A team’s failure to have a complete officiating crew, including a rostered coach for that team, available and on time, for a match officiating assignment could result in the team having to forfeit the first game of its next match. For every minute an officiating team is late to fulfill its assignment, one point will be awarded to that team’s next opponent for the first game of the next match – up to 25 points. No more than 25 points will be awarded to the team’s next opponent, even if the team designated to officiate misses the entire match. The clock begins to run at the completion of warm ups.
A team will forfeit its entire next match for failing, a second time, to have an officiating crew available, on time, for an officiating assignment.
Warm-Up Procedures
These procedures were established by the National Competition Committee for all major USAV events.
There will be no shared hitting during warm-ups
For all matches of the pool the warm-up time will be 2-4-4. 2 minutes for shared ball handling, 4 minutes for the serving team to have the entire court-4 minutes for the receiving team to have the entire court.
You may not warm up on the end of your court while the other team hits. You also may not use an empty court, or warm up in the aisles at any time. These are USAV rules we must enforce.
Results and Information
Complete posting of results and next round of play will be done on the TM2Sign Website located at www.tm2sign.com . This is the official schedule.
There will be no paper posting of results at any site. Check the internet for all results, or you may use the Results Look up Stations at the Convention Center.
Trainers
Trainers are on duty and are located in the exhibit Hall by the merchandise area. Players are encouraged to talk with the trainers if they have a problem or question. All injuries should be reported to the trainer.
Team Registration/Sign in
All teams must check in and leave a phone number where they can be reached Friday evening and Saturday evening. This is very important in case of a major schedule change.
ALL Teams
Before leaving the site be sure you check carefully your position in the pool. Site Directors will not be held accountable for miscommunications or schedule interpretations. The official tournament posting on the Internet/Results stations are the only source that will be considered should a dispute arise.
Tournament Seeding
Teams, which supplied incomplete information, or no information, were seeded based on what info was available. In the event of a team dropping, a substitute team may take the dropped team's seed regardless of the substitute team's ranking.
Protest Procedure
If a protest needs to be filed it is to be done at the time of the incident, no later. The first referee is obligated to acknowledge and record all protests. Only the floor captain may file a protest. (The exception to this is with the 14 & under, 13 & under, and 12 & under age divisions, where the rostered team coach may act instead of the game captain.) The protest must be written on the score sheet by the official scorekeeper or the first official, and must be signed by the person presenting the protest as well as the first official. All protests will be ruled upon prior to the next service. Judgment calls may not be protested. Protests will be considered only for situations outlined in the United States Volleyball Official Rules booklet. The protest committee will handle all protests.
Thanks
Thank you for attending the Mizuno Northern Lights January Thaw or 18's National Qualifier, and best of luck in the tournament.