'04 Recap

All Concerned:

This event was planned since January, 2004. Every detail was covered, by a staff of organizers with many years of lacrosse tournament planning and administrative experience- with a comprehensive contingency plan in place.

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. Hershey received over 3” of rain from Thursday afternoon until Friday evening leaving almost all of our fields unplayable for the weekend.

We apologize for any inconveniences experienced by the players, coaches and parents attending this year’s tourney. We are to blame in that we should have cancelled the event instead of playing in what were nearly impossible circumstances. Many of the coaches, players and parents understood the logistical hurdles we faced. However, there were many who choose not to and, their behavior made a difficult situation much worse.

There have been a number of false rumors being disseminated- so we would like to clarify the facts behind the events of this weekend.

Chocolatetown Shootout 2004 Chronology of Events:

• January, 2004- Tournament Planning started
• February, 2004- first teams enrolled
• February, 2004- nine (9) fields at five (5) locations reserved with the appropriate local authorities
• March to July, 2004- 78 teams enrolled, tournament structure finalized
• July 20^th- Final tournament Brackets completed
  • Each team was scheduled to complete at least five games at one of the five planned locations
• Planned Location Details:
  • Main Venue- Founders Park (U15, U17 Brackets & all Finals)
    • Two (2) of the finest regulation grass fields anywhere
    • Close proximity to parking for over 8,000 people
    • Eight Men’s & eight women’s restrooms within close proximity
    • Location for all finals and main tourney administration tent
  • Hershey High School (U15 & U13 Brackets)
    • Three (3) excellent regulation grass fields
    • Close proximity to parking for over 8,000 people
    • Eight Men’s & eight women’s restrooms within close proximity
    • Across the street from Founders Park
  • Shank Park (U17 Bracket)
    • One (1) regulation grass field
    • Close proximity to parking for over 1,000 people
    • Two Men’s & two women’s restrooms within close proximity
    • About 4 miles from Founders Park
  • Brookside Park (U17 Bracket)
    • One (1) regulation grass field
    • Parking for over 200 people
    • About 1 mile from Founders Park
  • Keller Park (U13 & U11 Brackets)
    • Two (2) good grass fields (10 yards short)
    • Parking for over 800 people
    • Three (3) portable toilets
    • About 4 miles from Founders Park
• Friday, July 23^rd @ 2:00PM- More Than 2/3 of the Planned Fields Cancelled- Tournament organizers were informed that Founders Park, Hershey High School, Brookside would not be available at all for the Tourney. Also- that Shank Park would only be available on Sunday.
• Friday, July 23^rd @ 4:00PM- Through the extraordinary efforts of the tournament organizers & local coaches and, the gracious hospitality of nearby facilities other nearby venues became available.
• Friday, July 23^rd @ 6:00PM- At the planned coaches’ meeting, team coaches were informed of the following:
  • Recent loss of more than 2/3 of the Planned Fields
  • Choice to Cancel the Tourney
    • Coaches unanimously wanted to continue with the tourney with full knowledge of the potential pitfalls outlined herein
  • Major Logistical Issues if the Tourney was Held-
    • Most teams would only play four (4) games- with many only playing three (3) games
    • Parking at Keller Park- need for each team to arrive no more than 1/2 hour before their game and leave as soon as possible after their game
    • Lack of Restroom facilities at Keller Park- portable toilets were nearly full when we arrived on Friday
    • Opportunities for scheduling delays & snafus as every game was rescheduled in a very short period of time.
    • Distance from Hershey to Lancaster Country Day School fields
    • Shank Park fields- creating two (2) fields from the planned one (1) would reduce the field lengths to about 90 yards
• Friday, July 23^rd @ 8:00PM- Revised tourney schedules available
• Saturday, July 24^th-
  • Games scheduled outside the Hershey area occurred without major issue
    • Minor parking problems
  • By about 11:00AM- Keller Park develops parking issues
    • Over 2,000 cars arrived to occupy about 800 spaces to watch about 160 players
      • Almost all spectators arrived and planned to stay most of the day- in direct contravention of the tournament directors instructions
    • Township Supervisors ask that the event close after the 2:00PM games
  • Scheduled games postponed after the 2:00PM games
• Sunday, July 25^th –
  • All games at the three (3) facilities occur without major incident
  • Complaints about length of Shank Park fields were well founded- but with no other facilities available there was no other choice
    • A number of the U-17 Reese’s bracket teams refused to travel to Lancaster to play on the only available full length fields

Chocolatetown Shootout 2004 Key Facts:

• All required Permits had been issued allowing the usage of all planned and used fields
• The planned nine (9) fields would have been able to easily accommodate each team playing five (5) games
• All originally planned fields were official size except for the Keller Park fields where the U-11 & U-13 games were to be playing.
• The Central Pennsylvania officials assigned to each game are certified to referee high school games- many also referee Division I & III college games
• The Big 33 Football game had no effect on our tournament- actually it served to alleviate our traffic bottlenecks with additional traffic police in place and to attract additional spectators. All the Big 33 events were on the other side of Hershey and started after our tourney was due to be completed.
• All U-17 & U-15 games had two (2) officials- with three assigned to the semi-final & finals
• Most U-13 games had two (2) officials
• All U-11 had one (1) official- with two assigned to the semi-final & finals

Chocolatetown Shootout 2004 Concerns:

• All teams were entitled to receive one (1) visor per player
  • Any teams that did not receive their visors should contact the tourney organizers
• Any parent who had their automobile towed from the Keller Park area on Saturday will be reimbursed for the towing costs
  • Please submit a copy of your bill to: Chocolatetown Shootout, P.O. Box 10993, Lancaster, PA 17605
• Any teams that did not have the opportunity to play four (4) games will be offered compensation
  • They will be receiving $125 per unscheduled game as credit towards their 2005 tournament costs.
• The tournament organizers did the best they could under very trying circumstances- anyone with an opinion to the contrary does not understand the relevant facts