The 2012 Florida Cup will be held in Naples, Florida. This event is hosted and managed by Fastpitch Headquarters. The managing personnel of this organization has almost 2 decades of experience in running reputable tournaments and recruiting events. Our goal is to make The Florida Cup a phenomenal event for your team.
We are also proud to announce that this event will be sponsored by the Sports Council of Collier County. We look forward to working with them, and we know that their expertise will help make this event a huge success.
This tournament will be held in June in 2012 (exact dates TBA) in Naples Florida. Pool games will be held on Friday and Saturday. Elimination play will start on Saturday afternoon and finish on Sunday.
The following age groups are invited to participate: 12s, 14s, 16s and 18s. The format is 3 pool games, then a 2 game minimum elimination. Each team will be guaranteed a minimum of 5 games, weather permitting. Extra games (practice) may be available prior to the tournament for a nominal charge.
Games will be played at North Collier Regional Park in Naples, Florida, located on the Southwest Coast of Florida on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.
North Collier is a new 5 field park with 5 lighted fields, large dugouts, concession, an expansive covered bleacher area on each field, 200 foot fencing, AND a fabulous water park.
The Naples/Marco Island area on Florida's Paradise Coast is a great vacation destination as well as a phenomenal sports area. Facilities are beautiful, hotels are plentiful and reasonable, and there is lots to do. The Florida Everglades are nearby as are the most beautiful beaches in the world. For more information about the area, click on Paradise Coast.
To find more information about the Naples area and to find restaurants and things to do, please go to Yahoo! Local - Naples FL.
TOURNAMENT FEATURES:
USSSA sanctioned event and qualifier
Old fashioned customer service with high tech innovation
College Showcase event including situation play and online player profiles
The Florida Cup Trophy is awarded to the Champions at a "champagne" ceremony
3 pool games and then a two game minimum elimination bracket. Minimum of 5 games guaranteed, weather permitting.
AGE GROUPS
12s, 14s, 16s and 18s.
AWARDS
Florida Cup Champions receive Team Trophy - the Florida Cup Trophy awarded at a "champagne" ceremony. Names of the Champion players will be inscribed on the Florida Cup. See "Rules and Information" for more information on awards. Runner Up and 3rd Place awards may be given depending on number of participating teams.
Game schedule will be posted HERE approximately 2 weeks prior to the event.
ENTRY FEE
$410 per team. Umpires and balls are included. Deposit of $100 will hold your spot. Full payment is due 30 days prior to the event.
If you prefer to pay by credit card you can pay through the USSSA website or we can invoice you through Paypal. There is a convenience fee for this service.
MAIL TO:
Mail your discounted entry fee, payable
to Fastpitch Headquarters, to: Fastpitch Headquarters, 11801 NW 7th Street, Plantation, FL 33325. Be sure to include team name, contact information, and tournament name.
ENTRY DEADLINE
Tournament could remain open to allow for late entries, but could close early if full.
HOUSING INFO
For all out-of-area teams, you must book your rooms at one of the hotels listed through our Housing Authority. They have great rates at local hotels near the parks. ALL NON-LOCAL TEAMS ARE REQUIRED TO USE THIS HOUSING SERVICE. There is no charge for this service.
For additional information on hotel availability or options please call 800-342-3110 or 239-252-4268. For a more immediate response, please email sports@athletesinparadise.com.
Also please tell your team's parents and fans to use these hotels to get the best rates in the area. All hotels are in nice areas, and they support our efforts to bring college coaches to the tournament.
RULES & TOURNAMENT INFO
A brief recap of our Tournament Rules & Information have been posted, and the Complete Rules will be available soon. Get cancellation and refund information and learn more about aspects of the tournament.
TOURNAMENT CONTACTS
Contact Patti Shotwell
at patsho@fastpitchheadquarters.com
via email with tournament questions or call her at 954-540-7850 (cell).
COMMENTS
Communications with teams will be conducted via email and FPAlerts text
messaging system. All teams must sign up for the FREE FPAlerts service. Click HERE for more information on FPAlerts.
We also use Twitter for reporting scores and general information during the tournament. Please follow us at www.twitter.com/fphq.
1. All teams must check-in at the Tournament Desk prior to their first game. Teams must be sanctioned with USSSA. Since this is a national qualifier, official rosters are required. In general, we will follow USSSA rules, but any conflicting tournament rules take precedence. If you need a USSSA Rule book, go to www.floridausssafastpitch.com and there is a link to "Rules" at the top of the page.
2. All teams must provide a copy of their team insurance. You can bring it to check-in or you can email it to patsho@fastpitchheadquarters.com or fax it to 954-252-9063. You do not need a cover sheet as long as it is clear on the certificate which team it covers.
3. You must submit a lineup card at the beginning of the game to the plate umpire and to the other team.
4. The team listed first on the schedule (or at the top) will have the 1st base dugout. You will not have to change dugouts if you have back-to-back games.
5. Home team will be determined by coin toss at the beginning of the game.
6. Please clean up your dugout when you leave so it is ready for the next team. Please do not leave any trash.
7. During pool games in the 16s & 18s divisions, situation play will be used in designated innings. Teams will be advised of the inning situations before the tournament.
8. All teams must sign up for the FPAlerts text messaging service.
9. Cancellation Policy - Once you are accepted in the tournament, if you cancel and we are unable to fill your spot, you will have a 100% cancellation fee. If we are able to fill your spot, then you will have a $100 cancellation fee.
10. Refund Policy - If you paid your entry fee using the Paypal option, and you cancel or request a refund for any reason, an additional service charge of $25 will be deducted from your refund, after any applicable cancellation fees. To avoid this additional service fee, you should use the less expensive pay by check option.
11. Games are 1 hour and 30 minutes. During pool play you finish the batter; during elimination play, you finish the inning.
12. Awards - age group winners will receive the distinctive Florida Cup Trophy. If there are more than 8 teams in the age group, players on 1st through 3rd place finishers will receive individual awards. If less than 8 teams, any individual awards are optional at the tournament director's discretion.
13. Hotel Requirement - All non-local teams are REQUIRED to use Avanti Housing for their hotel reservations. If you are using alternative housing, you WILL BE REQUIRED to pay a housing fee. Using Avanti is MANDATORY for all non-local teams.
14. Player Profiles - each team in the 16s and 18s should designate one person on their staff to submit the player profile information for all players using the FPDatabase service. You will receive additional information regarding this requirement with the deadlines for compliance.
DIRECTIONS TO THE PARK
For a print-ready pdf of the directions, go to "Info for Teams" in the left navigation menu.
The address of the park for GPS purposes is 15000 Livingston Road, Naples FL 34119.
FROM THE NORTH: Take I-75 south to exit 111, Immokalee Road. Turn right (west) on Immokalee Road, and go to Livingston Road. Turn left (south) on Livingston Road. The park is on the left, follow the signs.
FROM THE SOUTH: Take I-75 north to exit 107, Pine Ridge Road. Turn left (west) on Pine Ridge Road, and go to Livingston Road. Turn right (north) on Livingston Road. After you pass Vanderbilt Beach Road, the park will be on the right, follow the signs.
ALL team coaches MUST register their email addresses and their cell phone numbers in order to receive text/email communications during the tournament. We will not be able to make individual phone calls when we have last minute or late game changes due to weather or team cancellation. We will only be using this service. We highly encourage all teams to have their players and their parents register for this service as it will facilitate quick communications.
To sign up:
Go to http://fastpitch.ealert.com and click on "Subscribe". You will see "The Florida Cup" listed under "Tournaments". Select this group and then input your email address and your cell phone number as an email address. If you have more than 2 addresses, you will need to subscribe additional times. You can register as many email addresses and cell phone numbers as you want.
Cell phone numbers MUST be entered as an email address. There is a link to instructions on the page on how to convert your cell phone number to an email address. This is really easy to do. Make sure that you do not put the "dash" between numbers.
Once you register an address, you will receive a confirmation message that you MUST reply to in order to activate your address. If you do not receive the confirmation message within a few minutes, you did not enter your address properly so try again.
If you have any problems or questions, please contact Patti Shotwell at 954-540-7850.
The following schools have officially submitted their RSVP for this event.
If you are a college coach who is planning on attending and your school is not listed, please contact Patti Shotwell at 954-540-7850 (cell) so we can make sure that we have a Showcase Book available for you.
