Hawaiian Tropic Beach Volleyball in Ft Myers this weekend!

[VBLIStaff]

The third stop of the HAWAIIAN TROPIC BEACH VOLLEYBALL WINTER SERIES presented by the Sunshine State Outdoor Volleyball Association will be held this weekend, JANUARY 14-15, in beautiful FT MYERS BEACH! Over $2,500 in cash and prizes for the top three teams in all divisions! Come to play, and stay to party! Play both days and get a free SSOVA t-shirt!

After an absolutely awesome event in Siesta Key with nearly 100 teams, we are fired up for another great weekend of volleyball and fun in Ft Myers Beach! The weather report looks good for both days- and you northerners don’t forget it will be even warmer since we are heading further south as the winter goes along. Here is all the information that you will need about the weekend. Hope to see you at the beach!

1. Registration- Online registration is available at http://www.hawaiiantropicinvitational.com/registration.html. Online registration will be available until Friday, 12/9 at 5:00 PM. Walk-Up registration is also available (space available permitting), but there is NO WALK-UP REGISTRATION FOR MEN'S AND WOMEN'S OPEN PLAY! The reason is that we seed the double elimination tournament ahead of time and the seeding could be thrown off by a late entry. Entry Fee is $50 per team.


2. Host Hotel/Player Party- We were lucky enough to have our host hotel and our player party be at the same venue this weekend, and even better it will be right on the beach! We will be at the Holiday Inn Sunspree in Ft Myers Beach, located at 6890 Estero Blvd, Ft Myers Beach, FL 33931. The player rate is only $99, for a hotel that is right on the beach! Just tell the front desk you are with Hawaiian Tropic Volleyball. The player party will kick off at about 6:00 PM on Saturday, and rock on all night!


3. AVPNext- Memberships are required for ALL players. Remember that last year’s memberships expired on 12/31/05 (which is why memberships sold in Coquina Beach and Siesta Key were discounted at $10 instead of the normal $20), so just about everyone will need to get new memberships at this event. The good news is that the AVPNext program has lowered their rates this year to $11 for adult memberships and $6 for youth memberships. There is also an option to pay only $5 for a single event, but I would recommend the full membership for only $11 since many tournaments in the area are run by AVPNext and will require you to be a member.


4. PLAY FORMAT-

OPEN- Open level play is double elimination, 2 out of 3 games. The first two games are to 21, third game to 15, win by two, just like the pros. We will be starting Open play at 8:00 AM to try to finish as much of the event as possible in one day! Open players should check in between 7:00-7:30 to receive court assignments. Please realize that with limited daylight there is a possibility of open levels (particularly Men) continuing on Sunday. Our goal is to finish at least to the semi-finals by Saturday evening. Top three in open receive prize money, $1000 purse for men and $500 for women.

ALL OTHERS- Will check in from 7:00-8:00 AM with play starting at 8:30 AM- Men's and Women's AA, A, and B on Saturday. Format is round robin pool play, games played to 21 win by two, with the top teams in each pool advancing to a single elimination playoff bracket. Top three teams in each division will receive prizes compliments of SMACK Sportswear.

CO-ED (All Levels)- Check in will be between 8:30-9:30 with play starting at 10:00 AM on Sunday and use pool play with single elimination playoffs format. We start the co-ed divisions a little later because some men's open players are playing co-ed open as well, and if they make it to Sunday (as several teams did last event) it makes things harder to run. It also helps to get a little extra sleep after that player party! Don't forget co-ed open winners take $100, with prizes for top three in all divisions! Play both days and you get a free SSOVA t-shirt!

Thanks for your support and we hope to see you all at the beach this weekend! Please pass the info along to all your volleyball buddies!

Happy New Year!
From the SSOVA Staff