| Do they seriously require hotel stays/booking through their agency if traveling from NoVa? |
Yes. This has always been a thing with Jeff Cup. Assuming you are referencing Anthony Travel? |
| NOVA clubs may be exempt from the Stay-to-play requirements if they're considered within driving distance. Check into it. |
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Local Richmond teams or teams “commuting” to Richmond for the weekend do not have to stay in hotels but must contact either Anthony Travel/On Location or the Tournament Director requesting exemption approval.
“Commuting” Teams is defined as a 75-mile distance between the club’s mailing address to the Team's scheduled field complex. |
| sorry for the multiple posts. so . . . nope. I didn't realize how far it is. |
| Stay to play has been the default for soccer tournaments for a long time. The travel agents pay the club to route hotels through them and then they sell rooms at an inflated price |
| Yes but hotels are usually booked and we are able to get a waiver. |
Yes, I checked. We're officially 90 miles, so beyond their parameters. Just wondering if anyone has experience with how strict they are about exemptions (because let's be honest, this is all a $$$ racket). |
| Why isn't this topic part of the ECNL forcing Brave & Union Partnership thread? |
| Anthony Travel is awful. Our club is closer to Richmond than NOVA is but not right next door. So they don’t force us to stay over, but they get back at us by giving us the 8am games. 😂 |
It's a racket, but the Jeff Cup exists to make the Strikers money and anthony travel os one of the ways they monetize the tournament |
Before the ECNL showcase in Florida this recent January, no one ever checked on our club from what I know. They did check this time. I have no idea what the result was. They also switch field locations by a lot (1-1.5 hours from the original destination) for the younger guys so they grant a hotel waiver when they’re the ones that do the changing. Our youngest is now outside of that and I cannot wait to be done with youth soccer organizations. |
That sucks. Though we have had other tournaments where they change game TIMES without any notification (beyond the line on the website indicating that they might change, so keep checking). |
| Can you provide info on how you were able to get a waiver when hotels are already booked? How and who do you request that from? |
| I hate the requirement. I wonder how they know if you don’t stay. I mean if the team uses Anthony travel but a few families opt out would they know? Our team is divided between multiple hotels due to availability. Since we were late booking we got a hotel i would not have booked under any other circumstances. Plus we have a room with a king and sleep sofa. DS hates sleep sofas and needs to be well rested so it looks like I get the sofa. I’d love to cancel and stay elsewhere. |