Stay to Play the only option?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've been doing travel soccer for close to 15 years between our children...i think we've stayed in the "team" hotel less than 5 times. We usually AirBnB or VBRO with other families.

We do to. I hate having to eat at restaurants for every meal. We like to cook and hotel rooms don't give you that option. Hotel rooms are also just too confining and depressing for anything more than one night.

So what do you do when the tournament rules state
"Hotel Services
To ensure the quality of service provided at the event, a hospitality service has been established. All teams are mandated to book any hotel reservations through the hotel provider to ensure their place in the event. Any teams that do not comply will be at risk of forfeiting their acceptance. Local teams or teams “commuting” to tournament locations do not have to stay in hotels but must contact the hotel provider or Tournament Director for approval."

What happens if they actually enforce this?

We have been fined by "a certain youth soccer league" a couple times. The team just split the cost of the fine and stayed where they wanted. One tournament they said we would be kicked out, not fined, so we booked the minimum number of rooms for one night. Some people were actually staying at the team hotel, so it was just the cost of a few rooms split between the rest. Worked out to about the same as paying the fine. Less than $100 apiece.

I assume this is a conscious group decision made by the families on the team? The club is passing along the info that we just need to comply.

Yes. We did comply, just at the bare minimum we could. In these bigger tournaments/showcases, the travel agency gives you a bunch of hotels you can pick from. Some have 2 and 3 night minimums, but usually there are some with no minimum stay requirement. You just pick one of those and book one night to satisfy the stay to play rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI - Basketball tournament we have been to require reservation # when you check in the player or you can't check them in = can't play.

damn… when my kiddo hooped we
Didn’t have that problem. Shivers at spooky nook forced hotel bookings….

[Anonymous]

it's all part of the calculation of how much they charge for the tournament. If they do not do this, then they just will charge more, BUT I also see their point in that they are getting these hotels to reserve rooms that they could be selling to other people. So if they do not get enough people then next year the hotel will not give you any rooms. It is really important in tournaments that you do not know you are going to be in until pretty late (think playoffs)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's more of a question of those that actually enforce vs. just blindly stating it as a policy. Keep in mind, team just usually needs to meet a minimum # of rooms threshold. Even the worst tournaments won't very every single player.

What is the minimum (per club, team/age group)? Info not readily available.