Saturday, May 03, and Sunday, May 04, 2008
click here for info on the 2009 tournament
Thanks to everyone for a great tournament!
Tournament results can be seen on the UPA score pages:
questions: send an email to Jim Pistrang
last year’s web page
Selected Teams
Frequently Asked Questions
Tournament Format and Schedules
How to Submit a Bid Received Bids
Field Maps Directions Ultimate Links
Coaches and players please note:
May 03 is an SAT date! To avoid conflicts with the Amherst Invitational, take your SATs in March or June instead of in May.
- Selected Teams Girls Division Andover High School (MA)
ARHS Girls JV
ARHS Girls JVB
ARHS Girls Varsity
Beacon School (NY)
Longmeadow High School (MA)
St Johnsbury (VT)
Stuyvesant High School (NY) Girls Wait List Northfield Mount Hermon (MA Open A Division Andover High School (MA)
ARHS Boys JVA
ARHS Boys V
Beacon School (NY)
Columbia High School A (NJ)
Longmeadow High School (MA)
Newton North (MA)
Nipmuc High School (MA)
Northfield Mount Hermon (MA)
Pennsbury High School (PA) Open A Wait List Lexington High School (MA) Open B Division ARHS Boys JVB
ARMS (MA)
Fieldston High School (NY)
Four Rivers (MA)
Greely HS (ME)
Lincoln-Sudbury (MA)
Needham High School (MA)
Phillips Andover (MA)
St Johnsbury (VT)
Stuyvesant High School (NY) Open B Wait List Vermont Commons (VT)
About the Tournament
This spring we will be celebrating the 17th Annual Amherst Invitational Tournament. The tournament will once again be divided into three separate groups: Open Division A, Open Division B, and Girls Division.
Selection Notes
We have the difficult task of selecting 28 teams to play at the tournament out of a pool of 40+ applicants. We hate to do this, but our resources are limited and we cannot expand the tournament.
Here are things that will help your chances of being selected:
- organize a tournament or league and tell us about it in your application
- get your bid in early
Here are things that will hurt your chances of being selected:
- give us an email address that doesn’t work
- have a sexist or drug-related or alcohol-related team nickname
- make your check out to anything other than ARHS Ultimate
Tournament Frequently Asked Questions
When is the tournament? The tournament will take place on Saturday, May 03, and Sunday, May 04, 2008.
Who is allowed to play in the tournament? We will (for the most part) be using the UPA Juniors Team Guidelines to determine if your team is eligible to attend our tournament. The Guidelines state that ALL members of a team must attend the same high school. We may consider an exception to the rule for a team in the Girls Division or for a team traveling a great distance to the tournament.
Do we need to be UPA members? All players on all teams must be UPA members to play in the Amherst Invitational. The UPA is strongly committed to the growth of high school Ultimate, and becoming a member will support their efforts. You can sign up on the UPA web page. (note: make sure you are signing up for a 2008 membership.) The Youth (high school) membership rate for 2008 is $20. NOTE: tthis year there is also an $11 Youth Intro membership rate if you have never been a member in the UPA and never played in UPA events in the past.
Who is in charge of this tournament? The co-directors (TDs) of the Amherst Invitational are Tiina Booth (coach, ARHS Boys Varsity) and Jim Pistrang (coach, Amherst Regional Middle School). Contact information for Jim and Tiina is listed below. All decisions regarding eligibility, acceptance of bids, seeding, and rules will be made by the TDs.
How do you decide which bids to accept? We expect to receive well over 30 bids, and we only have room for 20 teams (not counting the Amherst teams). We will use the following criteria: Open Division A: we will give preference to the most competitive teams who apply from around the country. Open Division B: we will give strong preference to teams who apply from the Northeast Region, particularly New England. For all divisions, we want a sense of how you have contributed to the growth of juniors ultimate in your school, town, or area.
Are there good parties at the Amherst Invitational? We are quite sure that you will have a wonderful time at the tournament. However, all drugs, alcohol, and tobacco are strictly forbidden, both on and off the field. In addition, teams staying with a host family must abide by all rules and curfews that are set by the host. Failure to follow these rules will result in the expulsion of your team from the tournament (and we won’t want you back next year either).
Where is the tournament? On Saturday (all day)and Sunday morning, the Girls and Open A Divisions will play on fields at Amherst High School and Amherst Middle School, and the Open B Division will play on fields to be determined. On Sunday afternoon, all teams will play at Amherst High School and Amherst Middle School. Field Maps and directions to the fields are below.
How much does it cost? The entry fee for the tournament is $325, with an additional $25 deposit. At the end of the tournament the $25 deposit will be returned. If a team forfeits a game, leaves the tournament early, or in some other way violates the tournament rules, they will lose their deposit.
What do we get for our money? Some of the money goes for things that you will see: trophies, team boxes, Saturday lunches, Saturday night pizza, the printing of the program, port-a-johns, and an on-field trainer. We also have unseen costs such as custodial fees and field fees.
Where will we stay in Amherst? Housing will be provided for all teams that travel a distance to the tournament and need to stay overnight. Your hosts will be Amherst Ultimate team members and their families. Teams must indicate in their Registration Form whether or not they need housing, and how many people are on the team. Some teams will be able to stay together at one house, others may be split between two houses. Visiting teams must bring sleeping bags, pillows, etc. Most likely you will be sleeping on a floor. After you are accepted into the Tournament you will be contacted by our Housing Director.
Do we need an adult chaperone? Absolutely. You must have an adult chaperone if you want to play in the tournament, and the chaperone must be with your team for the entire weekend. Failure to have a chaperone may result in expulsion from the tournament.
How do I know if my team belongs in the A Division or the B Division? The Registration Form includes a place where you can describe your team and give us some info from your seasons last fall and spring. The Tournament Directors will put together a seeding based on this info. return to top of page
Tournament Format and Schedule
Tournament Format
These are the tentative formats for the 2008 AI:
- Saturday B Division (at The Eaglebrook School, Deerfield MA)
- Saturday A and G Divisions (at ARHS and ARMS, Amherst MA)
- Sunday ALL Divisions (at ARHS and ARMS, Amherst MA
Girls G Division:
The Girls Division has 8 teams, which will be divided into two pools of 4. After pool play, the top two teams from each pool will advance to semi-finals, while the bottom two teams will play consolation games. Consolation games are required, not optional. All teams will play three pool games on Saturday. Semis, finals, and consolation games will all take place on Sunday. All teams will play a total of five games.
Open A Division:
The Open A Division has 10 teams, which will be divided into two pools of 5. After pool play, the top two teams from each pool will advance to semi-finals, while the bottom three teams will play consolation games. Consolation games are required, not optional. The two top-seeded teams will play four pool games on Saturday and have a bye early Sunday morning. The other eight teams will play three pool games on Saturday and a fourth pool game early Sunday morning. Semis, finals, and consolation games will follow the final pool round on Sunday. All teams will play a total of five or six games.
Open B Division:
The Open B Division will also consist of 10 teams, with the same format as the A Division.
Tournament Seeding Placement within the Divisions will be determined by the Tournament Directors in February, after the bids have been accepted. Tournament seeding within your division will be determined by the Tournament Directors at the end of April. For accurate seeding please report all spring scores to the UPA Score Reporting Page as soon as they occur. return to top of page
How do I submit a bid to the Tournament?
Bids will be accepted as of December 1, 2007.
In order to be considered, you must submit a bid to the tournament directors. The bid consists of a completed Registration Form and a check for $350, made out to ‘ARHS Ultimate’. The deadline for receiving bids is January 31, 2008. Teams will be notified by February 17, 2008 if they have been accepted into the tournament. A submitted bid does NOT guarantee acceptance into the Tournament. In fact, we expect to receive more bids than there are openings. Teams that are not accepted will have their entire check returned.
The Registration Form must be downloaded, filled out, and mailed to us with a check. Click on the link below to download the Registration Form in MS Word format. If you would like a Registration Form mailed to you, send an email to Jim Pistrang. The Registration Form must be mailed to: Tiina Booth Invitational Registration 21 Deepwoods Drive Amherst, MA 01002 . Click below to download the Registration Form
trouble downloading? send me an emailreturn to top of page
Who submitted a bid?
This is a list of the teams that have submitted complete registration forms.
- Girls Division (we will accept up to 8 teams)
- ARHS Girls Varsity
- ARHS Girls JV A
- ARHS Girls JV B
- Andover HS (MA)
- Beacon HS (NY)
- Concord-Carlisle (MA)
- Longmeadow HS (MA)
- NMH (MA)
- St. Johnsbury (VT)
- Stuyvesant (NY)
- Open A Division and Open B Division (we will accept up to 20 teams)
- ARHS Boys Varsity
- ARHS Boys JVA
- ARHS Boys JVB
- ARMS
- Andover HS (MA)
- Beacon HS (NY)
- CHS Ultimate (NJ)
- CHS Ultimate B (NJ)
- Fieldston School (NY)
- Four Rivers CS (MA)
- Cumberland Ultimate (Greely High School) (ME)
- Lexington HS (MA)
- Lincoln-Sudbury HS (MA)
- Longmeadow HS (MA)
- Needham HS (MA)
- Newton North HS (MA)
- Nipmuc HS (MA)
- NMH (MA)
- Pennsbury (PA)
- Phillips Academy (Andover)
- PVPA (MA)
- St. Johnsbury (VT)
- Somerville HS (MA)
- Stuyvesant (NY)
Field Maps
Directions
Directions from the East via the Mass Pike to Amherst Regional High School http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=6854392421013894665,42.191464,-71.862006,4362480224094777272,42.379882,-72.512853&saddr=I-90+W%2FMassachusetts+Turnpike%2FMass+Pike+%4042.191464,+-71.862006&daddr=21+Matoon+St,+Amherst,+MA+01002+(Amherst+High+School)&mra=pe&mrcr=0&jsv=107&sll=42.2893,-72.194219&sspn=0.624772,0.942078&ie=UTF8&ll=42.286453,-72.193909&spn=0.25026,0.65178&output=embed&s=AARTsJoz-uC2-N0CVCw_ZFXRq-W6MENORA
Directions from Route 91 (northbound) to Amherst Regional High School http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=4362480224094777272,42.379882,-72.512853&saddr=42.155164,-72.648253&daddr=21+Matoon+St,+Amherst,+MA+01002+(Amherst+High+School)&mra=pe&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=11&jsv=107&sll=42.27115,-72.57937&sspn=0.312478,0.471039&ie=UTF8&ll=42.270704,-72.579117&spn=0.22471,0.13556&output=embed&s=AARTsJrHwianG_PzcOu6fsNnwdEnSHnogg
Directions from Route 91 (southbound) to Amherst Regional High School http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=8568673264102048354,42.735930,-72.568903,4362480224094777272,42.379882,-72.512853&saddr=I-91+S+%4042.735930,+-72.568903&daddr=21+Matoon+St,+Amherst,+MA+01002+(Amherst+High+School)&mra=pe&mrcr=0&jsv=107&sll=42.557127,-72.57019&sspn=1.244208,1.884155&ie=UTF8&ll=42.556815,-72.570555&spn=0.35823,0.11551&output=embed&s=AARTsJpE8rzCLGhfcJspK_w9sgoz6Ma4kA
View Larger MapDirections to the Amherst Middle School: The Middle School is located behind the High School. Assuming that you are facing the high school, go to the right side of the school (away from the fields), and turn left on the driveway that goes along the side of the school. Cross the street at the end of the driveway and you will be in the middle school parking lot. The two middle school fields are located on the far side of the parking lot, near the tennis courts. Directions to The Eaglebrook School from Amherst High School: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=21+Mattoon+St,+Amherst,+MA&daddr=13+County+Rd,+Deerfield,+MA+01342+(Eaglebrook+School+Hockey+Rink)&jsv=107&sll=42.46298,-72.583237&sspn=0.311526,0.471039&ie=UTF8&ll=42.46298,-72.581177&spn=0.16323,0.10185&output=embed&s=AARTsJokwH9WGVG27hIC-covGPkSnOw7yQ
View Larger Map
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Ultimate Links:
- Amherst Regional Middle School Ultimate
- Boston Ultimate Disc Alliance (BUDA)
- New England High School Ultimate (sponsored by BUDA)
- New England Middle School Ultimate (sponsored by BUDA)
- Ultimate Players Association Home Page
- The Ultimate Handbook
- UPA Rules of Ultimate
- Listing of New England Tournaments
this page last updated by Jim Pistrang
on February 11, 2008