Disappointing

by Jody Dorey
(Dartmouth, Nova Scotia - Aug. 17, 2010)

We traveled from Dartmouth Nova Scotia, Canada, (that's a 13 hour drive) to attend this tournament. When we were planning for a trip this year our team rep called the officials in Plymouth explaining we had a talented group of boys aged 13-14 years old that are big, athletic and competitive. We were promised a well run tournament with teams which could compete at a Tier 1 level.

We were disappointed from the first game. Only 3 other teams entered, which I realize is not in the organizers' control but I am curious as to how many teams usually register for this tournament in that age category? This would have been useful to know when we were planning the trip.

One of the teams was filled with players that were obviously a lot younger and I'm guessing a under 12 team. This is probably not a great idea for future tournaments - it was dangerous for some of those smaller kids as we had indicated before coming that we have some big and athletic players on our team.

On a positive note the game times were nice and early which did give us the rest of the day to do some sight-seeing. The officials did a good job except for the gold medal game where it appeared that they were siding with the hometown team (we saw one official hugging parents from the other team 1 minute before game time - not really appropriate or professional).

In closing, I was most disappointed with the way our team was treated at the end of the tournament. After winning with no goals against, (and no competitive challenge) the boys were thrown a bag of shirts that said Tournament Champs. There was no presentation, no thanks for coming, etc. Just a bag of shirts and a "have a nice trip home" from a ref.

$600 to enter the tournament, plus all the money spent on accommodations, etc. for a bag of shirts and a "see ya later"................Disappointing!