2007 USACFC location change and associated information

[oiuyt]

From an email just sent out by Bruce Capin:

All,

We must change the venue for the USACFC. The number of people estimated is more than the fire code for the building will allow. The maximum number of people under the code is 500.

We have secured the venue (confirmation later this week) at Inidana University in Bloomington, IN (a little less than an hour from Indianapolis). Would someone in the MWFC send this on to Minnesota?

We will need to either regionalize (or come up with a quailifying system) to allow any school that desires the chance to host or, focus on a group of schools hosting each time it is in a given region that can handle the capacity.

For west coast schools I have checked flights and found that flying to Indy is either the same or cheaper than Austin. This is according to Orbitz. According to Terry Dix from USC, consideration was being given to using a bus to go from LA to Austin. Given the distance, a bus is NOT practical. You'd be traveling more than half way across the country. It takes about 15 hours to reach Austin from El Paso! You'd have to add another 11 hours or so (El Paso is about 6 hours from Phoenix), LA is another 5 - 6 hours I think.

I anticipate losing many if not all of the newer TX schools that would have joined us. I assume we will keep some or all the west coast schools given the price is cheaper or the same. We will most likely gain back Central MI and I hope Minnesota will come.

I apologize to all for the quick change and wanted to state the officers made every attempt to find a solution to keep things at TX. It simply wasn't an option.

Please let me know if your teams plans have changed given this information. I expect to have a field of teams in the mid thirties that include the following new schools -

01) Wyoming
02) Colorado
03) Minnesota
04) UCLA
05) USC
06) Cal Berkeley
07) SUNY Stoneybrook
08) Tennessee

Please let me know as referees must be recruited early. Thanks.

Bruce

The reference to regionalization is not intended to mean this year, but rather to a future line of discussion/exploration.

-B

[oso97]

Sounds like regionalization is definitely the way to go - you guys need to get cracking on this.

I've been to a number of events at the UT venue - they host a couple of large events each year. Its not a small place! If USACFC's are too big to hold there - then you guys have a format that is a couple of years behind the curve as far as regionalization goes.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

How did Bruce send this? Was it through the group, or to a personal list?


(I didn't receive an email is the thing..........)

[oiuyt]

Email not to the Yahoo! group, but rather to a list that appears to be a number of coaches and/or club contact people.

35 people in the address field, at least some schools are represented by multiple people based on cursory examination (Temple, for example, accounts for 2 of the addresses listed, a situation that is not unique, although appears rare). Given that we had ~40 schools on the interested list 2 weeks ago and 35+ on the likely-to-come list, I believe that not everyone who should have seen this email received it.

Smith (via ST) is on the list. Email went out about an hour ago, so he might not have seen it yet.

-B

[MyrddinsPrecint]

Email not to the Yahoo! group, but rather to a list that appears to be a number of coaches and/or club contact people.

35 people in the address field, at least some schools are represented by multiple people based on cursory examination (Temple, for example, accounts for 2 of the addresses listed, a situation that is not unique, although appears rare). Given that we had ~40 schools on the interested list 2 weeks ago and 35+ on the likely-to-come list, I believe that not everyone who should have seen this email received it.

Smith (via ST) is on the list. Email went out about an hour ago, so he might not have seen it yet.

-B

*sigh*

Club teams seem to go through this problem on a regular basis---- the fact that the pres or the vp changes every year means that important people within team structures don't get emails---- the yahoo group was a solution to this problem!!! grrr!!



Oh well.

[noodle]

*sigh*

Club teams seem to go through this problem on a regular basis---- the fact that the pres or the vp changes every year means that important people within team structures don't get emails---- the yahoo group was a solution to this problem!!! grrr!!



Oh well.

webpage will be updated soon.
i'll also set up a listserv specifically for things like this.

[noodle]

Sounds like regionalization is definitely the way to go - you guys need to get cracking on this.

I've been to a number of events at the UT venue - they host a couple of large events each year. Its not a small place! If USACFC's are too big to hold there - then you guys have a format that is a couple of years behind the curve as far as regionalization goes.

format is changing, but it was never designed to be a small event.
regionalization won't be possible for at least another year or two. not enough teams in each region. too much responsibility for individual teams to host their region's qualifiers.

[gatorjosh]

bloomington eh? Ive never been to Indiana

[TooLoftheDeviL]

I had hoped I would get the chance to referee at the event this year, and I was ever so looking forward to Austin.

If the town wasn't in Texas, it would be amazing. Good food, and good music. Quite often both at the same time. The sadness... :-/

[DJ Apostrophe]

Yes... Austin is a pretty cool place... Somehow I don't think Bloomington, IN can compare... c'est la vie...

-w

[Inigo_Montoya]

Sounds like regionalization is definitely the way to go - you guys need to get cracking on this.

I've been to a number of events at the UT venue - they host a couple of large events each year. Its not a small place! If USACFC's are too big to hold there - then you guys have a format that is a couple of years behind the curve as far as regionalization goes.

The problem with UT was that they were not able to get the entire space reserved. I believe they were only able to get 3 basketball courts (not large enough for USACFC's).

DJ, I know Bloomington is not Austin, but it is a very neat college town. There are a lot of great restaurants (most of which are not that expensive).

[IU_Epee]

Austin is a very cool city, but I think people who have not been to Bloomington before will be pleasantly surprised. It's really not like the rest of the state. The campus is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in the nation. There are literally dozens of independently owned restaurants within walking distance of the venue. The live music scene can't match Austin (no town can match Austin's music...) but off-hand I can think of 5-6 places with good live music within a couple miles of the venue.

[Wafath]

What is the closest airport for the place? How far away are they?

Music, bars, etc are nice, but if past years are any guide, there isn't much time for anything beyond fencing and sleeping, and not a lot of the later.

W

[IU_Epee]

The closest airport is Indianapolis International. It's about a 45 minute drive, assuming it's not rush-hour. Up to 75 minutes if you try to do it around 5 pm on a Friday.

Indy International is a "focus airport," which is kinda like a hub, for Northwest Air. So many teams will find they can get direct flights to Indy.

[jtpark]

Bloomington is a lovely college town. I anticipate that with the tournament now in progress to being placed here-costs will reduce and there will be a wider array of clubs being able to participate in the CFC.

So I hope you all aren't disappointed with the move-trust me it's a fun place here

[reawl]

Indiana? IU's in for a challenge. Anyone seen the number of rated refs in Indiana? It's 10. The Midwest as a whole isn't much better when it comes to getting refs to come out. You can ask Michigan State University about the good times they had trying to get refs in back when they hosted the USACFCC's - in addition to all the logistics that go along with having 500 people in one place.

But 500 people, that's... neat.

[TooLoftheDeviL]

SC also has 10

12 listed, 2 of which are actually from NC. If we can do it, 100% student run, anyone else can, too. It's only a matter of putting in the time and work.

Fred Link

[noodle]

SC also has 10

12 listed, 2 of which are actually from NC. If we can do it, 100% student run, anyone else can, too. It's only a matter of putting in the time and work.

Fred Link

very few of those people actually ref'd the event, too.

[sloper]

Yes... Austin is a pretty cool place... Somehow I don't think Bloomington, IN can compare... c'est la vie...

-w

But you can watch Breaking Away before you go and get really inspired once you're there.

[IU_Epee]

We have 10 rated refs in Indiana? That's a couple more than I thought. Yes, refs will be a challenge, but as has been mentioned, the locations the last couple years also had a shortage of nearby refs. We'll manage.