Congratulations to the 2011 Stingrays Invitational Tournament Champions & Finalists in each age group:

10U Champion - Ohio Ice Orange

10U Finalist - Ohio Ice Bristow

12U Champion - Lady Lasers Red

12U Finalist - Kalamazoo Klash 98

14U Champion - Lady Lasers Black

14U Finalist - Cincy Doom 96

16U Champion - Lady Lasers Scarlet

16U Finalist - Lady Lasers Silver

18U Champion - Buckeye Heat Toledo

18U Finalist - Ohio Wolfpack Wolff

23U Champion - Buckeye Heat Toledo

23U Finalist - East Ohio Power

11th ANNUAL OHIO STINGRAYS COLLEGE EXPOSURE SHOWCASE
Proceeds Benefiting the Stefanie Spielman Fund at OSU's Comprehensive Cancer Center
James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute

DATE
Friday July 8th through Sunday July 10th, 2011

MISSION STATEMENT
The competitive purpose of this tournament is to provide a quality playing venue with like teams so that the softball athlete can state her case for why she should be playing at the next level.

LOCATIONS
10U & 12U age group games @
Coffey Road Park (4 lighted playing fields) on Friday & Saturday
2027 Coffey Road
The Ohio State University Campus
Columbus, OH 43210-1043

14U age group games @
Pickerington Central Softball Complex (4 playing fields) on Friday & Saturday
300 Opportunity Way
Pickerington, OH 43147-1296

16U & 18U age group games @
Fred Beekman Park (8 lighted playing fields)
2200 Carmack Road
The Ohio State University Campus
Columbus, OH 43210-1003

Final (2) teams in 10U will advance to Fred Beekman Park on Sunday.
Final (8) teams in 12U will advance to Fred Beekman Park on Sunday.
Final (16) teams in 14U will advance to Fred Beekman Park on Sunday.

TEAMS
10U = 16 teams @ 35 foot pitchng distance - 10U starts play @ 9:00 am Friday
12U = 16 teams @ 40 foot pitching distance - 12U starts play @ 3:00 pm Friday
14U = 24 teams @ 40 foot pitching distance - 14U starts play @ 9:00 am Friday
16U = 32 teams @ 43 foot pitching distance - 16U starts play @ 9:00 am Friday
18U = 32 teams @ 43 foot pitching distance - 18U starts play @ 3:00 pm Friday

AGE GROUP PLAY-UPS
Play-ups are not permitted in any age group. Age eligible is defined as the age group a team will play its state tournament or national event in.

FORMAT
The tournament will be a (5) game minimum. There will be (4) pool games with teams seeded 1 through X into a single elimination bracket - see the Tournament Rules web page for the seeding procedure. All games are a 1 hour & 15 minute time limit except for championship games which are a full (7) innings. Schedule requests and changes will not be able to be accomodated.

MASTER FIELD SCHEDULE
A tentative Master Field Schedule is included with the entry form. Weather permitting, all age group championship games are scheduled to start at 5:00 pm on Sunday at Fred Beekman Park.

TOURNAMENT SANCTION & UMPIRES
This tournament is a pure showcase sanctioned and officiated by ASA. Since this tournament is not part of ASA championship path play, coaches do not need to present proof of ACE certification. All games will have (2) umpires except for the championship games which will have (3) umpires.

ENTRY FEE
10U & 12U teams = $500 entry fee
14U, 16U & 18U teams = $550 entry fee

The entry fee must be a personal check or money order made out to "Ohio Stingrays". All teams will be notified via e-mail that their entry form and check have been received. Entries will not be considered without payment enclosed. NO REFUNDS will be made after your team has been accepted into the tournament.

CHECKS
No checks will be cashed until a team has been notified of being accepted  in the tournament and responds by e-mail that it will accept the invitation and any reauirements attached to it. All communication regarding the tournament will occur via e-mail.

Checks of teams that we are not able to provide a playing slot for will be torn in two separste halves and photo copied for our records - the torn check halves will be shredded. We will not be able to return un-cashed checks and entry forms. Thank you for understanding.

DUE DATE
All entries must be postmarked by Saturday November 27th, 2010. The selection process will not begin before this date. Selection will not be done on a first come, first served basis.

SELECTION
Selection will be detrmined by committee only. Many criteria will be used to determine the final tournament field. Every year it is a painstaking process that we approach with a great deal of effort. Among the factors to be considered will be strength/results of your actual 2010 playing schedule, strength of your proposed 2011 playing schedule, completeness/honesty of paperwork, and for 16U & 18U teams, a listing of the colleges and universities following your team.

Due to the number of applicants, we will not be able to provide teams with individual explanations of why they were not accpeted into the tournament field. Thank you for understanding.

PLAYING STATUS NOTIFICATION
All teams will be notified of their playing status via e-mail by Monday December 6th, 2010 - 8:00 am at the latest.

CHECK-IN
All teams must present proof of insurance at check-in.

ROSTERS
This tournament is an open roster event within age group guidelines and the use of college players as outlined below. Coaches will not be asked for a roster at check-in.

AWARDS
1st PLACE - team award plus individual player awards
2nd PLACE - team awards plus individual player awards
ALL TEAMS - notice by a college coach

COLLEGE PLAYERS
ASA eligible softball athletes having completed one year of playing or having red-shirted in college (D1, D2, D3, NAIA) are NOT ELIGIBLE to compete in this tournament.

ASA eligible softball athletes having completed one year of playing at the NJCAA level ARE ELIGIBLE to compete in this tournament.

GATE FEE
There is no gate fee at any playing site. Coolers can be brought into any playing site.

PARKING
Unfortunately, parking at Ohio State is not free. Ohio State Transportation and Parking will charge a $5.00 flat rate per day. This is a campus wide policy and is not unique to this tournament. All parking revenue goes to Ohio State - the Ohio Stingrays do not receive any revenue from the parking fees. Thanks you for understanding.

Refer to the following web site for an explanation on the use of the PayNDisplay machines - these machines only take coins or credit cards:

http://www.tp.osu.edu/visitorsmain/parking/payndisplay.shtml

Parking at the Pickerington Central Softball Complex is free.

TEAM & SPECTATOR CONDUCT
This tournament is a Junior Olympic event and as such, excessive behavior and the use of profanity by any adult or player will lead to ejection from the playing site and could lead to denial of entry for their team the following year.

ALCOHOL
The use of alcohol by any tournament attendee is strictly prohibited at The Ohio State University and at the Pickerington Central Softball Complex. Any person caught with or using alcohol will be ejected from the playing site and their team will not be invited back the following year.

SMOKING
Smoking is prohibited at The Ohio State University and at the Pickerington Central Softball Complex.

CONCESSIONS
Concessions will be available at all playing sites. The concessions at Ohio State will be managed and staffed by the Ohio Stingrays - concessions at the Pickerington Central Softball Complex will be managed and staffed by the Pickerington Central Athletic Booster Club. There may be differences in menu items and pricing.

PETS
Pets are allowed at Fred Beekman Park and Coffey Road Park. Pets must be leashed and their owners must be prepared for clean-up if necessary. Pets are not allowed inside the Pickerington Central Softball Complex.

RESTROOMS
Indoor restrooms are provided at the upper playing quad and at the lower playing quad adjacent to the sand volleyball courts at Fred Beekman Park.

Portable sanitation is provided at Coffey Road Park.

Indoor restrooms are provided at the Pickerington Central Softball Complex.

HOME RUN FENCES
The Fred Beekman Park and Coffey Road Park playing sites do not have home run fneces. Ohio State has an underground watering system which precludes the use of fencing systems that puncture the ground. Free standing fencing systems such as the SportsPanel system are cost prohibitive for the Ohio Stingrays to rent at this time. While this may not be ideal to some, everyone simply has to sit back and enjoy the shots that are hit and the attempts to run them down by the athletes.

The Pickerington Central Softball Complex has permanent home run fences.

FIELD PREPARATION
The Ohio Stingrays will supply dedicated labor at all playing sites to hand rake and re-line (batter's box, pitcher's circle, foul lines) all fields before every game. All fields will be dragged with mechanization at the end of the playing day in preparation for the following day.

WEATHER
The Tournament Committee can and will control as many aspects as possible to insure that your team has the best playing experience possible, but weather is not one of them. In the event of inclement weather, The Ohio State University, the Pickerington Central Softball Complex staff, and the Tournament Committee will do their very best to get all games in. But you are applying to the tournament realizing that the Tournament Committee reserves the right to alter this event in any manner fit to accomplish the mission of showcasing the softball athletes with the maximum number of games possible under the circumstances. Coaches will receive a rain line phone number at check-in.

Umpires will make the decision on when to come off the fields in the event of rain. Lightning will be automatic cause for suspending play for (30) minutes. Ohio State and Pickerington Central will control the decision on when labor can be used on the fields to get them back in playing shape. The Ohio Stingrays Tournament Committee will control the decision on any adjustments to the playing schedule. The following will be available in the event of inclement weather:

Field Dry - purchased by the Ohio Stingrays and stored at the playing sites

Mechanized Drag - (1) per (4) fields in play to help with wet field preparation

Labor - Stingray parents as needed in addition to the field maintenance staff - Ohio State will supply extra labor for the "heavy lifting" such as running the drags

Sunday Playing Sites - The Ohio Stingrays will have the use of the Pickerington Central Softball Complex and Coffey Road Park for Sunday if need be and reserve the right ti play out the 14U, 12U, and 10U age groups at those sites as opposed to bringing the remaining teams to Fred Beekman Park.

WEATHER REFUNDS
If the tournament is rained out in its entirety, refunds will be based on:

(Entry Fees minus Non-Recoverable Costs minus Games Played) divided by (Paid Entries)

Every inclement weather situation is impossible to predict and create a refund policy for. The Ohio Stingrays Tournament Committee will make every attempt to be fair to teams that are not able to complete their 5-game minimum, but will not be able to define refund formulas for these situations beforehand. Please allow (2) to (4) weeks for an inclement weather refund.

TOURNAMENT CONTACT - Rudy Zych (rudy.zych@sbcglobal.net)

SEND APPLICATION AND ENTRY FEE TO:  Ohio Stingrays
                                                                     94 Montrose Way
                                                                     Columbus, OH 43214

ENTRY MUST BE POSTMARKED BY SATURDAY NOVEMBER 27, 2010

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION PACKET
The 2011 Application Packet can be downloaded by clicking the link below.