A Quick Change of Seasons

In the blink of an eye, Corinne left Hershey Park Ice Breakers for Shenandoah; auditioned, and was given a role in The Caucasian Chalk Circle, a main stage play at Shenandoah. Yay Corinne!!!

Thursday, September 18, 2008 -through- Sunday, September 21, 2008
The play “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” is presented at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday in the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children. FREE for SU students and employees with I.D. Call the box office at 540/665-4569.

Football season started a few weeks ago, but we just hosted the 15U Maryland Elite Basketball end-of-season party. The party primarily featured volleyball and cheeseburgers.




Meanwhile, since the first scrimmage Chris has been practicing with the C. Milton Wright varsity football team. I am not privy to who made that decision and why, but C. Milton Wright is not a small school, enrolling 1746 in grades 9-12, and historically they don't make a habit of bringing Sophomores onto Varsity. Yay Chris!!!

And today we got confirmation that Laura is fully recovered, ahead of schedule and is doing very well. Yay Laura!!!

As a PS: Super Bowl Champ, 4-time NFL Pro-Bowler, Washington Redskin legend Joe Jacoby joins Shenandoah University Football Staff. No lie.

Season closes for 15U Maryland Elite

A long and very active 2008 basketball season closes for the 15U Maryland Elite with a home tournament.

The schedule was very fluid this year, with the coach always maximizing the number of games and the level of competition. Going into this tournament, we had one tournament remaining, scheduled in Williamsport, PA. However, the momentum that was built through the season evaporated in the summer heat as the roster became thinner and more ad hoc. The players became less able to play as a team at a time when solid team play became more critical to winning--or even competing--in tournaments.

The final two games of the tournament, and the year, saw the Maryland Elite falling in double digit losses. Our Coach then decided that we were no longer in a position to compete effectively at Nationals, and canceled our participation.

PGMS July 4 Tournament

Caution: Apparently I totally confused which teams we
played when. But if you're not worried about those details, the rest of
the entry is OK, please read on.
Maybe someone will leave a note to correct the names of the opponents.

Happy Independence Day! With only 6 players available, Maryland Elite 15U dominated Southern Maryland Mustangs. Fortunately, only one game today.



Day 2: Two games scheduled to finish pool play. First game pitted the Maryland Elite against the Hoyas of, well, somewhere not Georgetown. Game time was 10am, first game of the day. We had four players, and only three of them were truly regulars. To start the game we brought up an up-and-coming 10 year old, only playing up by 5 years. He was very small on the court, but played well. He was a little slow to recognize that he really couldn't post up a 15-year-old center. About 10 minutes into the game some more of our regulars showed up, and our young man sat, but returned to play with about two minutes to go and the game well in hand. He showed excellent hustle and game awareness, contributing four points, one assist, drawing a charge, and forcing a turnover. Excellent productivity.

Chris played all but about two minutes in this game, and anchored the game offensively while shutting down the opponents main scoring threat on defense. It will take a while to get photos up.

In the end, the team won their pool, but with only a skeleton crew available for the championship game (Chris was not available, there were only 6 available in all) the Elite fell 86-73.

Charm City Champs!

Maryland Elite 15U wins the Charm City Basketball's Atlantic Coast Tournament! Congratulations to Coach James and all the players. I was absent for the game, I hope that wasn't good luck. No pictures until after Chris got home:

National Tune-Up at The Park School

Blah blah blah, here's the pictures from Game 1.

Our Maryland Elite 15U basketball team was scheduled in a "National Tune-Up" tournament at The Park School in Pikesville. This is a very nice facility with five full-size basketball courts (I only actually saw three) on a campus to rival that of a small college. In our three team pool, Game 1 was a blowout in a good way, Game 2 was a blowout in a bad way. Seeded second in our pool, we were scheduled to play the third seed of the opposing pool, but that game was forfeited. Counting that as a win, we advance in the bracket to face the first seed in the opposing pool, which would effectively be a semifinal game for the two-pool bracket.

I missed the games, but the Maryland Elite 15U basketball team defeated the top seed for the opposing pool (Maryland Mavericks) to advance to the finals to face the same team that defeated them in Game two yesterday. Having had a chance to regroup, we went on to defeat the nemesis from New York to earn the title 2008 Champion!

Congratulations to the 15U Maryland Elite Basketball team!

2008 Maryland Invitational

Day 2 facing Walter P Carter in Pool Play. This in the "Auxiliary" gym at Parkdale: just room enough for a row of chairs for the players, and a row of chairs for the parents. The rims were ridiculously loose.


Day 1 facing the TICKS from North Carolina, last year's AAU National Classic Bracket Champion.

New Camera

On the eve of the next tournament (and still a few days before Fathers' Day) I tested out my new camera. It looks like I'll have fewer fuzzy pictures :)
A little fun at the Maryland Elite 15U practice:



A link to the album:

First Practice Stars

Maryland Elite 15U Wins USBA Jersey Shore Championship

So on a brutally hot weekend, we traveled to Lakewood, New Jersey to watch Chris's team play in the USBA Jersey Shore Championship. Saturday pool play had our Maryland Elite winning Game 1 67-37 and Game 2 by 91-34 They advanced to Sunday's bracket, which featured MUCH more competitive teams, winning by margins of 2 and 5 to take the championship. Team information maintained here.

Pictures? Did I mention that I accidentally left my camera at a Fuddruckers near Hershey, and when I called back they "hadn't seen it?" Come on folks, a camera is not a tip! It was a Nikon CoolPix L3, which was about a $70 camera. Not disposable, but I was particularly disappointed to lose the photos and video I took of the Ice Breakers.

But as it turns out, I have a really cool family. For an early Fathers' Day, I got a brand spankin new Nikon Coolpix P80, a SIGNIFICANT step up from my L3. I'll add a photo of the cool people that gave it to me, but first I have to charge the battery...

Next week, a major Maryland championship tournament with lots of heavy competition. I'll try to get a few pic :)

Home Tournament

This tournament, held at our home court, had lots of complexities. Due to cancellations, our 15U team played in both the 15 bracket AND the 16 bracket. They made it to the championship game in both age groups, winning the 15U title.






16U Finals:

YBOA Tournament

Some pics from the YBOA tournament in Pennsylvania. This was a national qualifying tournament, as I understand it. We got three games in. Lost the first one in a tough, evenly matched game. The next two teams were NOT 15U teams. The tournament officials could not verify their ages, they had birth certificates, but nothing to tie the birth cert to the particular player on the court. Not a worthwhile tournament.

York Tournament

Just the pics. And a comment or two. This is a tournament where we played well. The host team fielded a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old team in the same category--some tournaments are age (AAU is age) others grade, others not terribly specific. The championship pitted our 15's against the host 16's. We played hard, got down, re-established our game and had the game knotted with loads of momentum in the second half. The home team was tagged for multiple technical fouls in the game to this point, including two on the coach. The officials felt the game slipping away, and called the game. We left undefeated.

Pics from AAU 15U Maryland Championship Tournament

Just the pics:

Arise from thy slumber

I've got a bit of catching up to do.

Last I told anyone, Christopher's 15U AAU basketball was making a run at the Maryland Championship. And a good run indeed, although they ran out of gas at around 8pm in their third game of the day on a sweltering Sunday, that just happened to be the semifinals. Their performance was enough to garner them an invitation to the AAU National Championships in Little Rock, Arkansas.
We've since had a tournament in Virginia that went well (not terribly strict on the age requirements...), and another in York. The York tournament was interesting: we won all the games up to the last, where we were pitted against the host team, which also happened to be a year older than the other teams. We played them even in the first half, then started pulling away in the third quarter. The York team didn't take well to getting beat, and they responded. The officials ultimately called at least 5 technical fouls, ejecting a York coach and a York player, then finally when order could not be restored, called the game in the third quarter. This weekend the boys go to a YBOA tournament in Pennsylvania, where they could conceivable receive an invite to the YBOA National Championships in Florida.

Corinne made it back from college for a full week before heading off to Hershey for summer work. If you're up in Hershey, be sure to catch the Ice Breakers

As for me, Godspell opened last week, and runs through May 25. It's got a very strong cast, but was slow to come together, due to all the various conflicts. However, now that the show has opened, I can say with certainty that I recommend it. Hopefully not too late, so far this is the best show nobody has seen--attendance has been poor. Blame it on poor advertising, or Mother's Day weekend, or something. Come if you can, tickets are $15, see tidewaterplayers.com.

Maryland Elite secures first tournament championship

This year Chris takes the court with the AAU Maryland Elite in the D2 15U. The team contains a core of the athletes from last year's 14U Chesapeake Bay Breakers. As the only warm-up before the critical Maryland AAU tournament--a national qualifier, the team traveled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for a 3-game minimum tournament at Steel High.

The 15U Elite defeated West York on Friday (I was not at that game, margin of victory about 14), and followed that victory with Saturday wins against Bashore [43-29] and United Athletics [50-22], to take them 3-0 into the championship game. For the tournament championship, the Elite faced again West York in a more tightly contested game.

The Elite took an early lead (before Laura and I realized that the game had started--schedules were approximate, apparently) and played the first half with varying modest leads, but the score was effectively knotted at halftime. The lead came and went throughout the second half, with Monty extending the lead at the free-throw line to 7 with 0:28, and West York chipping the lead to 4 before the final buzzer. Final score 35-31.

Getting Ready for Basketball

Chris has made the 15U Maryland Elite basketball team. First tournament is this weekend in York, PA. I think there are a total of 13 tournaments this year, with Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas in July. There are a few kids I know from last year, including Monte, who has taken to dunking the ball, but there are lots of fresh faces also.

AAU Nationals, Cocoa Beach Part 5

Thursday July 19.
It was a good day of basketball. First, the only known picture of the entire team that represents the 14U Chesapeake Bay Breakers in the 2007 Division II AAU National Basketball Championships.

This was the first day of Single-Elimination, Win-or-go-home basketball. As long as a team's win-streak continues, it's two games per day until the championship game. Today we had our first and second wins! We continue tomorrow!

Game 4: 9:00 am, "Win or Go Home"
Venue: Eau Gallie High School
Opponent: Maryland Stingers

WIN: This was the first game where we simply outmatched the opponent across the board. We found out that there is a sort of a mercy rule: When leading by 30 points or more, you may only defend your opponent from inside the 3-point arc. We got technical fouls twice for "forgetting" we had to drop all the way back before playing defense. Final Score 71-39. Some pics:



Game5: 6:20 pm, "Win or Go Home", Classic Bracket Level 2
Venue: Catholic School
Opponent: Hoyas(?) of Durham, NC

WIN: A lot of effort in a hard-fought game. We jumped out to an early, albeit slow and low-scoring lead. Durham made a run through the second half and brought the game essentially tied into the fourth quarter. I thought we might falter as there was missed opportunities during the first half and into the second half to substitute players, and as a result, we seemed to fatigue down the stretch. But we held on, final score: 42-36. Give or take, I ran out of battery power, and missed recording the final score, not to mention lots of photo opps during play. Great game, lousy pictures. Pics I got:

AAU Nationals, Cocoa Beach Part 4

Game 3, 2:20pm
Venue: Eau Gallie High School
Opponent: Hawks from NJ

A tight game lost 52-48. I could be slightly off on the score, they took the score down before I could get the picture for the record. We got off to a good start with our defense shutting down the opposition. The score was 8-2 with time running down in the first half when the Hawks hit a buzzer-beating three pointer. We surged, we stalled. Despite the man defense, we appeared to play better team basketball. Tomorrow is another game: win or go home from here on out.

Some pics. I couldn't resist putting in the shots of McDonalds. This was the third day we tried to "stumble across" a McDonalds Bistro. Really cool, can't believe that you could get plates and silverware and leather chairs and pasta and panini and desserts and espresso and Belgian waffles and eggs Benedict at a McDonalds, where you can still get a quarter pounder with cheese and a Filet of Fish. Not that it was better than basketball...

AAU Nationals, Cocoa Beach Part 3

Game 2, 6pm
Venue: Melbourne Central Catholic High, home of the Hustlers. Somehow that doesn't seem like an appropriate team name...
Opponent: Quasars from NC

This was a hard-fought, competitive game. We were up at the close of the first quarter, but Quasars made a second-quarter run to take a significant lead. Things got a little excited in the second half, and as everyone knows I can't manage to take pictures when things get too excited.

We switched to street-style man-to-man one-on-one basketball in the second half. This bothered me a lot, and was part of the reason I was too excited to get pictures. I wasn't avoiding pictures in protest, it's just my blood pressure was up. Every possession seemed to be one-on-one dribble and heave. No rebound, sometimes the ball went in. Still we recovered to within 5 (3?) but suffered a technical foul on a player--cause was not evident from the stands, and a pair of technical fouls and ejection on the coach. I believe that you can defend the call of the first bench technical (although in this tournament, I would have advised a stern warning instead) but even an impartial tournament official concedes that there was no reason whatsoever for the second technical/ejection. This is another disappointment with the way the game was managed by the officials. I believe the game was very likely to be lost, but the players were capable of bringing it to that conclusion, and none of the technical fouls had anything to do with the gameplay itself. So a tight game, 5 point spread, under a minute to go, was bloated to a 12-point spread due to the technical foul shots hit, with about half a minute to go.

It took a long time to leave the venue, and as always a long drive back to the hotel. We got in at quarter after midnight. Another chance tomorrow...

AAU Nationals, Cocoa Beach Part 2

Game 1, 9am
Opponent: New York Red Rockets

Our opponent today was big. All down the roster they had size. We got off to a quick 2-0 lead on a break and layup off the tip. The lead soon evaporated and we played the half from behind. We struggled a little early with their press, which had us playing a bit tight, while they played loose. Our shots missed, theirs fell, we got tighter, they got looser. We had two players go down, both later returned. The deficit grew to double digits, and when we sank a 3-pt prayer at the buzzer, the lead was 11 at the half.

We cut the lead to 5 in the second half, but didn't have enough as the Rockets pulled away to a 71-53 final.



After the game, we got Chris for a few moments and had lunch at Panera's. We had to return him for "business" after lunch, so the rest of us wandered around Universal City Walk, enjoying the sights and sun (and air conditioned shops). We caught "Live Free or Die Hard" at the theaters there on City Walk.

AAU Nationals, Cocoa Beach Part 1

Day 1 (Sunday)
Today's agenda was registration in the morning and opening ceremonies in the evening. It quickly became clear that Chris had no need for me, so while he was biding time, we got some lunch and hit the beach. We caught up with Chris again at the opening ceremony. If there was a picture I wish I could have captured, it was this scene: 100 teams of 12 kids all on the floor of the gym--looked like we were going to do graduation. Each kid had a glow stick, that could be bent into a circle. This made the rings easy to fling. (Corinne was able to add a few pictures of this for me!) Part of the opening ceremony had a lady walking up the long aisle belting "Hit Me With Your Best Shot". Boy did she get it: glow rings were flung from all distances, and the best shots hit her! She hustled up to the front stage to finish, but the glow rings continued being flung.

That I don't have. I do have Lunch at Tropics City Bistro, and Sun on The Beach, and a few shots at the Opening Ceremony. My battery went, and I forgot to grab my spares when I got changed from the beach. Oh well.

Fireworks weekend

We kicked off the weekend going to the Seussical Jr show at Tidewater. Good times, posted separately.

Then Cool Chris did a tournament this weekend. We split a pair of games in Upper Marlboro (Largo High School) on Saturday. Because of the lighting, I didn't think the pictures would turn out so well (they didn't), so I didn't take many. My best offering:



So besides going to Upper Marlboro (Largo High) for a pair of games, we joined up for a fireworks festival in Jacksonville. I know what you must be thinking. What would it look like to take pictures of fireworks? I wondered that very same thing, since the camera I use has a fireworks setting. Turns out the look something like this.



But the fun doesn't stop there. After church (it was my week for music, more on that later) we took off for day 2 of the tournament. The tournament in Upper Marlboro, you ask? Yes, and no. Day 2 of the tourney put the boys in Fairfax at Paul VI High School. We only had one game, maybe best to leave it at that. After the game, we put Chris and a pair of his teammates in the van and headed home. Somewhere along the way we got distracted, and found ourselves ordering cheesesteaks at Pats in Philadelphia. No, it really isn't on the way home, but sometimes you just need a good cheesesteak. Laura and I both got a cheese-wiz wit, and Chris got an American witout (that's wit(h) or witout onions...) Chris and I went back to split another Cheese Whiz without. Then we went home and played some doubles tennis. LB and I played Chris and Josh. Scoring 7-6 (CB), 6-3 (LB), 2-0 (CB) . By agreement, that meant Chris and Josh took the match. No pics of tournament day 2, Cheesesteaks, or tennis.

Tomorrow: orientation at Shenandoah...

Play Hard or Stay Home: Penn Manor Tourney

14 Teams in 4 pools. Our pool was 3 teams, and we defeated the first team, and lost to the second. I brought my camera--with extra batteries, but left the memory at home. Doh!

The third game was Sunday morning 8am, and several players stayed home, apparently disgruntled. The 8 players that showed up won, and advanced to play York PAL. I missed the morning game for church, but made it to the second game. The facility for that game was Millersville University, so the court was very nice, and my vantage point for pictures was the best I've had yet. Pictures:

Stallions Tournament

Wow. 7 Games in three days: 5 Teams in the 14U Pool. Pool play left us 3-1 defeating the host Stallions, the MD Stealth (or Storm), and Team Flava, and losing to Team AZ. Team AZ is from Arizona, and brought a 14U and 15U team to the tournament. The 14U team was very good, and VERY big. I can't imagine they were all 14.

The courts were attached to a church. You had to be there. The facility housed two courts with temporary roll-up baskets (not hanging baskets). I think the courts may have been a little narrow, but that was necessary to fit them between the structural columns. Because the baskets were "roll up", the baskets were set a little far back, so foul shots were unusually long, and there was precious little room behind the basket--many rebounds were grabbed with a foot on the line.

Basketball continues, finally

It's been a while since the last post. Turns out the last two tournaments got canceled. I wasn't heartbroken about missing the one in PG county, but last weekend was supposed to be Ocean City. It seems like forever since the last time we've been in a real game.

This weekend tournament is in Pennsylvania, a four team tourney that consists of 3 pool play games followed by a championship game. I missed Saturdays games, but we won both by about 30 pts each. It turns out that Sunday's opponent did the same, so we'll play this last team in the morning, and win or lose will face them again in the championship game.

UPDATE: Officials decided to only play one game, so we got cheated out of a game. The game itself we lost by 3. Ug.

State Tournament

The 14U Chesapeake Bay Breakers continue to struggle to find the right chemistry on a team with lots of talent and lots of players. This weekend is the State Tournament, which serves as a qualifying tournament for Nationals. Pool play left us with two losses. Nobody thinks we should have lost to the first team. Defense was pretty tight, but offense was slow coming. Final score 38-31, I think.


The second opponent was more formidable. We brought a MUCH better game, and I think we are beginning to see some of the chemistry we'll need to carry us through. Final score 70-69, with the winning bucket scored with under two seconds to go.

AAU Basketball: Albright Tournament

4/14 2007 Albright Tournament, Reading, PA
Albright College, 2-game guarantee: First game to establish bracket, then single elimination tournament

4/14	11am	Court 2	Bangor Slate	WON	49-30
4/14	3 pm	Court 2	York Raiders	Lost	---

The initial bracket is in an earlier post, but I didn't feel like updating it with the results this time.

---

AAU Basketball: Philly Spring Classic

4/6 - 4/8 2007 Philly Spring Classic, Philadelphia, PA
La Salle University, 3-game guarantee: Pool play and single-elimination tournament

4/7	11am	Court 3	Team Philly	Lost	56-30
4/7	3 pm	Court 2	Coast to Coast	Lost	---
4/7	9 pm	Court 3	Delaware Panthers	Lost	47-19

Like Twin Valley the week before, this was an open tournament; that is, it was not a sanctioned AAU tourney, just an open invitation to come and play. The level of competition was high, but there was evidence that the playing field/court was not level. We played in what was called 14U, and unless Pennsylvania gives driver's licenses to 14 year olds, we suspect not all of our opponents were truly 14 and under. There is no age verification process for this tournament.

Except for a few games that we weren't involved in, the tournament was held in the Tom Gola Arena, where the LaSalle Explorers play Atlantic 10 Basketball. I have never seen this setup before: the arena is about three basketball courts wide, main court in the center and a full-size practice court on either side. The seating is much like what I'm used to seeing at high-schools only taller. When the seats are fully "pushed back", all three courts are exposed. For normal games, the seating is pulled out completely, covering up the practice courts. There is no seating on the ends. And with the seats pushed back and the practice courts exposed, there is no seating anywhere, except folding chairs. I thought it was strange also that the courts were above the entrance by a flight of stairs. Anyone know what was on the main level, and if there was a lower level? Maybe athletic offices?

We were missing our starting center, and for all the games we were short by six inches at every position at each tipoff. Because the third game was not on the schedule at the beginning of the day, we also lost our next two biggest bigs for the final game. When we drove, we got blocked. When we shot, we didn't get rebounds. Given the height difference, we generally held our own on the defensive boards.

I got cheesesteaks at Explorers Den right around the corner--excellent. I assume "Explorers" is a reference to Robert de LaSalle and the LaSalle mascot/team name (Explorers) Took a few pictures, too. As usual, not a lot of action--partly because of the photographer, partly because of the camera. All pictures are captioned, if you don't see the captions, try hitting "Hide Captions" then "Show Captions".

---

AAU Basketball, Twin Valley

3/31 -4/1 Twin Valley Tournament, Elverson, PA

3/31	7pm	Court 2	Central Jersey	Won	46-23
3/31	9pm	Court 2	Twin Valley	Won	55-18
4/1	2 pm	Court 2	York Rebels	Won	51-25
4/1	6 pm	Court 1	Schuylkill Vipers	NoPlay	---
4/1	4 pm	Court 2	Unscheduled Add: Galloway	Lost	41-34

There were 6 teams in our pool for this tournament. It was an open tournament, so there was no winner, just a 4-game guarantee. With four games, each team draws every other team in the tournament except one. Our draw had us playing everyone but Galloway. As it turns out, our team and Galloway played at a higher level than the rest of the teams, and we both were on track for 4-0. However, our final opponent, having seen our previous games, decided they didn't want to play us. Arrangements were made for us to play Galloway instead. It really would have been a shame to play the entire tournament, and miss playing the only real competition.

We had them tied 20-20 at half, and were within 3 with a minute to go. Galloway hit a 3 to extend the lead to 6, and we tried to change personnel to bring in three-point shooters, to no avail. Galloway played very well, and took advantage of our weaknesses. Something we can learn from.

---

AAU Basketball, April

We now know that we have at least three tournaments scheduled in April:
3/31 -4/1 Twin Valley Tournament, Elverson, PA

3/31	7pm	Court 2	Central Jersey	Won	46-23
3/31	9pm	Court 2	Twin Valley	Won	55-18
4/1	2 pm	Court 2	York Rebels	Won	51-25
4/1	6 pm	Court 1	Schuylkill Vipers	NoPlay	---
4/1	4 pm	Court 2	Unscheduled Add: Galloway	Lost	41-34

4/6 - 4/8 2007 Philly Spring Classic, Philadelphia, PA
La Salle University, 3-game guarantee: Pool play and single-elimination tournament

4/7	11am	Court 3	Team Philly	Lost	56-30
4/7	3 pm	Court 2	Coast to Coast	Lost	---
4/7	9 pm	Court 3	Delaware Panthers	Lost	47-19

4/13 - 4/15 Albright College, Reading, PA
Unofficially, by my interpretation: This is a NOT a double-elimination tournament, it is a single elimination tournament, but the first game is used to divide into a "Winners' Bracket" and a "Losers' Bracket". After entering one of the two brackets, it's single elimination. More or less. It's a little odd in some cases. For example, the Courage could win the whole shebang in only three games (Games 7, 25, and 27). Eight teams in the lower half of the bracket need 5 games to win out. Teams in the top half of the bracket need 4 games to win out. Everybody goes home with the first lost beginning with their second game, except (I think) the winner of Bears/Bulldogs who can lose their second game to Courage and move to the Losers' Bracket.

The full set of our potential game times, all on Court 2: Games 8,13,17,27; 12,21,24,26

• SAT 12Noon (if WIN) SAT 4pm, SAT 8pm, SUN 6pm
  
• SAT 12Noon (if LOSS) SAT 3pm, SUN 10am, SUN 1pm, SUN 4pm

Results:

4/14	11am	Court 2	Bangor Slate	WON	49-30
4/14	3 pm	Court 2	York Raiders	Lost	---

AAU Basketball

We now know that AAU basketball will consist of three 2 1/2 hour practices per week plus tournaments on every weekend they can manage through the end of July (some 150 hours of practices?!). This weekend's tournament didn't pan out--it was a tournament in York, PA, but it was full before our registration got in. There is one scheduled for next weekend, dunno where.