Mt Hood Challenge

[Unregistered]

Glad you had a good time. Our daughter only received 3 games. The guarantee wasn't much of a guarantee.

If you have such a problem with this have your club contact WUSC or Mike. Obviously you are very upset about this; but nothing is going to happen if you just complain on these boards.

[Unregistered]

If you have such a problem with this have your club contact WUSC or Mike. Obviously you are very upset about this; but nothing is going to happen if you just complain on these boards.

Please don't assume that nothing has been done about this. The emails and phone calls have already been made as our entire club is upset and from what we have found out we are not alone.

People on this site were correct. This is a tournament specifically for Mr. Morris to make a lot of money off and nothing more. From the emails we have received back he cares little about the integrity of the tournament. He was simply in it to make a quick buck and get out. I am assuming now that this is why the Mt. Hood challenge doesn't draw the competitive clubs. They all know better by now.

[Unregistered]

I just read the bracket rules at http://www.mthoodchallenge.com/docli...planations.pdf

there is one really nice thing here for the kids--a lot of them will the feeling of participating in playoffs and receiving medals. I think that's really cool for the kids, who ultimately just want to play and won't care (like some parents out there) if they are in the blue or green or whatever color playoff. It will be fun.

This may not be true for all kids, but I am a ref who happened to over hear a consolation final of U14 Girls where they were OVERJOYED to get medals. This did not occur just once. Remember, while some of your ''elite teams'' may only like the gold, (and trust me, I totally understand this) the main target market at the even has already been mentioned: the silver and rec teams. These players often enter other tournaments only to lose, or be an "easy target" for the "elite". To have an enviornment like this where no matter what, they were rewarded for their efforts (because a lot of these players do try) might've been the right move.

Now, I am not saying that the "elite" teams like getting second place medals, or even third, but in the end Mike Morris and the others who helped run this tournament (no matter what role they played) they were catering to a different market than THUSC, LO, FC, and others and their tournaments do.

To all the parents out their, congrats if you have a driven, competitive athlete. That skill can get them many other places besides just sports. But remember, in the sport of soccer, the largest amount of players play REC and SILVER teams. That's why, they were targeted, because while some may be just as competitive as anyone else, sometimes a medal feels pretty darn good.

Let's be glad for the most part, that your children should've had fun. If that occured, than hopefully for most parents, that will be enough. ;)

[Unregistered]

Please don't assume that nothing has been done about this. The emails and phone calls have already been made as our entire club is upset and from what we have found out we are not alone.

People on this site were correct. This is a tournament specifically for Mr. Morris to make a lot of money off and nothing more. From the emails we have received back he cares little about the integrity of the tournament. He was simply in it to make a quick buck and get out. I am assuming now that this is why the Mt. Hood challenge doesn't draw the competitive clubs. They all know better by now.

I would assume nothing was done about this because all I see is complaining about getting only 3 games. Not that anything was done about it.

If you have made the calls and not gotten a response then I am sorry to hear that.
Can I ask what their response was? I am very curious to hear what they said if you only received 3 games and were promised 4 (U9, U15, U16 and U19 all promised 3 games; U10-U14 all promised 4 games).

[Unregistered]

I would assume nothing was done about this because all I see is complaining about getting only 3 games. Not that anything was done about it.

If you have made the calls and not gotten a response then I am sorry to hear that.
Can I ask what their response was? I am very curious to hear what they said if you only received 3 games and were promised 4 (U9, U15, U16 and U19 all promised 3 games; U10-U14 all promised 4 games).

"Due to the amount of teams and scheduling problems not all teams were able to receive 4 games. No refunds will be given."

Wow, what a great response.

[Unregistered]

I'm not a parent of a player who participated but I have several friends from different clubs/communities who did have players participate. We went out to watch and support. From talking with these parents/players, they all enjoyed their experience at the tournament.

They are not elite teams but developmental teams who were looking to go and learn and have fun. They did both.

It is dissapointing to here that teams were promised a certain amount of games and some did not receive them. Clearly, things needed to be run a little better and maybe those teams given some kind of minimal refund.

That being said, there are many teams who did enjoy and have fun. It was nice to see more teams/players have the opportunity to feel success on the field when in the more elite tournaments they just go for the experience of losing/developing.

It was very clear that this tournament was NOT for the more advanced level teams.

[Unregistered]

teams received their money worth

It is really unfortunate when you can come on here and make false statements about the number of games teams did or did not receive. This is easy to verify for anyone that knows how to cut/paste in Excel - see the schedules and you can get the information. Here are the facts:

Five teams of the 452 did not receive their guaranteed games and have already (or will be) receiving refunds.

U9 teams were guaranteed three games:
4 teams had three games
27 teams had four games
2 teams had five games

U10-U14 teams were guaranteed four games:
5 teams had three games (and refunds are already processed)
245 teams had four games
120 teams had five games

U15-U19 teams were guaranteed three games:
12 teams had three games
35 teams had four games
2 teams had five games

[Spamalot]

And good reffing too

This may not be true for all kids, but I am a ref who happened to over hear a consolation final of U14 Girls where they were OVERJOYED to get medals. This did not occur just once. Remember, while some of your ''elite teams'' may only like the gold, (and trust me, I totally understand this) the main target market at the even has already been mentioned: the silver and rec teams. These players often enter other tournaments only to lose, or be an "easy target" for the "elite". To have an enviornment like this where no matter what, they were rewarded for their efforts (because a lot of these players do try) might've been the right move.

Now, I am not saying that the "elite" teams like getting second place medals, or even third, but in the end Mike Morris and the others who helped run this tournament (no matter what role they played) they were catering to a different market than THUSC, LO, FC, and others and their tournaments do.

To all the parents out their, congrats if you have a driven, competitive athlete. That skill can get them many other places besides just sports. But remember, in the sport of soccer, the largest amount of players play REC and SILVER teams. That's why, they were targeted, because while some may be just as competitive as anyone else, sometimes a medal feels pretty darn good.

Let's be glad for the most part, that your children should've had fun. If that occured, than hopefully for most parents, that will be enough. ;)

I almost forgot to mention the fine reffing at this tournament. Usually, we parents have something to say about the poor reffing. Not this time. We definitely appreciated the mature (no beginner) refs who did an overall great job. (Maybe it was because the intensity level was not as high?)

Thank you, refs!

[Unregistered]

Agreed that it was a great tournament for anyone who is about silver or below. I would NOT recommend this tournament to any competitive teams. I also agree that the scheduling system was not fair though and hope that they fix that in the future.

[Unregistered]

Agreed that it was a great tournament for anyone who is about silver or below. I would NOT recommend this tournament to any competitive teams. I also agree that the scheduling system was not fair though and hope that they fix that in the future.

All of the Oregon girl's teams would be considered B or C teams in Washington or California, with the few exceptions. Only competitive tournament in Oregon is the FC's winter showcase, the only gold level tournament in the state.

[Unregistered]

All of the Oregon girl's teams would be considered B or C teams in Washington or California, with the few exceptions. Only competitive tournament in Oregon is the FC's winter showcase, the only gold level tournament in the state.

That may be the case but the Mt. Hood challenge is catering to the Washington C and D teams, not B. It is also catering to the Oregon B, C and rec teams. Again, nothing wrong with that. LO Cup draws many gold level teams in the younger age groups.

[Unregistered]

That may be the case but the Mt. Hood challenge is catering to the Washington C and D teams, not B. It is also catering to the Oregon B, C and rec teams. Again, nothing wrong with that. LO Cup draws many gold level teams in the younger age groups.

So does Oregon not have an A level teams?

Because there were teams that I would consider competitive teams from Oregon at this tournament.

I am not saying Mt Hood Challenge was a A level tournament. But you are talking about recommending tournament to A level teams; guess what tell them to go and the more A level teams that come the more competitive the tournament becomes

[Unregistered]

So does Oregon not have an A level teams?

Because there were teams that I would consider competitive teams from Oregon at this tournament.

I am not saying Mt Hood Challenge was a A level tournament. But you are talking about recommending tournament to A level teams; guess what tell them to go and the more A level teams that come the more competitive the tournament becomes

There were maybe 5 A level teams from Oregon at the tournament. We definitely have a good handful of teams who can compete in California and Washington but none of them were at the Mt. Hood Challenge.

[Unregistered]

So does Oregon not have an A level teams?

Because there were teams that I would consider competitive teams from Oregon at this tournament.

I am not saying Mt Hood Challenge was a A level tournament. But you are talking about recommending tournament to A level teams; guess what tell them to go and the more A level teams that come the more competitive the tournament becomes

'A' level teams would not travel to Oregon to play. Well... LO cup had a U13G team from Washington called Timbers Red. They killed every Oregon team and lost to a Califronia B team in the finals. THUSC U12G can compete with any team from any state. Best team we have in the state.Our U13G is weak.

[Unregistered]

'A' level teams would not travel to Oregon to play. Well... LO cup had a U13G team from Washington called Timbers Red. They killed every Oregon team and lost to a Califronia B team in the finals. THUSC U12G can compete with any team from any state. Best team we have in the state.Our U13G is weak.

Thusc U12G are not the best team in the state. Maybe in the U11-14. Better older teams than them.