Steel City Tournament Series

Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania

Steel City Tournament Series
2008-2009

Pittsburgh’s central location has made it one of our most popular tournament sites, featuring a wide variety of teams from New York, Illinois, Michigan, Ontario, North Carolina, Colorado, Ohio, Florida, Virginia and elsewhere. The Pittsburgh area also offers a large variety of sightseeing, shopping and entertainment opportunities, such as the Buhl Science Center, Mt. Washington and the Gateway Clipper Fleet. Steel City Tournaments will be held at The Ice Castle and Airport Ice Arenas.

To register your team, please complete the registration form or download one of our brochures and mail to Advanced Arenas with your entry fee or deposit. When your registration information is received, we will provide you with detailed information on tournament hotels, game times and Pittsburgh area attractions. Have an enjoyable 2008-2009 Youth Hockey season. We look forward to seeing you in Pittsburgh!

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Tournament Divisions and Playing Dates

Pittsburgh Preseason Challenge – September 26-28, 2008
Mite through Midget: B, A and AA teams
(Friday through Sunday)

Pittsburgh Fall Classic – October 24-26, 2008
Mite through Midget: B, A and AA teams
(Friday through Sunday)

Pittsburgh Veterans Cup – November 7-9, 2008
Mite through Midget: B, A and AA teams
(Friday through Sunday)

Pittsburgh Thanksgiving Classic – November 28-30, 2008
Mite through Midget: B, A and AA teams
(Friday through Sunday)

Pittsburgh Midwinter Classic – January 17-19, 2009
Mite through Midget: B, A and AA teams
(Saturday through Monday)

Pittsburgh Presidents’ Cup – February 14-16, 2009
Mite through Midget: B, A and AA teams
(Saturday through Monday)

Pittsburgh Spring Classic – March 13-15, 2009
Mite through Midget: B, A and AA teams
(Friday through Sunday)

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Entry Fees and Policies
2008-2009 Season

All Tournaments – Four Game Minimum
All Games – Three Stop Time Periods

Age Level	Length of Periods	Entry Fee
Mite/Novice	12 min.	$850
Squirt/Atom & Pee Wee	13 min.	$895
Bantam	13 min.	$950
Midget	14 min.	$1,075

Teams may register by completing the registration form and sending with full payment or a $200 non-refundable deposit. $200 of the full payment or the $200 deposit is non-refundable immediately upon receipt. Thirty days prior to the tournament start date, the entire entry fee becomes non-refundable.

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Tournament Divisions/Team Placement

It is our goal at Advanced Tournaments to place teams in divisions which provide the closest match to your team’s age and skill level. This goal is made more difficult due to the fact that age divisions and classifications vary from state to state and between the US and Canada. It is possible that your team may play teams that are slightly older or younger than those in your home playing area.

Age Groups

For the 2008-09 season we will use the following USA Hockey based age groups when assigning tournament divisions:

Level	Player Birth Years
Mite	2000 and younger
Squirt	1998 and 1999
Pee Wee	1996 and 1997
Bantam	1994 and 1995
Midget Minor	1992 and 1993
Midget Major	1991 and 1990

Skill Levels

Generally our tournaments will include three basic skill levels. Please check each check tournament date and location for skill levels offered.:

House Level – teams chosen through a draft, in which all players within an organization are assigned to a team, with the goal of creating teams of equal skill level, within their own organization, with no players “cut”.

AA Level – generally the “best” or first picked travel team within a Tier II organization. These teams will often consist primarily of “second year” or “major” aged players within the age group. In some cases, Major A teams are also a more appropriate fit for this level.

A Level – generally the second, or lower, travel level team chosen within a Tier II organization. These teams will consist primarily, but not necessarily exclusively, of “first year” or “minor” aged players within the age group. As there are many variations in “A” level teams, great care is taken in matching “A” teams of appropriate skill levels to create balanced and competitive divisions.

The tournament director will place teams within the appropriate skill level to provide the best competitive opportunities for all teams.

Special Note

Michigan “A” teams should be aware that non-MI “A” teams will include second year players. We have extensive experience in placing MI teams and our experience is that MI “A” teams are very competitive with non-MI “A” teams despite differences in classification methods.

Tournament Features

All Tournaments USA Hockey Sanctioned
All Tournaments – Four Game Minimum
Free entry - all tournament games; NO GATE FEES
NEW THIS SEASON
ALL Dates and Locations:
- Mite – 12 minute periods
- Squirt, Pee Wee and Bantam – 13 minute periods
- Midget – 14 minute periods
No curfews, all games played to completion
Personalized tournament memento for each player
Individual and team award for 1st and 2nd place teams
Most Valuable Player award in each division
Digital action photographers available at all games, to instantly capture tournament memories
Accommodations at First Class Hotels for " out-of-town" teams: Marriott, Hyatt, Hampton, Holiday Inn, etc.

Tournament
Start and Finish Times

Tournaments held Friday through Sunday will begin at approximately 1:00 pm Friday and all championship games will be concluded by approximately 6:00 pm Sunday. Exceptions to these guidelines include Thanksgiving weekend tournaments, when play will begin at 7:00 am on Friday (or Thursday for local teams).

For Saturday through Monday tournaments, held over various holiday weekends, play will begin on Saturday at 7:00 am and all championship games will conclude by 6:00 pm Monday.

Generally, younger teams (mites, squirts, pee wees) begin play earlier each day and will complete their championship games earlier on Sunday or Monday. Bantam and Midget teams will begin later on Friday or Saturday and will play the later championship games on Sunday or Monday.

Travel times are considered when setting game start times, but in many cases, there will be multiple teams in a division that are traveling from out-of-town, resulting in certain out-of-town teams playing earlier in the day than others.

Advanced Arenas tournament divisions are based on these general guidelines. Variations are possible based on the skill level of specific teams: Top