Gateway City Tournament Series

St. Louis, Missouri

Gateway City Tournament Series
2005-2006

LONGER GAMES THIS SEASON!
Mite - 12 minute periods / Squirt, Pee Wee,
Bantam - 13 minute periods / Midget - 14 minute periods

Advanced Tournaments is pleased to present our second season of The Gateway City Tournament Series, in the St. Louis, MO area. St. Louis’ proximity to hockey hotbeds across the Midwest, provides a wide geographic variety of teams, resulting in great competition and many

opportunities for recreation and sightseeing for our tournament teams. All games will be played at the U.S. Ice Sports Complex in Fairview Heights Illinois, a state-of-the-art, twin rink facility just across the Mississippi and minutes away from downtown St. Louis.

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 Washington area attractions. Have an enjoyable 2005-2006 Youth Hockey season. We look forward to seeing you in St. Louis!

Tournament Divisions and Playing Dates

All Tournament Games in a Single Location U.S. Ice Sports Complex – Fairview Heights, IL

All Tournament Games in a Single Location U.S. Ice Sports Complex – Fairview Heights, IL
(For more information on Fairview Heights, IL - click here - www.fairviewheights.com

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Entry Fees and Policies
2005-2006 Season

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

		US Teams	Canadian Teams
Age Level	Length of Periods	(in $US)	(in $CDN)
Mite/Novice	12 min.	$850	$895
Squirt/Atom & Pee Wee	13 min.	$895	$940
Bantam	13 min.	$950	$995
Midget	14 min.	$1,075	$1,125

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.

Multi-Tournament Discounts

Teams playing in multiple Advanced Tournaments, in any of our locations, during the 2005-06 season will be rewarded through our multi-tournament discount program. Discounts will be applied as follows:

First tournament Full Entry Fee

Second tournament $50 discount on 2nd tournament entry fee

Third tournament $100 discount on 3rd tournament entry fee

Fourth Tournament $250 discount on 4th tournament entry fee

Please notify an Advanced Tournaments representative at the time of registration if you are entitled to the multi-tournament discount Player roster, coaches and team contacts must be identical, to be considered as a single team playing in multiple tournaments. Teams canceling their entry in a tournament, after receipt of deposit or full payment, will no longer be entitled to multi-tournament discounts.

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Tournament Hotels

Advanced Tournaments has secured room blocks for all out-of-town teams participating in each of our tournaments. As a condition of acceptance, all out-of-town teams must reserve rooms through Advanced Tournaments and stay in an authorized hotel.

Any team whose home rink is greater than 70 miles from the tournament rink, will be considered an out-of-town team, and will be required to comply with Advanced Tournaments’ hotel policies and procedures. Out-of-town teams must utilize a minimum total of 18 hotel room nights during the tournament (as an example, 9 hotel rooms per night, for two nights, would result in a total of 18 hotel room nights during the tournament).

Please do not contact hotels directly as team reservations must be made via rooming lists. Team reservations will not be accepted over the phone. Upon registration, team contacts will receive rooming list forms and instructions to complete the reservation process.

Rooming lists must be completed and returned to Advanced Tournaments no later than approximately three weeks prior to the tournament start date. Space in many of the tournament hotels is limited and rooming blocks will be assigned on a first-come, first served basis in the order in which rooming lists are received.

We receive many requests from teams within the same organization wishing to stay together in a single hotel. We make every effort to accommodate these requests and early receipt of completed room lists will facilitate our efforts.

Hotel List Download a

St. Louis Marriott Downtown – $89/night plus tax
Oct 28-30, Nov 11-13, Dec 9-11, Jan 13-15, Jan 27-29, Feb 10-12
Located in the Heart of St. Louis, we are just 13 miles to the US Ice Sports Complex in Fairview Heights and strolling distance to some of the Gateway City’s most acclaimed historic landmarks, attractions, entertainment and restaurants; the Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium, Laclede’s Landing and the Cardinals Baseball museum. Our Pavilion Restaurant and Pitchers Bar and Grill along with a Starbucks are all available to serve your team. Parking is included and the Marriott is easily accessible from four major interstates: I-70, I-55, I-64, I-44.

Holiday Inn Select St. Louis – $89/night plus tax
Oct 28-30, Nov 11-13, Dec 9-11, Jan 13-15, Jan 27-29, Feb 10-12, Mar 10-12
The hotel is located in the heart of downtown St. Louis, next to America's Convention Center, Edward Jones Dome- Home of the Rams and blocks from Laclede's Landing entertainment district. Visit St. Louis' historical sites, Gateway Arch, Anheuser Busch Brewery, Casino Queen Riverboat Gaming, and Union Station. Travel to the "Gateway City" on business or pleasure and enjoy 24-hour snack and convenience center, Garden Court Cafe, and our newest restaurant -the 9th Street Bar and Grille. Relax at our indoor pool, whirlpool, exercise room and sauna. Covered Parking is adjacent to the hotel.

4 Points Sheraton – Fairview Heights – $89/night plus tax
Oct 21-23, Oct 28-30, Nov 11-13, Dec 9-11, Jan 13-15, Jan 27-29, Feb 10-12, Feb 17-19, Mar 3-5, Mar 10-12
Shopping, dining, entertainment and more is what you’ll get when you stay with the Four Points Sheraton in Fairview Heights Illinois. Enjoy room service or dine in our Fountains Café’ offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can release the tension of travel with a nice work out in our fitness center, soak in our whirlpool or give the indoor pool a try. Located across from the hotel, you can explore St. Clair Square – So. Illinois’ largest shopping mall, just minutes away from the US Ice Sports Complex or escape to downtown St. Louis – a mere 12 miles away!

Ramada Inn– Fairview Heights – $89/night plus tax
Oct 21-23, Feb 17-19, Mar 3-5, Mar 10-12
The Ramada Inn-Fairview Heights is conveniently located right off the express way, only 12 miles from downtown St. Louis and just minutes away from the US Ice Sports Complex. The hotels offers complimentary Hi-Speed Internet access as well as a complimentary continental breakfast. There is a TGI Fridays restaurant and The Funny Bone Comedy Club which are attached to the hotel and give discounts to hotel guests. You can also enjoy the indoor and outdoor swimming pools.

Advanced Tournaments will provide accommodations at additional hotels in the vicinity of the rinks. A complete list of hotels will be sent to team contact.

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 2004-05 season we will use the following USA Hockey based age groups when assigning tournament divisions:

Level	Player Birth Years
Mite	1997 and younger
Squirt	1996 and 1997
Pee Wee	1994 and 1995
Bantam	1992 and 1993
Midget Minor	1990 and 1990
Midget Major	1988 and 1987

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 Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington, DC, Nashville, Rochester and St. Louis tournaments
- Mite – 12 minute periods
- Squirt, Pee Wee and Bantam – 13 minute periods
- Midget – 14 minute periods
Holland, MI tournaments
- Mite, Squirt and Pee Wee – 11 minute periods
- Bantam and Midget – 12 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
Tournament Champions and Finalists become eligible for the " 2006 International Tournament of Champions" held in Chicago, IL
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.