Up-to-date as of: 7/25 12:00PM PDT
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JULY 25, 2006 -- The time has finally come for the championship Japanese/Chinese, IndoPak, and Filipino teams to come together.
While the Filipinos (at least on the West Coast) are always down to play, what has been difficult is coordinating the Japanese/Chinese and IndoPaks' schedules.
We tried in April 2005, where we got a chance to validate that the IndoPak teams we read about on their message boards were for real, but it was really hard to get the Japanese/Chinese teams out and we were just scratching the surface with the Filipinos. If you're interested, here's a more detailed recant:
- The California Japanese League runs from January to April, therefore April was actually a difficult timeframe. Coach Chester of the LA Tigers tried really hard, but suggested a July timeframe.
- Scheduling for the Dream League Bay Area All-Star team has been next to impossible, because we all grew up playing in the California Japanese League framework, resulting in a skeleton team for April 2005. July was no good because of the Bay Area Japanese League-based tournaments in Alameda and South Lake Tahoe.
- The Filipino league and tournament circuit is vast but fragmented. There are very few on the Vegas side of the U.S. that would qualify as an "elite" tournament. From our Summer 2005 tournament, we were able to establish more relationships, thanks to Raffy of the Heads.
We tried in December 2005 and the local Japanese/Chinese teams attended since it was not Jan-Apr, but ran into a few more glitches:
- December is a tough traveling month for out-of-towners. Only the Minneapolis Lakers were able to fly in, although it was well worth it for them as they made a huge splash.
- December is somewhat off-season for the IndoPaks.
- There's a big long-established Japanese League-based LA tourney in December.
Well, we finally have the solution: play it on the same weekend as the Japanese/Chinese LVI!!! Good thing it doesn't coincide with any IndoPak nationals.
For the teams already playing in LVI, please note the following:
- We have gotten the blessing from LVI director Gerald Morita.
- We know the fees for LVI were $600 or $500, but we still have gym costs ourselves. For LVI teams only, we will charge you $50 per game played, collected in cash before tipoff.
- Remember, LVI is played on Fri Sep 8 and Sat Sep 9. The top finishers from LVI's AA-Gold and AA-Silver division are invited to attend our Elite tournament, which will start on Sat Sep 9 and conclude on Sun Sep 10. THERE IS NO CONFLICT ON SUN SEP 10 -- BOOK YOUR FLIGHTS HOME FOR LATE SUNDAY NIGHT!
- The Dream League Bay Area All-Stars will be playing in the LVI on Friday and Saturday. For the teams not playing in LVI, don't worry, it will not affect my ability to run our tournament on Saturday (presumably two LVI games or 3 hours of my time). Dream League has capable staff in my absence.
- We have not determined how many teams from the LVI will be invited. Shoo-ins would probably be the Dream League All-Stars, LA Tigers, San Jose Kidz (because they have Filipino players ineligible for LVI), and Pacific Coast/Barons, based solely on existing relationships with Dream League.
- LVI plays in a lot of gyms. On Saturday we'll be at Heinrich YMCA, a very nice gym that is not part of the LVI circuit. We have relationships at Doolittle and Tarkanian Academy, where we played our last two Vegas tournaments, which are also not part of the LVI circuit.
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