THE DREAM LEAGUE
Open/Community Basketball Leagues
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Ongoing Open/Community Signups (Bay Area) Weeknights |
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TUESDAY INTERMEDIATE
Table of Contents Overview Deadline How To Register Free T-shirt or Basketball [NEW!!!] Scheduling/Locations Current List of Free Agents Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) OVERVIEW OF FALL/WINTER LEAGUE: - This is an Intermediate level league, not Top Gun - All games are on Tuesday nights at 6:30/7:30/8:30 - Gym locations in SF: Visitacion Valley Middle School, Enola D. Maxwell Middle School, O'Connell High Schools - "Soft launch", where half the teams start play, on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - Remaining teams will start on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - Ends roughly late December 2004 to early January 2005, skipping school holiday schedules - 8 regular season games, 1-2 bye weeks, 1-2 holidays, 4 weeks of semi-double-elimination playoffs - Excludes national/school holidays such as 12/21 and 12/28 - NBA-style rules, individual and game stats online - For more info, contact rich@dreamleague.org REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Monday, September 27, 2004 at 11:59PM sharp Click here to register, then complete payment by following instructions below... COSTS PER PLAYER: $70 This is an average of just $7-8 per game per person -- comparable to most city leagues MINIMUM COST PER TEAM: $500 MAXIMUM COST PER TEAM: $600 cap for 9+ players COSTS PER FREE AGENT: $60 HOW TO REGISTER: (1) Get at least 5 guys to commit. Dream League can help fill in the 6th and 7th spots. (2) Register your team using the REGISTRATION link in the lefthand navigation panel of this website. (3) After entering your team contact info on the REGISTRATION page, come back here and...
FOR NEW TEAMS, A MINIMUM $100 DEPOSIT IS REQUIRED TO HOLD YOUR TEAM'S SPOT AND BE INCLUDED IN THE SEASON SCHEDULING. A $5 per-week late penalty will be assessed on each player's roster spot that fails to be paid by the first game. Installment payments are available for starving students. Make inquiries to rich@dreamleague.org. Due to our experience with teams dropping out and adversely affecting the rest of the teams and schedules, ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN. The #1 reason why teams lose is due to depleted rosters. We recommend that you only pickup reliable players who can afford to pay and be at your games as much as possible. ** - HERE'S WHERE IT FINALLY PAYS TO BE A CAPTAIN!!!: All captains who send in their team payment of $560 BY CHECK ONLY, RECEIVED NO LATER THAN 11:59PM ON MONDAY, SEPT. 27, 2004 will be privy to one of the following (not available for payments by PayPal or credit card due to the PayPal surcharges incurred):
OTHER ISSUES CORPORATE GRANT MATCHING: If you work at a large company, chances are, there is a corporate grant matching program, where an amount you donate to a 501c(3) nonprofit such as Dream League will be matched by your employer. Win a basketball by raising a total of $100 outside of the league for Dream League. Contact rich@dreamleague.org for more details. TEAM JERSEYS: To keep accurate stats and post them on the website, unique dark/white numbered t-shirts or jerseys on *both* the front and back are required for each team. If your team is lacking in such jerseys, please contact either Sports & Graphics in South SF at 650.588.3216 or MVP Sports in Oakland at 510.567.8370. Costs range from $1.50 per digit heat-pressed to $22 per jersey to $5 for t-shirts to $2 per t-shirt with ironed-on number. We require strict adherance to this rule because it is extremely difficult to keep stats when we can't see jersey numbers. Taping numbers does not work, as the tape *always* falls off. Failure to adhere by this rule has and will result in a technical foul per illegal jersey, to be enforced before tipoff. FORFEIT FEE: Warning after the first forfeit, $50 each subsequent forfeit, to be paid by the team prior to the next scheduled game, otherwise the next game will be automatically forfeited. Half of the fine goes to the first team victimized by the forfeit, half goes to the second team. LIST OF FREE AGENTS Last Updated: 9/17 8:00AM (yes) Neil Torres -- PG 5'6" Dream League veteran FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS NOTE: This is a long FAQ. To search on a particular topic, we recommend that you simply use your browser's "Find" function. Can we make scheduling requests? Will there be any byes? Yes, but keep in mind that we need to be fair to the other teams. For example, we will mix up the schedule so that it is reasonably balanced in terms of the number of 6:30, 7:30, and 8:30 tipoffs for your team. If your team is out one particular week, then you can request a bye for that week. Each team can have the benefit of one bye week. Is there any way to get a discount on the team or player fee? There are three ways: (1) Interview for one of our volunteer openings, assuming they are still available. There are two volunteer openings for the other leagues: (a) as league coordinator at one of our other leagues every Sunday morning, or (b) as mentor/tutor on a weekday, just one hour per week, at one of our partner community centers. Mentor/tutors are subject to background checks. Both league coordinators and tutors are also subject to performance reviews. Contact Rich Twu at rich@dreamleague.org if you are interested in one of these positions and getting a discount on your player fees. (2) Refer a new team into one of our leagues: either the Sunday Open and Asian Leagues, or the Women's League. Please note that this is a one-time commission only and ranges from $70 to $80 depending on the league referred into. "New" teams are defined as teams that are not already playing in one of our leagues. "Team" is defined as six or more players not already playing in one of our leagues. The teams who have already expressed interest in entering our league do not count as "new teams", since Dream League has done all the work to get their commitment thus far. So talk to your fellow ballers at the gym, get on the phone for us and you as a player can play for free! Contact Rich Twu at rich@dreamleague.org for more information. (3) Check for a corporate nonprofit/grant matching program with your employer. Most large corporations will help you in your social causes by matching any donations you make. Or perhaps you know of a friend or loved one who works at a large corporation, and have *them* make a donation to Dream League on your behalf. Any grants we receive from such programs will entitle you to a discount. Contact us for specifics! Can my players pay you individually instead of the captain bearing the brunt of the entire team fee? Yes, but we will enforce a strict late fee rule of $5 per week. The minimum team deposit of $100 *must* have already been paid before any game is played. Teams may arrange installment payments with the commissioner on a case-by-case basis, but the league reserves the right to withhold a player from playing until he pays for his spot. How much should each player on my team pay, especially if some guys don't play as many minutes as others? It's entirely up to you as the captain, but we need to collect $560 total for your team. Are our registration fees tax deductible? Please contact Rich Twu at rich@dreamlague.org on an individual basis to discuss tax ramifications. Can we pay you at our first game? Yes, you can, but a $100 team deposit must have already been paid. If by the second week the total team fee of $560 has not been paid, your team will be kicked out of the league with no refund. Also, players that forget to bring money at the first game will be assessed a $5 late fee to be collected at the second game. By then we'll know whether or not your team is serious about playing. Can I make changes to my roster? We are pretty lax on the roster rules, but technically you are allowed to make changes to your roster up until the start of the 4th regular season game. Players are supposed to have played in 3 regular season games to become eligible for the playoffs. The league reserves the right to withhold certain players from playing if they are determined to be "ringers" brought on by teams solely for the purpose of playing in the playoffs. What is your double-elimination playoff structure? As devout basketball worshippers, the Dream League likes to avoid one-and-you're-out Final Four bracketing. So we've implemented a double-elimination Winners and Losers Bracket format, whereby the first team left standing without two losses in the playoffs is the champion. Please check our past seasons for samples of such brackets. Depending on the number of teams in each league, some cellar-dwellers may not make the playoffs or may only get single-elimination status. For example, two seasons ago we had 17 Asian League teams, 12 of which made the playoffs (all 12 received double-elimination status, although this rule will likely change because all of the lower seeds lost anyways). The other 5 went home after the regular season. In our Open Leagues of 7 teams, all 7 were allowed to make the playoffs, but only the top 4 were granted double-elimination status. If we have 17 teams again, 12 will make the playoffs, but only the top 8 will get double-elimination status. What exactly are the NBA-style rules? Please click on our RULES & REGULATIONS link in the left-hand navigation panel of this website. We will enforce the 6 personal fouls per player and 8-second backcourt rules. The 3-second defensive rule will not be enforced until later. Simply check with the head ref before each game for clarification on the NBA-style rules. What do you mean by the "Intermediate" or "Top Gun" levels of play? In Dream League, "Top Gun" teams should have at least two starters at 6'2" or 6'4" or taller. The best player on the team should have been at least an all-star in high school, or an impact player in city college, or part of the coach's rotation at a D-1 college, or a Pro-Am player. The "Intermediate" level is more "down to earth". In this division, you should have one bonafide post player who is at least 6'2", with at least another 6'2" or taller rebounder to back him up. Can I play in both the Top Gun and Intermediate divisions? Yes, but please note that you will be treated as one Top Gun player and one Intermediate player. In other words, if your team is paying fees on an individual basis, you will need to register and pay the fees in both leagues. Intermediate teams will be limited to 2 starters from any Top Gun-equivalent team. Why are team uniforms with unique numbers on *both* the front and back required? This is a requirement so that you can get your stats online! You do want your stats online, right?!! Otherwise, it is nearly impossible to keep stats during the game if we can't figure out who shot what, who rebounded what. Actually, we don't necessarily need *uniforms*. All we are asking for is a non-taped, non-hand-written number on the front and back of each player. This can be as cost-effective as a pair of dark and light t-shirts with a unique number on both the front and back that we help iron on for you ($2 each set). Or purchase a Dream League t-shirt for $5. Or contact us for referrals to jersey/uniform vendors (typically only $1.50 per digit for getting numbers heat-pressed, or $22 for new jerseys, or $30 for pro-style uniforms). Please note that technical fouls have been and will continue to be issued for illegal (or missing) jerseys. This includes numbers that are not on both the front and back of the jersey. The only exception to this rule is if the numbers "0" and/or "00" are not already taken, a jersey without a number on it (blank) can be used and assumed to be "0" and/or "00". This means that each team has two "grace jerseys". Why is there a forfeit fee? Because forfeits can ruin a good league. Because all we want to do is play; your opponents as well as the league as well as the referees hate it when there are forfeits. Granted, there are times when quirks or accidents happen and you simply can't get the minimum 4 guys there to start a game. Therefore, we give you a warning the first time it happens. If it happens a second time, you'll need to pay a $50 penalty before the start of your next game, otherwise you'll forfeit that game and accrue another $50 penalty and so forth. Half of the $50 forfeit fee will go to the league and the other half will go to your scheduled opponent that was victimized by the forfeit. If we didn't do it this way, then forfeits would get teams pissed off, which then would unfairly reflect badly on the league. What if my team is running late due to traffic? How do we avoid a forfeit? First of all, tipoff time is forfeit time. Barring acts of war or Mother Nature or what have you, all parties involved including your opponents, the referees, and the scorekeepers are subject to the same delays as you are, yet we all still need to be there at tipoff time. So the best thing to do is to budget effectively for getting to the game on time! If you have unreliable teammates, either leave them off your roster or tell them to arrive at some earlier time. Secondly, if you are late and have at least 4 players available, the game will start at the designated *tipoff* time, period. We will not wait until you have 5 guys to start the game. If your team is late and does not have at least 4 players available, at the designated tipoff time, we will ask your opponent's team captain whether or not he wants to record the game as a forfeit. Some captains will be stingy and take the forfeit, at which point you will be subject to the forfeit fee rules and the referees are not obligated to officiate the game even if the teams show up after the called forfeit. Some captains know that what comes around goes around and will be nice and decline the forfeit and wait up until 15 minutes past the tipoff time to start the game. On the other hand, if it's the playoffs, you can be sure that your opponents will want to record the game as a forfeit and advance towards the championship. Beyond 15 minutes past the tipoff, the decision is out of your opponent's hands and a forfeit will be recorded. Thirdly, please note that if one or both teams are late, then the game time will be pro-rated as such: 3 minutes of game clock time for every 5 minutes of elapsed real time. So if you are running late, please be sure to thank your opponent when you arrive and tell him you owe him one for not forfeiting you and for agreeing to be pro-rated. We are forced to pro-rate late games because of the league's financial commitment to referees and gym facilities. |