Note: if your team is not listed below, it means that you were not accepted into the tournament and you are also not on a wait list. Please understand that this is not a reflection on your team, rather a reflection of the large demand and limited space at the tournament.
Open A
Amherst Varsity
Amherst JV A
Columbia High School (NJ)
Four Rivers (MA)
Longmeadow HS Varsity (MA)
Needham High School (MA)
Paideia School (GA)
Seattle Fryz (WA)
Sharon High School (MA)
Westfield High School (NJ)
Open A Wait List
Nipmuc High School (MA)
John Jay HS (NY)
Watchung High School (NJ)
Open B
Amherst JV B
Amherst Middle School
Andover High School (MA)
Deerfield Academy (MA)
Newton North High School (MA)
Northfield Mount Hermon (MA)
Phillips Andover Academy (MA)
PVPA (MA)
St Johnsbury (VT)
Somerville High School (MA)
B Division teams must provide a Certificate of Insurance to Hampshire College. Please follow the instructions here
Open B Wait List
Northampton High School (MA)
Hartsbrook School (MA)
Girls
Amherst Varsity
Amherst JV A
Amherst JV B
Four Rivers (MA)
Lower Merion (PA)
Paideia School (GA)
PVPA (MA)
St Johnsbury (VT)
Seattle Fryz (WA)
Watchung Hills HS (NJ)
Girls Wait List
Longmeadow HS Varsity (MA)
Andover High School (MA)
Stuyvesant HS (NY)
About
the Tournament
This spring we will be celebrating the 21st Annual Amherst Invitational
Tournament. The tournament will once again be divided into three separate
groups: Open Division A, Open Division B, and Girls Division.
Selection Notes
We have the difficult task of selecting 30 teams to play at the tournament
out of a pool of 40+ applicants. We hate to do this, but our resources are
limited and we cannot expand the tournament.
Here are things that will help your chances of being selected:
organize a tournament or league and tell us about it in your application
get your bid in early (December!)
Here are things that will hurt your chances of being selected:
give us an email address that doesn't work
have a sexist or drug-related or alcohol-related team nickname
make your check out to anything other than ARHS Ultimate
The tournament will take place on Saturday, May 05, and Sunday, May
06, 2011.
Who is allowed to play in the tournament?
We will (for the most part) be using the USA Ultimate
Youth Competition Guidelines to determine if your team and players are eligible to attend
our tournament. The Guidelines state that ALL members of a team must attend the same high school. Please note: we are making an exception to the 'single-school' rule in 2012 for the Seattle teams.
Do we need to be USA Ultimate members?
All players on all teams must be USA Ultimate members to play in the Amherst
Invitational. The UPA is strongly committed to the growth of high school
Ultimate, and becoming a member will support their efforts. You can sign
up on the USA Ultimate web page. (note:
make sure you are signing up for a 2012 membership.)
The tri-directors (TDs) of the Amherst Invitational are Tiina Booth (coach,
ARHS Boys Varsity), Jim Pistrang (coach, Amherst
Regional Middle School) and Josh Nugent (coach, ARHS Girls Varsity). Contact information for Jim and Tiina and Josh is listed below. All
decisions regarding eligibility, acceptance of bids, seeding, and rules
will be made by the TDs.
How do you decide which bids to accept?
We expect to receive well over 40 bids, and we only have room for 23
teams (not counting the Amherst teams). We will use the following criteria:
Open A and Girls: we will give preference to the most competitive teams
who apply from around the country.
Open B: we will give strong preference to teams who apply
from the Northeast Region, particularly New England.
Important: For all divisions, we want a sense of how you have contributed to the
growth of juniors ultimate in your school, town, or area.
Are there good parties at the Amherst Invitational?
We are quite sure that you will have a wonderful time at the tournament.
However, all drugs, alcohol, and tobacco are strictly forbidden, both on
and off the field. In addition, teams staying with a host family must abide
by all rules and curfews that are set by the host. Failure to follow these
rules will result in the expulsion of your team from the tournament (and
we won't want you back next year either).
Where is the tournament?
Most likely we will use fields at Amherst HHigh School, Amherst Middle School, and Hampshire College.
How much does it cost?
The entry fee for the tournament is $400.
What do we get for our money?
Some of the money goes for things that you will see: trophies, team
boxes, Saturday lunches, Saturday night pizza, the printing of the program,
port-a-johns, and an on-field trainer. We also have unseen costs such as
custodial fees and field fees.
Where will we stay in Amherst?
Housing will be provided for all teams that travel a distance to the
tournament and need to stay overnight. Your hosts will be Amherst Ultimate
team members and their families. Teams must indicate in their Registration
Form whether or not they need housing, and how many people are on the team.
Some teams will be able to stay together at one house, others may be split
between two houses. Visiting teams must bring sleeping bags, pillows, etc.
Most likely you will be sleeping on a floor. After you are accepted into
the Tournament you will be contacted by our Housing Director.
Do we need an adult chaperone?
Absolutely. You must have an adult chaperone if you want to play in
the tournament, and the chaperone must be with your team for the entire
weekend. Failure to have a chaperone may result in expulsion from the tournament.
How do I know if my team belongs in the A Division or the B Division?
The Registration Form includes a place where you can describe your
team and give us some info from your seasons last fall and spring. The
Tournament Directors will put together a seeding based on this info.
The Girls Division has 10 teams, which will be divided into two pools
of 5. After pool play, the top two teams from each pool will advance to
semi-finals, while the bottom three teams will play consolation games.
Consolation games are required, not optional. The two top-seeded teams
will play four pool games on Saturday and have a bye early Sunday morning.
The other eight teams will play three pool games on Saturday and a fourth
pool game early Sunday morning. Semis, finals, and consolation games will
follow the final pool round on Sunday. All teams will play a total of five
or six games.
Open A Division:
The Open A Division has 10 teams, which will be divided into two pools
of 5. The two top-seeded teams
will play four pool games on Saturday and have a bye early Sunday morning.
The other eight teams will play three pool games on Saturday and a fourth
pool game on Sunday morning. After pool play, the top four teams from each pool will advance to
quarter-finals, while the bottom team from each pool will play a consolation game.
Quarter-final losers will play consolation games, and the quarter-final winners will advance to the semi-finals. All teams will play a total of five
or six or seven games. The 9/10 consolation game is required, all others are optional.
Open B Division:
The Open B Division will also consist of 10 teams, with the same format at
as the Girls Division.
Tournament Seeding
Placement within the Divisions will be determined by the Tournament
Directors in February, after the bids have been accepted. Tournament seeding
within your division will be determined by the Tournament Directors at
the end of April. For accurate seeding please report all spring scores
to the USA Ultimate
Score Reporting Page as soon as they occur.
In order to be considered, you must submit a bid to the tournament directors.
The bid consists of a completed Registration Form and a check for $400,
made out to 'ARHS Ultimate'. The deadline for receiving
bids is January 31, 2012.Teams will be notified by February
10, 2011 if they have been accepted into the tournament. A submitted bid
does NOT guarantee acceptance into the Tournament. In fact, we expect to
receive more bids than there are openings. Teams that are not accepted will
have their entire check returned.
The Registration Form must be downloaded, filled out, and mailed to us
with a check.
Please note: If it takes a long time for your school to cut you a check, send in your application early anyway. Please note on the app that the check will follow shortly AND give us a contact name and number for the person who is responsible for cutting the check from the school.
Click on the link below to download the Registration Form
in MS Word format. If you would like a Registration Form mailed to you,
send an email to Jim Pistrang. The Registration
Form must be mailed to:
The Middle School is located behind the High School. Assuming that
you are facing the high school, go to the right side of the school (away
from the fields), and turn left on the driveway that goes along the side
of the school. Cross the street at the end of the driveway and you will
be in the middle school parking lot. The two middle school fields are located
on the far side of the parking lot, near the tennis courts.
Directions from Amherst Regional High School to Hampshire College