2019 will mark our fourth consecutive Memorial Day weekend spent at the Canton Cup soccer tournament. It's a great experience, but it can be stressful too. Below are a few things that might be helpful for any newcomers.
IMPORTANT: You must check-in at the Field Check-In tent assigned to your field (see field maps for locations) at least 45 minutes prior to the start of your first game, 15 minutes prior for all subsequent games. Plan travel time accordingly as it is likely that parking will take some time as will getting to the correct field. For your first game, plan to arrive about an hour before start time.
However, all of this goes out the window if it's raining. Go back to the hotel or find a restaurant and just plan accordingly for the commute to the next game to factor in the nightmare of parking during the early afternoon hours.
Immerse Yourself
Overall, soak it all in. It's one of the premier tournaments in the midwest. Don't just attend YOUR games. Look at the schedule and take the time to watch older divisions. Look at other nearby clubs that you may never play. Follow clubs in your age group but not in your division. Tournaments are a time for team bonding, but it's also a great time to learn.Parking
Parking at any tournament is an exercise in patience combined with a lot of luck. You will want to do some homework on the location of the field at the venue you will be playing, especially at Independence (pictured above). You can locate field maps and directions to venues at http://cantoncup.tourneycentral.com/travel.html. Once you have identified the rough vicinity of the parking area closest to your fields, they do a decent job of directing you to open spots but it's not a given that the area will have any vacancies.
IMPORTANT: You must check-in at the Field Check-In tent assigned to your field (see field maps for locations) at least 45 minutes prior to the start of your first game, 15 minutes prior for all subsequent games. Plan travel time accordingly as it is likely that parking will take some time as will getting to the correct field. For your first game, plan to arrive about an hour before start time.
Saturday
If your games are within 2-4 hours of each other at Independence, it's sometimes better to just plan to stay there rather than deal with the trouble of packing everything up, dealing with traffic and have the hassle of parking again and doing the whole drill over again. For the third year, we will arrive on Friday evening to stake our claim and setup a tent village of 3-4 10x10s.However, all of this goes out the window if it's raining. Go back to the hotel or find a restaurant and just plan accordingly for the commute to the next game to factor in the nightmare of parking during the early afternoon hours.
Be Prepared
- Wagon - an absolute must, because even if you get the best parking spot available, you'll be walking a bit no matter what
- It's been HOT the past three tourneys
- Umbrella either for rain or shine
- 10x10 tent if you're spending any amount of time at one location
- Another 10x10 for the team during the game
- SportBrella to have some shelter during the game
- Sunscreen
- Battery-powered fan
- Cooling towels
- Cooler/ice
- Lots of water/beverages
- Healthy snacks because although there are food vendors, healthy is not exactly an option
- Spending cash
- If you have little ones, they normally have bounce houses at Independence
- Vendors, vendors and more vendors. Kudos to you if you're able to escape from there without buying something.
We're All In This Together
Have fun and enjoy yourself. After all, it is a holiday weekend. And remember, everyone is dealing with the same headaches -- sleeping in hotel rooms, eating out, driving in congested traffic, jockeying for parking spots -- so remember to be kind, showcase great sportsmanship, celebrate the awesome game of soccer and appreciate our young athletes no matter what the outcome!
Comments
Post a Comment