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When does the Pitch tournament take place and how
long is it?
The
tournament starts at 5pm on Friday, June 6th and runs through Sunday,
June 8th.
Will the Pitch tournament be cancelled if it rains on event
weekend?
We do
reserve the right to cancel in extreme circumstances and in that event,
there will be no refunds. Your entry fee can be used as a donation to the
Pitch tournament in your team name, if you wish.
What
restrictions are placed at the Pitch tournament?
Our facility posts that no inline skates, bicycles,
skateboards are permitted. Our tournament is a life positive event
so alcohol, smoking or tobacco of any kind is not permitted on the
property. Appropriate dress is required. In regards to game play, USSSA rules apply.
My team is not USSSA
registered. How do I do that?
The fee
for registering is $30.00 per team.
Team
managers can go to the USSSA website to register your team. That
link is:
USSSA Create UserID Additionally, if your team is not already
registered with USSSA, you can include it with your Pitch 2008 team
registration.
What
format do you use for the tournament?
The standard USSSA "3
game bracket guarantee" format will be used for the third year at Pitch
for the Cure 2008.
This format works similar
to a "double elimination" bracket with the exception that -if- a team
loses their first two games in a row, they are not eliminated and still
have a chance to play their way to the championship game. After losing
game #1 they drop into the "loser's bracket". If the lose the next game,
they are still alive and are moved ahead one tier in the loser's bracket.
If the next game (their 3rd) is lost, they are eliminated. If they win
this 3rd game, they will remain in the tournament from that point until
they lose again.
If a team wins one and
loses one of their first two games, they will continue to play until they
lose again which eliminates them from the tournament.
NOTE-- this NOT a triple
elimination event. Some teams will be eliminated at 0-3, while others
may go out at 1-2.
Based on numbers of teams
entering a division, it is sometimes possible that a team could lose a 3rd
game and remain in the bracket until another loss. This happens when a
bracket arm is added to insure all teams get the minimum 3-games
guaranteed. While rare, this occasionally happens meaning one team may
have to play an additional game from one side of the losers versus the
other side of the losers bracket.
Seeding is handled by the
State USSSA representatives.
Do I have to collect pledge money to participate in the Pitch tournament?
We
challenge (only ask) each
team to bring a Team Challenge Donation.
We encourage everyone to raise as much as you can to increase
our contribution to the fight against breast cancer. If every team
collected just $200 (for example) in pledges, we would raise $20,000 for Komen
Ozark for the Cure, in team donations alone!
On top of that, we donate 20% of event profits plus additional fundraising
monies.
See
our tips for fundraising.
Are men allowed to participate?
Yes. Breast
cancer affects everyone! Men, women and children are invited and encouraged to participate in
the Pitch for the Cure© to help us fulfill our mission to
encourage girls in sports and to eradicate breast
cancer. Many of the girls' teams are coached by men. We are also happy to have
men volunteers! Just coming to the event and supporting the cause is
a great gesture. Also, feel free to find a team to sponsor.
How can I honor someone I know that has dealt with breast cancer?
For a $5.00 contribution you can honor someone that has battled breast
cancer. We will light a pink votive candle in the name of your
tribute during our candle lighting ceremony
on Saturday night and their name will be read aloud. All names that
are received by the print date of our program book will also be listed in
the book and all names are listed on our website.
How do I become a sponsor?
Please check
out Sponsors page for info and then email us
with your interest. You can also make
an online donation.
Is my registration fee tax-deductible?
Your
Pitch registration fee or gate fees paid by attendees are not tax-deductible because you receive goods and services in return for your
registration, but all pledge contributions, Team Challenge Donations and
other donations (to the
Springdale Chicks OR to Ozark Komen for the Cure)
are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
How much of my registration fee goes to finding a cure for breast
cancer?
A
portion of your registration fee is used to offset the cost of producing
the Pitch tournament and the Springdale Chicks, which is why team pledging is
so important. 20% of the profits from all registration fees, gate fees, program
sales, advertising, sponsorships, silent auction, event t-shirt sales, and vendor fees will be given to the Komen
Ozark Affiliate. 100% of all pledged funds
(Team Challenge Donation) plus 100% of all funds raised by the Top Gun Pitching Contest will go directly to the Komen
Ozark. Komen Ozark is unique in that of all
the funds designated to them through the event, up to 75% is dedicated to
outreach and awareness programs here in NW Arkansas. The remaining
25% supports national breast cancer research to find a cure.
Can you include machine pitch
divisions or an 8U division?
Our original event was planned to host 55 fastpitch youth teams and 10
slowpitch women's teams. Instead we ended up with 68 fastpitch youth
teams our first year! We would love to include divisions that would
allow every softball player the opportunity to play in the Pitch NIT
tournaments. Due to the high volume of teams that participate at our
events each year, we simply do not have room to expand to other divisions
at this time. Each year, we look at all available ball fields in the
NWA area, so this expansion could be a possibility in the future. If
you'd like us to consider a division that we do not currently host, please
let us
know of your interest!
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