Is it stay to play at ASA nationals????

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Jan 24, 2013
82
0
Bolingbrook, IL
DD 14u team just qualified for Chatanooga for July '17. Going to start looking into housing options for the week. Does anyone know if ASA is stay to play or can we stay anywhere we want?

There's no mention on their website so I'm guessing they don't have that policy but I thought maybe someone on here would know for sure.
 
Jun 22, 2008
3,731
113
Has been a few years but none of the asa nationals we attended were ever stay to play. They do book with certain hotels that you are suppose to get a special rate at, but we never stayed at any of them.
 
Sep 29, 2010
1,082
83
Knoxville, TN
It hasn't been stay to play for the past two years in 14U. I would definitely book early, Chattanooga hotels fill up quick for big tourneys. There are several nice hotels on I75 exit 5, Shallowford Rd. Plenty of places to eat, and it's centrally located to the two main parks. We like to stay at the Best Western on exit 7. It's an older hotel, but it's clean and has the City Cafe in the hotel that's open 24 hours. You can always get good food no matter what time you have to start or get done playing. If you have time and like burgers, check out Urban Stack downtown. Gourmet burgers that melt in your mouth!!
 
Mar 26, 2013
1,934
0
I haven't heard of any ASA Nationals being stay to play, however they typically have gate fees. Host org usually blocks off most rooms at tourney hotels, so don't be surprised if there aren't a lot of options if you look on your own. If host org expects rooms to be tight, they may verify berths before allowing teams to book.

Ditto on booking early for best choices.
 
Mar 1, 2015
131
0
For ASA to be successful moving forward this could help. They need to think about:

1. Do an email blast letting people know that they are not a pay-to-stay. PGF is. May help move the needle back to ASA.
2. Don't hold nationals in random locations where you plan on staying for a week in hopes you keep winning, but may get knocked out early. And then the options for things to do for 2, 3 or 4 days are go to the international sewing machine museum, and go see the largest waffle ever made (not citing specific examples, just trying to convey the difference in ASA locations vs PGF which has more stuff to do than you can do in a month). Also, sometimes having nationals in late July in a city with temps usually in the 90's and high humidity isn't exactly everyone's cup of tea aka Chattanooga. It can be brutal how hot and humid it gets there, especially if you're coming from an area of the country not used to it.
3. No gate fees, parking fees, want-to-breathe-the-air-at-the-park fee, etc. Have a team registration fee and be done with it.

ASA has obviously gotten weaker the past few years, at least here in GA especially with the younger ages. The talent level on display at 10s, 12s and 14s this year at PGF vs ASA nationals was night and day. 3-4 years ago ASA was out front, now they have not only fallen behind, they've fallen down.
 
Jan 24, 2013
82
0
Bolingbrook, IL
Thanks for the comments. I emailed the TD and she said no stay to play. They give some recommended hotels but no requirements to stay there. Time to start looking.
 
Jan 24, 2010
35
6
You might also want to look into VRBO for that time frame. Chattanooga is enough of a touristy area that they might have some homes on there. If not, we've stayed up 75 in between exits 5-10 and it's a nicer area.
 
Feb 24, 2012
126
0
DD 14u team just qualified for Chatanooga for July '17. Going to start looking into housing options for the week. Does anyone know if ASA is stay to play or can we stay anywhere we want?

There's no mention on their website so I'm guessing they don't have that policy but I thought maybe someone on here would know for sure.



ASA/USA is not Stay to Play, but they do charge a pretty hefty gate fee for the week.
 

MTR

Jun 22, 2008
3,438
48
ASA/USA is not Stay to Play, but they do charge a pretty hefty gate fee for the week.

Not really. The host determines if there will be and how much that gate charge will be. Some are moving away from a gate charge by going with some pretty high entrance fees.

This past year, one of the East nationals charged a $900 entry fee, but there were no gate charges or food/beverage/cooler restrictions. The key here was the tournament was on open county park land and access could not be legally restricted or for that matter controlled.
 

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