Description of the 17th annual Kelly McGillis Classic International Women's & Girls Flag Football Championship

What's New for 2008?

(new) IWFFA / U.S. National Division - This Open Division is for top U.S. teams (or if you think your team is good enough), who do not play in a seed round, but begin their competition on Thursday! The IWFFA realizes the sport of flag football for females is under organized as many leagues exist who use different set of rules, tournament formats, etc. We recognize that as the IWFFA continues to organize the sport in the U.S. and around the world, that in the U.S. there does NOT exist a national team to represent the country. This division addresses that void by offering this new division into our tournament whose championship team will be titled: "IWFFA / U.S. National Team 2008"

(new) Our last game of the tournament will be the: World Challenge sponsored by Tylenol PM - IWFFA / U.S. National Team vs. the Top International Team! We will schedule championship games for IWFFA / U.S. National Division and top Division for International Teams early Sunday. This will give both teams time to get ready for their last game of the tournament, and the top international team to choose any additional players for their roster.

(new) Open Roster for Top International Team - In this game, we realize that most top U.S. teams who compete in our events, bring a full roster. Most international teams bring 12 - 14 players when they travel to compete. We offer the top International team, the opportunity to fill up their roster prior to this last game, with other international players from other international teams competing in the tournament. Their choices may include players from other divisions. We wait to hear from our teams who register if this number will be 22, or match the number of players on the IWFFA / U.S. National Team roster.

(new) Divisions in other categories for the women will no longer be named - We will offer a seed round (pre-seeded by our computer program) to all other women's teams who will be sorted for competition in: Division 1 (top) , Division 2 and Division 3 (lower). In past years, names for our divisions were sometimes misleading. We try to go away from subjective descriptions of skill levels (Beginner, Middle, Competititve, Highly Competitive) and instead use a number for divisions to try to be more objective.

(new) We bring back our Best Player / Team Costume Contest for our Players Parade: Wednesday, Feb 6th from 5 - 6PM. Prizes to winners. . This worked out so well in the past, that we decided to bring it back. Individual Players, Fans and Teams may compete in this contest for our parade. Awards will be given at the Meet & Greet.

(new) Chain Gangs - which each team is required to provide during their own games, in years past, will now operate on a different schedule. Teams will now be required to provide a crew of 3 persons to hold chains for the next game (following their own). We will provide a schedule for Chain Gangs, at the Meet & Greet Captains Meeting. There, you will know what times your team will be responsible to hold chains. We do this, because some teams would rather focus on their games, and not be resopnsible to hold chains. Some teams are so small, that they do not have more than 8 - 10 players, and so during their games, would not be able to hold them. By using this system, teams actually will hold chains for a lesser amount of time.

(possible new) Non-Profit status - We are currently working on getting our Non-Profit, 501 C status to benefit teams, so they can get sponsors to help with their team costs. It may in time for this event. We will notify teams in our monthly IWFFA email updates.

Why does the tournament officially register it's players Wed Night?

The tournament is dependant on the teams being on the island, registered and ready to play for their first set of games which begins Thursday. When teams ask our tournament organizers if they can have a bie on Thursday, it would hold up the competition to advance teams and so, this is impossible. All teams will play on Thursday. Registering all the players night before, allows the tournament to proceed with it's other organizational obligations. We do not want to bring paper work and take attention away from field duties. Also, teams should know this is an intense tournament, and all your players need to be ready to play what ever time the team is scheduled to play.

Registering your Team - (please type all information)

Booking your hotel directly through the office of IWFFA - Your hotel booking is part of the tournament registration.

We use your hotel booking as a way to: lower hotel rates for all teams, receive some type of commission to benefit the tournament, rooms for our sponsored teams, lower rates for our Officials hotel (which the tournament pays for), or other benefits to the event. By using your hotel booking, we keep team registration fees low. Once you have booked your hotel through our office (see "list of hotels" on this website), you will receive a confirmation number to be applied to your team roster. You save $25 additional hotel fee (per person) on your team roster by booking directly through us. We are notified, by the lodging companies, of any cancellations, and will collect this additional hotel booking fee during the Official Team Registration at the Meet & Greet.

Team Registration - please type all information (click here for your Team Registration Materials)

Team Registration - Deadline: Dec 14th (Every part of your registration must be received in our office).

After Dec 15th - $50 late fee

After Dec 21st $100 late fee

After Dec 31st - we will not accept - and this includes any missing parts of your registration

Materials Required for a Completed Registration Pac: Team Roster, Hotel Bookings, IWFFA Memberships, Monies for all registration fees

DESCRIPTION / DETAILS of TOURNAMENT

· Teams must be on island no later than Wednesday, Feb 6^th to officially register at our Meet & Greet, which begins 7PM – 10PM. Photo I.D. and Membership card are needed.

· First set of games will be the Seed Round, to place teams into their divisions (unless your team has entered the IWFFA / U.S. National Division - whose competition starts immediately)

· IWFFA Annual Membership expires Dec 31^st 2008 and are $25 (Adults) $20 (Girls & Juniors - ages 17 yr and under)

· Every player / team must book their hotel through the office of the IWFFA (you save additional $25 player hotel fee if we do not make your booking)

· Teams vying Divisions 1(higher) , 2 and 3 (lower), will play in “Separation Round” to seed into these divisions. Then, tournament play will begin.

· A maximum of: 22 players, 6 coaches and 1 manager will be allowed for each team roster.

· Only certified checks or money orders will be accepted for team fees / memberships made payable to: IWFFA. Mail to: 25 A 7th ave / Key West, FL 33040

· We will accept Visa or Master Credit Cards for individual memberships submitted through email or regular mail

· We ask team contacts to collect all player's memberships and send to us all at once (whether email version or hard copy).

· There is a column added for players’ to enter their hotel confirmation number.

. Make sure to fill in your players shirt size, for when you win the championship, we can then easily sort your championship sweatshirt at the Awards to hand out to your team

· If you are booking hotel at same time as you are mailing in your team’s registration we will enter this hotel confirmation number. However, we strongly encourage teams to phone IWFFA office prior to mailing in registration to secure hotel availability and secure your booking

· Completed Team Registration Includes: Team Roster, Team fee, IWFFA memberships, Membership Fees, Hotel bookings

· After December 31, no team registration will be accepted. This includes incomplete team registration pacs.

· It does not matter if your package is postmarked on the 31^st, we need it in the office no later than the deadline.

· Cancellation Policy: There are no penalties for withdrawing prior to December14^thand your team registration fee will be fully refunded. After December 21^st half the registration fee will be returned. After December 31st no money shall be refunded.

· When filling in your player’s positions on the roster we ask that you use these terminologies:

· Offense Positions: – QB, Running Back, Receiver, Center, Guard / Defensive Positions: Primary, Secondary, Safety

· We use one tournament game ball supplied by the Tournament - TDJ All Leather Premium Grade

· Team Contact’s will receive a final confirmation email or / letter once we have processed your team’s registration packet. If you have not received your team’s final confirmation by January 13^th, call our office ASAP. Included in this final confirmation letter will be: Players on your roster, their memberships, their hotel booking number, which division you will be playing (girls, juniors, beginner, separation round ), set of IWFFA rules, updated detailed information concerning tournament and tournament programs.

· Teams in separation round, will be seeded by using last year (and if necessary past year’s) results, age of players, awards players have won, years participated in IWFFA tournaments, number of tackle players to create this first pool of teams to compete against each other.

· If you are a new team and are undecided which category to place your team, you may call our office to help you decide.

· IWFFA Rules – Have been slightly modified. Go to our website to see 2008 IWFFA rules (they will go up December 31). A set of rules will be mailed to you in your confirmation / reg pacs.

· We will use: win / tie / loss record during first round of tournament (exception: during separation we need to determine winners) to advance teams. Win = 3pts / Tie = 1 pt / Loss = 0 pt.

· During play – off games: Game tie breakers will be used to determine winner (description in IWFFA rules).

· The winning team advances and losing teams are out of competition in play-off rounds.

· We do not have a 3^rd/4^th place game. In past, these teams when loosing spot for championship have, had just quit and declined to play extra game for 3^rd and 4^th place positions. See IWFFA rules to understand how we determine.

· Teams will be ranked nationally and internationally for rest of year. Each win during the tournament will offer 2 pt / Each tie will offer 1 pt. Teams who win championship for division will receive an additional 3 points/ All teams who participate will receive 1 point (regardless if they win or lose any games).

· What ever division your team plays in during the Key West tournament your team will be ranked for remainder of year as your team competes in other IWFFA sanctioned tournaments for remainder of yr.

· #1 Ranked Teams for year 2007, will be awarded during 17^th Annual Kelly McGillis Classic at our Awards Party

· We think Kelly will be here this year for our 17^th, but we can’t guarantee it yet

· Teams need to line up 5 minutes prior to their game field for Player Check. Officials will check: Cleats, Flags & Belts, Shirts (for proper numbers) , Roster (for any ineligible players), Shorts – may NOT have pockets, and cannot be taped.

No Switching of shirts once rosters have been turned in. We need to keep your numbers consistant throughout the tournament to recognize players.

· Our All-Stars will be decided upon by a special select committee and officials during tournament

· On the main field will be special half-time games for spectators and participants.

· we ask team contacts to fill out tournament assessment form and either hand to us at end of tournament, or e/ mail to us soon after. These assessment cards offers your team the chance to influence rule / tournament / IWFFA and ranking changes. They can be found at information table.

There are socials, parties and special events throughout the week long event. Check out our List of Itinerary Events

Prizes Awarded for Tournament

· Each player will receive a souvenir tournament pin during the awards presentation.

· 1^st place team in each division will be awarded a free team registration to any IWFFA tournament (good for one year)

· 1^st place teams will receive Kelly McGillis Classic Championship Sweat Shirts

· Winner of the Last Tournament Game: IWFFA / U.S. National Team vs. Top International Team - will win something special TBA

· Each team receives MVP plaques for Offense and Defense (decided by team score cards).

· Special All-Star Teams will be selected, decided by special committee, and awarded medals.

· Best Registration Award – Dinner Certificate, sunset sail / or snorkel trip, bottle of liquor for best registration packet.

· Porter Wilson Award – To the person who has done most for girls & women’s flag football (please offer nominees for this award no later than December 31, 2007). Last years recipient for 2006 went to : Rosaria Baldari (IWFFA Graphic Designer for all of our year's)

· Teams are asked to march in our 8th annual Kelly McGillis Tournament Parade line-up will be 4:30. Please bring your team banner, state or country flag.

· Meet&Greet-Official registration - Thursday Feb 6 ^th,From 7 – 10PM at Grand Key Resort 3990 S. Roosevelt Blvd Players must sign in and are to bring photo I.D. & membership cards.

· One team representative from each team is asked to attend the rules meeting at 8:00 PM

· Each team is responsible to do “Chains” following their own game (this is different from past years) We are currently working on getting a huge volunteer group to perform these duties, but we ask teams to be prepared in the event that we cannot supply enough volunteers to do the chains. We will work out a Team Chain Gang Schedule by Wednesday evening and hand to team captains.

· Each team will have 1 person designated to score officials, MVP players & to turn scorecards in at the field

· Team photos are taken 15 minutes prior to your first game. Please be at information table and on time.

· Teams must supply their own pennies to designate their 3 offensive linewomen.

· Alcohol is forbidden on field during tournament, and smoking is not allowed either (you may smoke in parking lots – but you can’t drink alcoholic beverages in parking lot.

· Please respect that rule or else you will be asked to leave. Should your team leave the island before awards are given out, your team will be responsible for postage and handling costs in order to ship to you. It would be greatly appreciated if your team would attend the awards.

Remember, this is an invitational tournament and teams may not be invited to play

· Equipment- The IWFFA offers it’s members belts & flags for: dozen $49.00 / Two dozen $90.00 (tax, shipping & handling not included)

· Footballs - Wilson TDJ – all leather footballs with IWFFA logo printed - $35.00 each

· Uniforms - Football Jerseys - Mesh - numbers printed front and back / team logo on one side - $20.00 each

· Kicking tees / mouth guards, pennies and assortment of other goods through IWFFA office (and at field)

For more information contact our office: Tel 1-888-GO-IWFFA ( 464 – 9332) / (305) 293 – 9315