Hershey Kicks 4 Kids Invitational

TICO™ Score: 758

There are 56 comments on this event.

This tournament is a great end-of-season celebration. Most of the teams visit the local amusement park between their games. Hersheypark offers roller coasters and a water park. Soccer is played at four local sites with excellent fields. Each age group has multiple skill divisions, allowing us to competitively host all levels of travel teams. Discounted Hersheypark tickets are available to teams after acceptance.

Date	Comment
14-Jul-2009	Despite weather, it went off well. Not sure I love the idea of penalty kick shootouts at the younger age groups - and my team won that!
7-Jul-2009	the tournament was well organized. our team enjoyed themselves. we were placed in a division higher than our ability but we endored. the tournament handled the extreme weather well, although it would have been nice to be able to play the full length games on saturday.
7-Jul-2009	We felt the competitiion was pretty strong for the second division. Our team was properly placed, even though we went 0-2-1. We could easily have won our first two games. In fact, we were outshooting our first opponent 40 minutes into the first game and still lost 3-0 due to great finishing by our opponent. Great tournament and we hope to play again next year! This was a great team building event that brought many of our families a little closer. Please bring us back again! Steve Baxter
5-Jul-2009	Too few quality referees. Many are just volunteers that have gone through a day course and are trying to referee competitive games.
2-Jul-2009	We had no concession at any of our fields. Parents were traveling from park to park to purchase shirts. I know we had the option to pre-purchase shirts, but parents wanted to see before purchasing. There were no food, drinks available at any field. It would have been nice to offer cold water. For our 1st Hershey tourney, we were very pleased at the efficency of the games and everything else went off w/o a hitch.Thank You!
1-Jul-2009	Our team thoroughly enjoyed the tournament, despite the weather conditions. The automated updates were wonderful in keeping everyone up to date and the website was very helpful throughout the entire process. The fields were better than we've ever played on and the officiating was first rate. Our only complaint was that it was apparent that one of the teams in our division clearly did not belong there. I'm not sure why other coaches want to play in a tournament just to humiliate the other teams and get that "easy" win as it surely doesn't help their players much either. I'm not sure how that situation can be rectified, especially if the coaches are dishonest on their application. Other than that, we loved it and can't wait to return next year!
29-Jun-2009	A good first tournament for our U11 team. We probable should have been in Division 3 not Division 2 as we played 8 v 8 all season and had to play 11 v 11 for the tournament. It was a good experience for the girls. Lynn Meisse Team Manager Stroudsburg United Bul'lets
29-Jun-2009	There seems to be a break down in the registration process. At registration teams are required to present their roster and player passes. But this is not required at game time. There were players on the pitch that were obviously much older than their age group. I have never seen a 13 year old with a full grizzly adams beard before Hershey.
29-Jun-2009	Considering the extreme challenges with the weather, I think the tournament staff did a good job. There needs to be more concessions at each site. Perhaps a better back up plan, other then shortening game times.....maybe additional alternate fields that can be prepared and ready to go in an emergency. The automated voicemail system with the outbound messages to the coaches was very helpful. The pre-tournament communication was quick and efficient. Over all a very good experience for my players, parents and coaches.
28-Jun-2009	Adjusted well to last minute poor conditions. Not enough concessions or Tshirt sales. Fields used were beautiful. We'd love to come back.
27-Jun-2009	I just would like to state that the weather can't be helped, but I didn't pay $500 for a Tournament to play a 30 minute game. That being said I guess we made up for it by going to a shoot out in the Semi-Finals. The registration process is way too long and the location of the registration was very confusing for a first time coach. There where no concession stands or areas at the fields that we were at on Saturday and with the game times being changed there was not enough time to let my team go get something to eat. Luckily we had one set of parents willing to go and get food for everyone. Only to find out that the game time on the automated phone message was different from the game time the field Marshall had listed. I understand the Referees are human, but as a referee, I know the caliber of teams I can run with and do not volunteer to do games that I will not benefit. We had several instances where the AR could not keep up with my wings and made bad calls just for bad positioning. One last note, I DO NOT like the MVP medals. I coach my team as a team. I can take my team and beat any one MVP. I believe that you did not get here by yourself. You are the part of something bigger than yourself and this makes it hard to keep the kids head in the game and focused on the proper play not showing off to get a prize.
27-Jun-2009	3 suggestions..... For rain shortened situations.... 1. Half time should still be a halftime, even if no time break it should be a restart at midfield for the team that didn't have the ball at start of game. 2. Substitutions should be allowed for both teams on all throw-ins. I waited over 10 mins to get a sub in during only a 17 min half. Not fair to those boys for a tournament whose objective is to have fun. 3. Field marshalls..... at opening meeting, we were told to approach any field marshall with a suggestion... I can honestly tell you at least 1 marshall I tried to talk about my first 2 points had ZERO interest in my opinion. If they are not a place for suggestions, then tell us not talk to them.
27-Jun-2009	This is our first year at this tournament. My girls are an "average" team. As such, we were put in division 4. We thought this was probably adequate. However, there was another team in this division (CSC FCV Rockets) that was clearly just "trophy hunting". Really disappointing. Several of my parents overheard parents from this team on the sidelines saying how the team just had to "keep the scores down" so they didn't look suspicious...and they also said that "three points was all they could put in the net so they wouldn't get caught." Really bad soccer spirit. I didn't need to travel 4 hours to NOT play competitive soccer - and shame on this team for traveling to a tournament just to woop butt and go home with trophies. Clearly no sportsmanship there. Very disappointing.
26-Jun-2009	Great job dealing with the weather. We appreciate your efforts, hope to see you next year. One specific comment, please keep in mind one reason for a team to do a tournament is to have the opportunity to have new competition. Our division had 4 teams from the same general area. In our bracket was a team in the same league. Our semi final match was against a team we played during the regular season. If possible, please separate teams from the same league and especially from the same division within the league. Of course I don’t know the specifics of how all the divisions were broken out and I assume you try to keep the competition as fair as possible but it was easy to predict the winner of our division before the tournament began. Based on league play and previous tournament success, there was one team in our division that was clearly better and sure enough, they won the division. We still had a good time and thanks for the chance to play.
26-Jun-2009	The field delay and rescheduling process was extrememly long, drawn out and frustrating for both parents and players. If fields were even possibly going to be lost due to weather there should have been an immediate back up plan, not something that took hours to figure out with no indication of a game time so that the teams could plan accordingly. Games were running behind and no field official passed on the word to the teams. I question the amount of money the team spent on the tournament when we ended up playing shortened games for the price. While the local area provided a great setting for a tournament, I am not sure it was the right tournament for our team to attend.
26-Jun-2009	Thank you, our girls had a great time at the tournament.
26-Jun-2009	I have 2 issues with the tournament. First is the condition of the field. The field would have been beautiful if there wasn't 3" of standing water on it. When a U14 dribbles the ball and it stops in the water the field is unplayable. I am sure the Hershey school did not appreciate what happened to their fields. For the price we paid they should have called the tournament not push more teams onto a floating field. During league play those fields would have been closed. As far as division placement goes it would be nice if the club name is posted along with the team so that coaches can see what they are up against. Funny how some club names are not posted only to find out they had no business being in that division. I expected more out of Hershey when forming the divisions.
26-Jun-2009	We REALLY enjoyed this tournament, probably one of the best we've ever played in. We had a great time. If I was to raise one issue it would be that our 6 team division had 4 teams from northern virginia. If we were to travel to an out of state tournament I would rather not play teams we play during our regualr season, but otherwise fantastic tournament, even with the rain !!
25-Jun-2009	sure thing - registration - 1. the area for registration was not marked nor were there signs indicating where to go. after asking 3 different hotel employees - someone who was dressed as a chef was kind enough to show me where registration was located. he continued to show others as well. 2. i completed roster online. i showed up with sealed copy of roster (per specs) and additional copy just in case, had stamped forms from state registrar with guest players listed and had cards - after waiting in line - was told that I had to go fill out a roster sheet for the guest players - name, dob, card number - yet all of that information was on the state guest roster form and name dob was on my roster - was told it needed to be on their form - so had to get out of line, fill out name, dob, card number for the guest players (copied off of the forms I was turning in) and then get back in line. 3. slide show - could have been done in a coaches packet. registration took over an hour to complete. I agree - can't ding tournament for weather - however I can and will ding them for totally mismanaging games/schedule due to weather and jamming too many teams in - based on rain fall amount and field conditions - tournament should have been cancelled - that would have been much better than sitting for 5hrs after our first game when field was closed and walking across street to play a 20minute game on a small field - yes, I said our complex was closed and we simply (when rescheduled) walked across street - evidently it is ok to mess up the school fields but not township fields. again - tournament should have been cancelled. communication was poor - no tournament reps stayed at our site, phone message was confusing, conflicting reports from refs, and folks at tent (when we found out there was a tent) were not 100% sure of all of the changes. games were scheduled so tight that when the game before us on sunday went into double over-time and pks - our game was modified to 2 17 minute halves. all told - we played approx 104 minutes of soccer in 3 games. we drove more than that one way to get to the games. due to the tight scheduling - teams were asked to do the coin toss prior to game time (ie - if game started at 10 - find the other team, identify captains, find the field rep and do coin toss at 945) so games could stay on schedule - not sure if this was result of allowing too many teams in based on number of fields in order to raise more money. we will not participate in this tournament in the future. to add some perspective - we have participated in other tournaments that have had weather issues and they were managed much more effectivily and efficiently than this one - either rescheduling or cancelling all together. we understand this is to raise money for charity - we are all for that - however folks need to look at fields,scheduling, number of teams and determine if they have gotten too big.
25-Jun-2009	Better markings of fields. The numbers were on the goals, but finding field #10 took a lot of time. EVERY staff member that we asked at fields 8,9, 11, 12 &13 had no idea where field 10 was. It would be nice for the coaches to be able to rate the refs. The refs can rate the teams, coaches and parents, so it would be fair to rate them. It would also be nice to at some point have access to our ratings from the refs.
1-Aug-2008	Was the most fn my team has ever had at a tournamnet. Dave Gagliardi Rancocas Valley U-10 Girls
16-Jul-2008	We really enjoyed this tournament, and it was for a good cause. Especially liked the coaches picking an MVP from the opposing team. The only suggestion I have is to close the registration a little sooner and let teams know earlier if they have been accepted into the tournament. We didn't find out until April 16 I believe, and by then we already had to reschedule our last league game based on the fact that we MIGHT get into the Hershy Tournament. Also, it does not leave much time to apply for an alternative tournament if you are not accepted.
8-Jul-2008	It was great. The parking areas could have been a little more clearly marked- it was more like a free for all. We just parked wherever, but it was our 1st time there & we didn't know the routine. I LOVED that they kept the games on time. A+ for that. The refs were very fair too.
7-Jul-2008	Any T shirts left--did not see them at smaller fields. More room between small fields--a little crowded for 4 teams
4-Jul-2008	My team traveled to Hershey from Phoenix, AZ and had a wonderful experience. We are taking some ideas we got from this tournament back to our club. I cannot say enough for the professional and efficient manner in which the tournament was executed.
2-Jul-2008	We had a very good experience with the tournament except for at registration. We had 2 guest players and there was quite a bit of confusion as to how to do with them. We also played a team from Philadelphia that clearly did not have licensed coaches. The coaches were propose, constantly questioned officials calls, and yelled out at an inappropriate level and inappropriate guidance. Otherwise all was Run quite well. We were pleased. We hope to return..
1-Jul-2008	The one team we played was a U13 team and we were U12. The boys were all at least a foot taller than our boys. When you go from an 6th group to a 7th grade group, there is a lot of difference at this stage in their life. Although are boys played hard, it was obviously unfair. Also, we had our first game at 8:00 a.m. and then at 2:00 in 90 degree heat. They did not have their first game until 11:00, which allowed them to sleep in and rest in the morning. Although the boys sucked it up and did not complain, we did feel it was an unfair all around. However, it was a challenge and they took it as that. I just hope that in the future, all the teams will be matched up appropriately.
1-Jul-2008	Excellent tournament. We came from Central NY and found the competition excellent. Our girls are begging us to go back next year.
26-Jun-2008	This tournament is awesome and the proceeds go to a great cause.
25-Jun-2008	Great tournament! Facilities were great, concept great, lots of varied competition from a wide geographical area. Our main area of comment was on referees. Realizing all calls will never go your own way and there is the element of being human and not having instant replay... 1. Referees need to be on the same page. Despite different refs calling different games, some were concerned with being physical, some all but encouraged more the better. 2. With the concept of extreme sportsmanship, which I applaud, I was very surprised with the lack of control by the refs in regards to overly physical play. Over the weekend I saw not only in my games, at least 6 red card worthy plays and only 1 yellow card issued by the refs. 3. Communication - Due to the heat of playing in June, the tournament ammended the substitution rules to allow subs at any stoppage of play instead as posted on rules page. A lines judge explained this to us after we questioned why the other team was substituting on our throw in our second game. We understood why, but it would have been nice to know during the previous 80 min of play we had that option available. 4. Control on the field - Maybe its geographic, or ref specific, although we played this tourney last year and didn't notice it, but the ref's barely used their whistles. If they used their voices instead to control play, call out of bounds, etc then fine. However several times the ref became upset when play went on for 30 seconds plus after a "silent call" because the girls simply did not know play had been stopped.
23-Jun-2008	1) Need an ambulance staged closer to the fields or at the fields. IMHO Took to long for an ambulance to arrive when a girl had a neck injury on the field. 2) Ref's were not consistent in enforcing the rules Overall Great tournament.
23-Jun-2008	Couldn't have been more satisfied with the tournament. Class act all around.
22-Jun-2008	Biggest gripe was the fact there were no concession stands. Also no stands selling tournament tshirt. Many parents thought they could buy at field and we did not pre order.
22-Jun-2008	Perhaps it was my mistake but I had been checking the website for schedule changes and did not notice that the location of Saturday's game was changed. I found this out last minute at registration, spent an hour finding the new site then spent another 2 hours mking sure all my parents had the up to date directions. There should be a better way of communicating this by specifically emailing the affected coaches directly. Also it would be better to have older more experienced refs covering the championship games. Please don't take this as sour grapes (yes we lost) but the ref for our championship had a lot to be desired. In contrast to a prelim game we had a older ref who's pre-game, game time and post game was excellent. These 2 things aside overall our experience was excellent. This was my teams first sleep over tournament and everyone had a great time! Oh one more thing. Perhaps as far as scheduling it would be better to NOT have the tournament the same weekend as the Big 33 game. The crowd at Hershey Park was unbelieveable.
22-Jun-2008	the only issues I had were: how to register a guest player, this was vauge. how to register your team, this was a little confusing how to purchase tickets to Hershey Park, instead of a Hershey Kiss with little directions, maybe put in a tab that states Purchase Hershey Park tickets here in big letters. why not accept American Express? the staff was great, the experience was great overall this was a fun exprerience! thanks Kevin Lane Peninsula Soccer Club
22-Jun-2008	Referees were inexperienced teens. Missed many fouls causing the games to turn into shoving matches.
22-Jun-2008	This was the best-run tournament I have attended as both a coach and parent. Kudos to the entire staff.
22-Jun-2008	Really well run and all the profit went to a great cause!!
22-Jun-2008	Games for Sunday were suppost to be faxed to hotel by 9pm. They were not, I was staying at the Hershey lodge and by 11 pm had 18 angry parents not knowing what time the game was. The front desk was clueless about the process. I finally had to call a staff member who told me my time and field for Sunday. Refs on Saturday allowed subs on any stoppage of the game for both teams. Refs on Sunday only allowed subs on our own throw in. Either rule is ok as long as it is uniform and it was not. Fields were ok,not what we would expect for such a tournament. The kids and pareents all had a good time, I know that it is truly a huge undertaking to run such a large tournament, with a few adjustments Im sure some of the downfalls could be corrected. We would attend again in the future. The money is going to a great cause and thank the staff for all of their efforts.
21-Jun-2008	Communication to tournament staff was excellent and the tournament's attention to competitive play was exceptional. This was our first time attending this tournament and has been the best organized event we have attended. The sportsmanship awards are an exceptional benefit..every tournament should do the same. Concessions were very limited, there was not an abundance of hydration available, it not self-provided. Registration process was time consuming, I appreciated the coaches meeting but a lot of the information provided I had already was aware of from reading the tournament rules, etc. It was a great tournament, definitely will attend again, without a doubt. The only suggestion I have for the tournament would be to re-evaluate the registration process and to look for more concessions.
21-Jun-2008	Excellent job. My girls are already talking about coming back next year!!
21-Jun-2008	Two things - I was registered before 8:00 on Friday night but had to wait another 45 minutes so the last teams registered would get the coaches presentation. The info you provided was either already provided to me or could have been posted electronically. It's tough to wait around this long with a car load of kids after we drove 100 miles and still need to check into the hotel. 2nd - the referees. I understand what you are trying to accomplish, and I give you credit. Nonetheless, two of our three games had the junior man as referee and he either couldn't blow the whistle or didn't know the rules. Both instances he seemed intimidated by the senior linesmen. And I was the losing coach; same discussion in both games with the winning coaches. Overall I liked the competition but will be happy to get off of the small 8v8 fields next year. Thanks for your efforts.
21-Jun-2008	My whole team had a terrific time and hope to be accepted back next season. One suggestion I would make is maybe take away the M.V.P. award and give everyone a tournament patch or pin.
21-Jun-2008	We never thought we were a Division 2 level team. WE ARE!! Thanks to your placement our girls discovered that they can play to a very competitive level. We would love to return next June.
21-Jun-2008	Overall excellent tournament - - - the best that I have attended. Wonderful job to the organizers and volunteers. The awarding of MVP medals and emphasis on sportsmanship are great aspects of the tournament. The team's in our bracket (U11 Girls Division 4) were very evenly matched. Great job!
20-Jun-2008	well run tournament, referees for younger teams were very weak....and i am usually very reasonable with referees.
20-Jun-2008	Great tournament. MVP medals are a great idea.
20-Jun-2008	We had a great experience. We did have one opponent coach that was particularly difficult and the sideline ref had to talk to him and seperate the coaches. Not sure there's much you could do to prevent it but there could be a sportsmanship award
20-Jun-2008	The first field our girls played on DTSD#14 was HORRIBLE. The parents at the game before us were raking the field with their hands at half-time. It was a last minute field decision to use it and you should have opened one of the closed fields for the weekend. The field was uneven and sloped downhill, one of our girls fell in a hole and broke her wrist.
20-Jun-2008	There just needs to be more consistency among refs. Our team had a great time and are looking forward to coming back next year.
20-Jun-2008	There were no concession stands at our field, We had a first year referee (same person) center 2 of our 3 games & he did not know the rules at all. Tournaments should not use first year refs as centers. It was like we played against 9 players instead of 8. Even the AR's realized he did a bad job. Other than these 2 issues, the tournament went well. We will probably not return if the use of first year refs in the center continues.
20-Jun-2008	Very well run tournament. MVP medals- great idea.
20-Jun-2008	There could have been better identifiers for registration site and fields. Including inside the hotel to find where the registration was taking place.
20-Jun-2008	Great Tournament!!!
20-Jun-2008	This was our five time at this tournament and ever year it gets much better, We enjoy the level of teams that play in the Hershey Tournament. Great Job
20-Jun-2008	We had a great time! Field Judges and Refs were excellent. Only suggestion for improvement is to have food concession at the field.