TOURNAMENTS

ARIZONA REGIONAL TOURNAMENTS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Tournament Schedules

All Region Tournament information (including schedules and results) is retrieved from the Arizona Region's website. This is where the CCJ coaches and administrative staff will get information for each tournament. While the dates of each event are posted at the beginning of the season, the respective tournament locations and start times will be selected by the Arizona Region and posted 3 to 7 days prior to the tournament. See the Save the Date information below.

ARIZONA REGION TOURNAMENT LINKS
- Club Division Schedules: 16-Club 14-Club 12-Club
- Championship Division Schedule
- Open Division Schedule

CCJ Team-by-Team Schedules

SAVE THE DATE: For each tournament date that your team is scheduled to play, please be sure to reserve the entire day for competition. Tournament dates are published at the beginning of the season. However, the start times for each tournament are not announced until the Monday prior to the event.

Region Competition Divisions

The Arizona Region offers three different divisions of competition to accommodate all the club teams in Arizona. CCJ reserves the right to evaluate each team and enter them in the appropriate level of competition for the season.

CLUB DIVISION: The Club Division offers three age groups: 16U, 14U, and 12U. A majority of the teams in the Arizona Region compete in the Club Division. For each age group, the teams will be restricted to playing teams in their own age group, with no movement between age groups. The Club Division schedule includes 6 regional tournaments and the Regional Championship Tournament at the end of the season. The format will be half-day tournaments that start play at either 8:00 AM (AM Wave) or 3:00 PM (PM Wave) and includes an 8-team bracket format - teams will play 3 matches each tournament. The CCJ Navy and Red Teams normally play in this Division.

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION: The Championship Division allows most teams the opportunity to mix age groups during the season. The teams are not restricted to playing within their own age group, so it's common that a 14U team might play against a 16U team. The Championship Division schedule includes 6 regional tournaments and the Regional Championship Tournament at the end of the season. The format will be half-day tournaments that start play at either 8:00 AM (AM Wave) or 3:00 PM (PM Wave) and includes an 8-team bracket format - teams will play 3 matches each tournament. The CCJ Silver Teams normally play in this Division.

OPEN DIVISION: The Open Division generally considered the top (or elite) Division that features Arizona's top National Teams from each club in all age groups. The Division accepts all age groups (18U, 17U, 16U, 15U, 14U) and the teams are grouped based on level of competition and not necessarily by age. In order to accommodate a team's National Tournament or JNQ schedule, the Open Division's schedule only includes 5 regional tournaments and the Regional Championship Tournament. The Region's Open Division competes on Sunday. The format is a full-day tournament that starts play at 9:00 AM with a round-robin pool followed by a cross-pool match in the afternoon - teams will play 4 matches each tournament. The CCJ Mizuno Teams normally play in this Division.

Region Competition Structure

All Arizona Region Divisions (Club, Championship, and Open Divisions) will use a "ladder" Competition Format for moving teams up and down to create competitive groups. In the Club Division, the continuum is by age (U12, U14, U16, U18). In the Championship and Open Divisions, the continuum includes all of the teams registered to play. Regardless of how the continuum is comprised, all of the teams are broken down into 5-8 team pools. Each teams' final seed of each competition will determine the pool they will play in at the next tournament. Generally, teams that finish 1-3 will move up one pool; teams that finish 4-5 will remain in the same pool; and teams that finish 6-8 will move down one pool.

Please keep in mind that the format may vary if divisions are missing teams on a particular play date. Regardless of the format, teams will move up or down based on their ranking at the end of the play date.

The ladder format and movement allows teams to eventually compete against teams that they are similar to, creating competitive match play for all. Ultimately, the final ranking along the ladder will seed each team into the Region Championship Tournament.

What to Expect at Tournaments

Players are expected to arrive on site 60-75 minutes prior to the published start of the tournament - the coach will confirm the report time for each team at a tournament.. This will allow our athletes enough time for a proper warm‐up prior to the first match to avoid the likelihood of injury. In addition, the team must be ready for any last‐minute schedule changes.

Players are responsible for everything they need to have a successful tournament day. This includes preparing their uniform and gear, preparing food and water for an entire day of competition. We recommend that the player prepares everything the night before to eliminate stress and time issues in the morning. Athletes need at least 8 hours of sleep prior to competition.

Cell phones should be turned off and put away while at the tournament to avoid distractions. When officiating, it is vital that all members of the officiating team pay close attention so that the match can be completed in a timely manner. Electronic devices (cellphones, tablets, laptops, etc.) are not to be used while officiating any match.

At the conclusion of the tournament, coaches will meet with the team to debrief and will release the players once all playing and officiating responsibilities are complete. We ask that parents please wait until players are dismissed before taking your daughter from the playing site.

Team Camps

Many clubs and parents will create "Team Camps" or tailgate parties in the parking lots of the Region's playing sites. These camps were developed as a healthy food table for the athletes to remain hydrated and fed during a long tournament. However, over the years, the camps have evolved into elaborate tailgates with food, chairs, music, and team banners that have become a hangout for the parents and distracting for the players during the tournament.

CCJ strongly discourages the set-up of any Team Camp at any tournament. Our fundamental philosophy is that players should be focused on the tournament and competition during the day, and not lounging or sleeping at a Team Camp.

Our NO-CAMP POLICY is in place for the following considerations:

Players should be focused on playing, scouting, and officiating at the tournament. In a six-round format, the team will be competing during 3 rounds and officiating for at least 1 round. The rounds that the team is off should be dedicated to scouting the opponents in the pool and refueling.
- The tailgates tend to provide too much distraction and some players spend most the off time either updating their story, creating a TikTok video, or sleeping .
- We still want players to have fun while together - and they will find a way - but the purpose of being at a tournament is to compete, and we believe that they should be focused on this.

Players should be responsible for their own food. Over the years, we've noticed that the Team Camp offerings resembled that of a football tailgate with little nutritional value for competing athletes.

Pressure on parents to set-up/maintain/clean-up the Team Camps. In the beginning, parents would split the responsibility and cost of the Team Camp and food/drinks. However, over the years this burden started to fall on one or two parents.

The burden on the playing site. Having a Team Camp at the gym or school places an unnecessary burden on the owners of the playing site in terms of reduced parking spaces, setting up on landscaping or other areas, loud noises, and extra trash left on site or in the dumpsters. Not having a Team Camp helps the Region maintain a good relationship with facilities.

It is our intention that we do not set-up any Team Camp specifically for the players. If parents wish to set-up a small area to gather during the tournament, please consider the club's expectations for the players while competing at the tournament.