2024 COSMIC HAMLET OPEN
The Homer Pickleball Club is pleased to present the 2024 Cosmic Hamlet Open.
Tournament Dates: Labor Day weekend Aug. 31 (Sat) - Sept. 2 (Mon)
Location: SPARC, 600 Sterling Hwy, Homer, AK 99603
SCHEDULE (*Start times may change. Check the day before your event to ensure they haven't changed*):
August 30th, Friday:
Open Play: Friday, Aug. 30 (5:00pm-8:00pm)
August 31st, Saturday:
Women's Doubles 3.0: 9:00am Start Time
Women's Doubles 3.5: 12:30pm Start Time
Women's Doubles 4.0+: 3:00pm Start Time
September 1st, Sunday:
Mixed Doubles 3.0: 8:00am Start Time
Mixed Doubles 3.5: 1:30pm Start Time
Mixed Doubles 4.0: 10:00am Start Time
Mixed Doubles 4.5+: 4:00pm Start Time
September 2nd, Monday:
Men's Doubles 3.5/3.0: 9:00am Start Time
Men's Doubles 4.0: 1:00pm Start Time
Men's Doubles 4.5+: 4:30pm Start Time
GETTING TO THE TOURNAMENT:
Address: 600 Sterling Hwy, Homer, AK 99603
To get to the SPARC you need to drive through the Homer Middle School parking lot.
Google Maps will tell you to turn into the one way exit of the school parking lot. Don't do that. Make sure to use the other entrance to the school parking lot.
Overflow Parking:
If the SPARC parking lot fills up, use the school parking lot as overflow parking. School will be out of session during the tournament but, if you arrive early for open play on Friday, avoid parking near the school during the drop off/pickup rush at 9:00am and 4:00pm. There is a short (~100 yard) paved path that leads from the school parking lot to the SPARC.
Larger vehicles should be parked in the school parking lot (again, avoid parking next to the school at 9:00am and 4:00pm on Friday). There is no overnight parking at the SPARC or the school parking lot.
PRACTICE & WARMUPS:
Practice:
The SPARC will be open the day before the tournament for teams to practice on Friday, August 30th from 5:00pm - 8:00pm.
We have over 100 players registered for the tournament and court space is limited. If your team is familiar with playing at the SPARC and familiar with playing with each other, please accommodate teams that are not.
If there are more than 4 people waiting to play:
Use the 'paddle rack' to organize games and which teams are playing next.
If there are a large number of teams waiting to play, we may limit games to 9 points.
Warmups before your event:
The SPARC will be open for warmup play an hour before tournament play is scheduled to start each day of the tournament (8:00am on Saturday/Monday and 7:00am on Sunday). There may be some warmup time available between events but, this is not guaranteed.
During the tournament, teams will be allowed 5 minutes to warm up before their first game and 2 minutes for each subsequent game.
SPORTSMANSHIP & FRIENDLY COMPETITION:
Sportsmanship:
While this is a competitive tournament, good sportsmanship and a spirit of friendly competition are at its core. We remind players that questionable line calls are to be made in favor of the opponent.
Disagreements:
Players are responsible for line calls on their side of the court. They may call foot faults and service foot faults on the opposite side of the court. If you receive a call against you that you believe may have been wrong, we encourage you to first recognize that you may not have the best view and trust that your opponent is making their best effort at accurate calls.
If there is a disagreement about a call:
1) Recognize you may not have the best view, trust that your opponent is making their best effort, and accept the call.
2) If you still think your opponent made a bad call you can ask them to reconsider but, ultimately, it is their call to make and their choice.
3) If you believe there have been multiple bad calls and you are not able to work it out with the other team you can ask one of the tournament directors for assistance.
Referees:
Games will not be refereed by a third party and it is up to players to referee their own games. However, if you believe you need a third party to help with line calls or foot faults, you may request one. We will try to find a referee for your game but it is not guaranteed that we will have one available. Any referee who is available is doing so as a volunteer and may or may not have official training as a referee.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct:
The tournament director(s) reserve the right to eject a player from the tournament for unsportsmanlike conduct. Players will first be given an official warning except in extreme situations.
FORMAT & GAMEPLAY:
Format:
All events will be round-robin format followed by playoffs and medal matches. Round-robin and playoff games will be games to 11, win by 2. Medal matches will be best 2 out of 3, games to 11, win by 2. Some events will be split into separate pools for the round-robin portion of the event. Round-robin and playoff games will not switch sides during the game. Medal matches will switch sides after each game.
'Medal glasses' will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place teams.
Game Start:
Teams will flip a coin to start the game. The team that wins the coin toss may choose:
- Serve first
- Receive first
- Starting side
- Defer to opponents
The team that loses the coin toss may choose one of the remaining options. For example, if the winning team chooses to serve first, the losing team may choose which side to start on.
Timeouts:
Each team is allowed two 1-minute timeouts per game.
Designated Courts:
You will be assigned a designated court for each of your games and you will play the entire game on that court. In prior years we've used a 'court swap' system while running the tournament at the HERC. At the SPARC, we have enough space behind the courts so teams can exit the playing area without disrupting play too much. We will not be using the 'court swap' system this year.
When your game finishes, move to the back wall and wait for the adjacent courts to finish their rally before walking behind the court and exiting the playing area. Be courteous and ensure that the adjacent court has finished their point before exiting.
Ceiling & Lights:
Balls hitting the ceiling, lights, or or any other permanently affixed items are considered a fault and result in the loss of the rally for the team that hit the ball.
Water bottles:
Water bottles may be brought onto the courts but should be kept against the back wall and away from the net.
Incorrect Score: Per the USAP Rulebook, if the incorrect score is called during the serve:
A player may stop the rally before the return of serve to correct the score. The point will be replayed and the score will be re-called with the correct score.
If the score is not corrected before the return of serve is hit, players must wait until the rally is concluded and correct the score before the next serve.
A player stopping the rally after the return of serve has been hit to correct the score is considered a fault and results in the loss of the rally.
A player who stops play at any time to identify or ask for a score correction when the score was correctly called will have committed a fault and shall lose the rally.
TOURNAMENT SOCIAL GATHERING AT HOMER BREWING COMPANY:
Address: 1411 Lake Shore Dr, Homer, AK 99603
Date/Time: Saturday, Sept. 1st @ 6:00pm
Homer Brewing Company is one of our gold sponsors (they contributed the awesome medal glasses that will be awarded to the top teams in each bracket!) and they'll be hosting our tournament get together this year. So, come down and hang out off the court and enjoy some locally brewed beer!
TOURNAMENT BALL: Optic (Yellow/Green) Franklin X40
This year the Cosmic Hamlet Open will be hosted at the SPARC (previous years have been hosted at the HERC). The floor in the SPARC was recently upgraded and replaced with a hard rubber court surface and has permanent lines for 4 pickleball courts. The SPARC has more courts (4 compared to 3), offers more space between courts and behind the baseline, and has a higher ceiling compared to the HERC. Check out the SPARC website for a visual: https://sparchomer.org/.
NOTE:
The floor in the SPARC does play differently compared to a typical hardwood gym floor. The hard rubber surface allows the ball to 'grab' more and plays more similar to, but not exactly like, a gritty outdoor court. We've tested a number of different pickleballs at the SPARC and have found that the Franklin X40s offer the best experience and is the ball we'll be using for the tournament. We recommend getting some play time before your event to familiarize yourself with the new surface. The evening before the tournament starts (Aug. 30) will be available for open play from 5:00pm-8:00pm.
TOURNAMENT T-SHIRTS:
A limited number of t-shirts will be available for purchase during the tournament. If you have pre-ordered a t-shirt (the deadline for pre-orders was July 12th), your t-shirt will be available for pickup at the tournament.
PRE-TOURNAMENT CLINICS & PRIVATE LESSONS
Kimo Hansen, an IPTPA Master Teaching Professional and IPTPA
Certified Rating Specialist (CRS 5), is offering a one-day clinic and one-day individual and/or group private lessons prior to the Tournament.
Private Lessons: Thursday, Aug. 29th
Clinics: Friday, Aug. 30th
For additional details and to signup, visit the following link:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050A4EA8A82CAAFE3-41300052-2024?#/
*Bracket start times will be released after registration closes on August 23th.
**The Tournament Director reserves the right to combine divisions or create additional divisions as required, depending on registrations. Our goal is to provide the best experience possible.
