We received this letter from a Reader who thought this unique Pre-Tournament letter would be a fun read for our readers.  Indeed she was right. 

With permission from Matt Drevlow (the author), the Tournament Director in Faribault, here is an amusing take on how their tournament will be run.

Sounds like a good time to me.

Thank you for setting a tournament date with the Faribault Hockey 

Association. We look forward to seeing you next weekend and seeing if we 

can make this a long term relationship. 

Just a little information about the Faribault Hockey Association. 

1.      The Faribault Hockey Association is a giver. We will have gift 

bags for all the teams and we will make up the stickers for all the teams, 

so leave that packet of Avery Labels at home, you deserve it.

2.      The Faribault Hockey Association has an eye for detail, so please 

make sure you bring your certified rosters and consent to treat forms when 

you check in. Failure to do so will bring this relationship to a premature 

end and nobody wants to see things end prematurely.

3.      The Faribault Hockey Association is a fun, easy going, down to 

earth Association, so if you are looking for a restaurant with a good 

sommelier or want to kill some time at the local independent film 

festival, you need to find another Association. May we suggest Edina. 

However, if you are looking to do a little bowling and have a good burger 

or a pizza we are going to get along famously, and if you ask we will even 

suggest our favorites.

4.      Our turn-ons include coaches and teams that are looking to have a 

good time, good sportsmanship, and parents that know how to enjoy 

themselves and maybe even have a beer with us, after the game.

5.      Our turn-offs include teams that disrespect our facility, parents 

that like to have a few too many beersbefore the game, spectators and 

parents that forget to focus on the simple beauty of the kids trying to 

master a difficult game to the best of their ability (even if they were 

offside twice in the last period), and parents and coaches that scream at 

the refs (even if they missed offsides calls twice in the last period).

6.      Finally, yes the Faribault Hockey Association does have a prettier 

sister up on the hill, Shattuck-Saint Mary's, so we encourage you to go up 

and walk around the hockey facility and maybe even take in a game if there 

is one available. Just remember you came here for us, and we have gone 

through a lot of therapy to get to this point so don't make us go all Jan 

Brady crazy on you.

We hope you enjoy your time with us and encourage you to let us know if 

you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to spending some time 

with you and we promise we won't get all psycho clingy like some of those 

other tournaments you have been with.

The tournament brackets and rules have been posted on the website so make 

yourself familiar with them. For this relationship to work, we both need 

to be playing by the same set of rules, this isn't Thunder Dome.

 

Just a few other notes about our weekend together. 

·         We will announce full rosters for every team for their first 

game at the Faribault Ice Arena to the best of our ability, if you have a 

player whose last name is made up of 15 consonants and 2 vowels, all bets 

are off.

·         Due to an event at Shattuck all games will be played at the 

Faribault Ice Arena. We would appreciate any help you could give in making 

sure your little scrappers hit the ice in a timely fashion. The state has 

thus far refused our requests to fit each team with shock collars to prod 

them to hit the ice, so we are going to have to rely on you (for now).

·         There will be a hot dog eating contest for the teams during the 

tournament, complete with a resplendent trophy to recognize the winners' 

accomplishment. Any vomiting of hot dogs on the ice will result in a 1:30 

in the box.

·         There is also a $5/person all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast 

served at Joe's Sports Bar on Saturday morning from 8am to 12pm with 

proceeds going to the Faribault Hockey Association. The team that eats the 

most pancakes per player will also receive a resplendent trophy to 

commemorate their gluttony... I mean accomplishment.

·         On Sunday we will be offering free binge eater's counseling (pie 

and ice cream will be served).

Matt Drevlow 

Tournament Director