Essential Basics
Team Organizers are tasked with knowing the key operational details of the tournament.
The information listed below in question form is essential for your success at the MBA National Senior Championships. Click on each question for complete details.
- How do I enter a team?
- What are the uniform requirements of this tournament?
- What administrative items need to be completed upon arrival in Florida?
- How many games will my team play?
- What are the age divisions and how is age eligibility determined?
- How are teams bracketed and how does my team advance?
- How does the Tie Breaker system work?
- What kind of Official's work this tournament?
- What kind of Medical Services are provided?
- What kind of Awards are presented?
How do I enter a team?
- Click on the Enter a Team tab for entry.
- Review the entry fees
- Review the uniform criteria
- Complete the Team Roster information in full.
- Selection a payment option
- Submit the form, which will then lead to the Payment page. Select the Pay Now, button, which will take you to the MBA's secure PayPal page. Enter the Team Entry Fee or Discounted Team Entry Fee depending on date of entry.
- You may also print out the online entry form, fill it out, and mail it with payment rather doing so online. Checks are payable to: MBA, Inc.
- Mailed entries are sent to:
MBA, Inc.
Operations Division
4207 NW 7fifth Avenue
Coral Springs, FL 33065
Team Entry Notification: Our venue and time schedule can accommodate a total of 42 entered teams within our seven age divisions. Four teams is the minimum required to make up a division with eight as the maximum.
All team entries are on a first come, first served basis. Each fully completed entry form with the entry fee and uniform deposit paid will be logged in and numbered by age division upon receipt by the MBA Operations Office. The MBA staff will notify you by e-mail or phone regarding your entry status.
As a VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER, the MBA does not have any divisions with seven teams. If you are notified that you are entry number seven in your division, you should not consider your team entered or book travel reservations until such time that we have notified you that we have received the 8th entry for your division.
In some very limited cases, we will allow a five-team division. However, the scheduling for a five-team division requires the fifth team to play two games per day on two different days and will need to be agreed to by the Team Organizer of the fifth entered team before entry will be granted.
The Staff will do all we can to locate the sixth or eighth team as the case may be but there is no guarantee that we will be successful. An alternative would be to offer your team the option to "play down", assuming there is space available. If we cannot enter your team, your entry fees and uniform deposit check will be promptly refunded.
To avoid these situations, we recommend that your entry is sent in well in advance of the entry deadline, Saturday March 31, 2012.
MBA, Inc. reserves the right to refuse any entry and has the final decision on all team entries.
What are the uniform requirements of this tournament?
JERSEYS - Each team must have a light and a dark jersey for each player with regulation basketball numbers both front and back (a reversible jersey is acceptable). All jerseys must be of the same color and style.
SHORTS - Each team must wear shorts of the same color and style. For example if you select red shorts with a white stripe, all players must have red shorts with a white stripe. Experience shows that a solid color short; black, red, white, blue etc. is the easiest to manage. Many teams are now coming with very nice uniforms with team and player names, having both a light set and a dark set.
For teams that meet the standard, the $200 Uniform Deposit will be returned in full after the tournament.
Payment instructions for both the Entry Fee and the Uniform Deposit will be found on the payment instruction page which appears after submitting your Team Information Form.
UNIFORM PURCHASE
For teams needing to purchase uniform items, we highly recommend contactin the Official MBA Merchandizer:
DON (J.R.) CHENAULT at JUST RIGHT T-SHIRTS in Coral Springs. Don can offer you a wide variety of high quality uniform selections that will meet every budget and he will be pleased to assist you. Many of you already know Don from previous tournaments and have over the years, purchased his "Official MBA Merchandise". He will be more than happy to assist you. Don can be reached at:
e-mail: jr@justrightshirts.com
Phone: (954) 772-8402
Website: www.justrightshirts.com
Please indicate that you are a MBA Team Organizer when you contact him.
What administrative items need to be completed upon arrival in Florida?
There are two key administrative items that need to be completed before your team is ready to play.
1. Finalize Your Roster
This simply means that you must give us any additions or deletions you wish to make to your roster since you mailed in your entry form. You must complete this task by 5 p.m. on MONDAY, MAY 7th. After this time, your roster is considered FROZEN and no further changes may be made.
If you are not going to be in town until TUESDAY, you will need to call the tournament office (954-439-4395) on Monday if you wish to make additions or deletions to your roster.
If you do not come to the office in person or call in to make changes on Monday, we will use the names you have given us up to that point as your final roster. NO ROSTER CHANGES CAN BE MADE AFTER MONDAY EVENING.
2. Have Your Players Register
Before they can step onto the court, each player is required to fully complete an individual registration form, sign a "Hold Harmless Waiver" and show proof of age. A driver's license is the best ID to present. No proof of age is required for players who have played in recent tournaments.
You should have your players register well in advance of game time. Players coming to the office to register less than 20 minutes prior to game time may have to wait until the beginning of the second half to play, especially if there are a lot of late registrations. Those players registering after the second half has begun will not be allowed to play until the next game.
Players may register up until the close of business on Thursday of tournament week. After that time, player registration is closed. No players are allowed to register on Friday or Saturday.
Player registration will be available at the MBA tournament office at the Coral Springs Gymnasium beginning at noon on Monday, at the Welcome Banquet at the LaQuinta Inn in Coral Springs on Monday evening and Tuesday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. at the Coral Springs Gymnasium.
Show up on time for all games. As a Team Organizer, it is your responsibility to have a minimum of five players, registered and ready to play each game at the scheduled time. We have scheduled games so that there is a generous margin of time between each game and even with an occasional overtime game, we are generally on schedule.
That's it! These are very simple procedures yet important to operating the tournament in an efficient manner for the benefit of all teams and will be strictly followed by the Staff.
How many games will my team play?
Every team is guaranteed that they will play a minimum of four games. This would include the three preliminary games and a semi-final game in either the Championship or Third Place bracket on Friday.
No less than half the field will have a fifth game in either a Championship or Third Place final on Saturday.
Your team will play one game per day with no days off.
Whether Championship or Third Place play, teams are required to play ALL GAMES AS SCHEDULED. Forfeiting games in this tournament is not allowed. Each team is expected to carry a roster with enough players so that even allowing for some injuries; you will have enough players available to play all scheduled games.
Teams that forfeit any games will serve a one-year suspension penalty. We are very serious about this provision.
To avoid such situations, we urge you to carry a roster of 10 players.
What are the age divisions and how is age eligibility determined?
The MBA has seven age Divisions - 40+, 45+, 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+ and 70+.
Players are eligible to play in an age division, provided they will reach the age of that division in any month of the current calendar year of the tournament. For example, if your 45th birthday is in November, even though the tournament is played in May, you would still qualify to play in the 45+ age division. Players may also play down in a younger division.
How are teams bracketed and how does my team advance?
The MBA National Senior Championship is made up of age divisions consisting of either: four, six or eight teams. (Note: A five-team division may be allowed in some limited circumstances.)
After the entry deadline, the Staff will evaluate all entries and assign a seeding to each team. This seeding is based on previous experience in the tournament and on apparent roster strength of known players.
Then depending on the number of teams in a division, teams will be placed in a three- or four-team bracket. This exception to this is a four-team division where the four teams are simply seeded 1 through 4. As much as possible, we will separate teams that met in the semi finals or finals of the previous year.
Four-Team Division Advancement
In this situation, you play each team in the division once in qualifying play.
Then based on win-loss records, (or the tie breaker method), the first place team plays the fourth-place team and the second-place team plays the third-place team in the semi finals on Friday.
The semi final winners move to the Championship final and the loser's move to the Third Place final on Saturday. All teams in a 4-team division will play 5 games.
Six-Team Division Advancement
Here, there are two three-team brackets. In qualifying play, you will play the other two teams in your bracket and a "crossover" game against a team in the other bracket.
The two teams finishing first in each bracket play the second-place teams in the other bracket in the Championship semi final games on Friday. The loser of these two games with the best record will advance to the Third Place Final on Saturday.
The two teams finishing third in each bracket will play each other on Friday in the Third Place semi final game with the winner advancing to the Third Place Final on Saturday.
Eight-Team Division Advancement
In this case, there will be two four-team brackets. You will play each team in your bracket in qualifying play.
The two teams finishing first in each bracket play the second-place teams in the other bracket in the Championships semi final games on Friday. The two winners advance to the Championship final on Saturday.
The two teams finishing third in each bracket play the fourth-place teams in the other bracket in the Third Place semi final games on Friday. The two winners advance to the Third Place final on Saturday.
How does the Tie Breaker System work?
Quite often there will be ties in your bracket based on the win - loss records. In order to determine advancement, the following system will be used.
1. Win - Loss Record If teams are tied then we look at:
2. Head to Head If two tied teams did not play each other or if all the teams in the bracket are tied, then we go to:
3. Points You can accumulate a total of (plus 15) or (minus 15) points per game based on the scores of each of your three preliminary games. The points are totaled to arrive at a grand total. Example: (+8, -10, +12 = +10).The team with the highest point total advances. If teams are tied with points, we then look at:
4. Common Opponents The game point differential in the three preliminary games against all common opponents will be totaled. The team with the highest total will advance. If this results in a tie, we look at:
5. Total Points Allowed in the Preliminary Games The team with the least allowed points (best defensive effort) will advance.
6. Coin Flip Higher seeded team makes the call.
What kind of officials work this tournament?
Under the direction of Supervisor of Officials, Peter Battaglia, the MBA contracts only NCAA and top-rated high school officials.
The MBA officials receive an orientation briefing conducted by the Supervisor of Officials and tournament Staff. At the orientation, officials are briefed regarding the unique nature of the tournament as a national event and review the latest NCAA rules and any special interpretations of the NCAA rules as they may apply to this tournament.
We are quite confident that you will find the quality of our officials meets the very high standards of the tournament and that they will treat all of your games with the upmost of seriousness and respect.
The MBA uses three-man crews for all games.
What kind of medical services are provided?
Certified Athletic Trainers fully equipped with AED's (Automated External Defibrillators) and trained in emergency CPR procedures will be on site at all venues through out the tournament, including practice day on Monday, primarily to tape, ice and to provide treatment of minor injuries.
In an emergency situation, Table Staff members have been briefed to immediately contact 911 and summon the Trainer on duty to the assistance of the injured player.
MBA also has made arrangement with the Coral Springs Medical Center Hospital with the assistance of our tournament physician to smooth the way for our players into the hospital emergency room if such a need arises.
The Coral Springs Medical Center Hospital is just a five-minute ride from the Coral Springs gymnasium. Coral Springs EMS personnel are aware of the tournament and are located one block from the Coral Springs gym. EMS units are also located in close proximity to our outside venues located within the City of Coral Springs.
What kind of Awards are presented?
The MBA tournament has a number of awards for both team and individual player recognition.
Sportsman of the Year This award recognizes an individual who, over a number of years of participation in the tournament, has come to symbolize the very best qualities of sportsmanship and competitive fair play. This award is considered the most prestigious award that is given.
Team Awards Attractive plagues are given to the Team Organizers or Coaches of first- and second-place teams in both the Championship and Third Place Brackets.
Player Awards A unique and quality award is given to each player on the first- and second-place teams in each age division's Championship bracket. A very nice certificate of participation is also given to each player on the third- and fourth-place teams in each age division Third Place bracket.
All Tournament Teams An "All Tournament" team comprised of 10 players is named for each age division. After each preliminary and semi-final game, tournament officials select players who have had an "All Tournament" type performance. These votes are tallied at the end of the week and the top 10 vote getters in each age division are named to an "All Tournament" team. Each of these players will be presented with an attractive certificate recognizing their accomplishment.
Most Valuable Player Awards A "Most Valuable Player" is selected from both the Championship and Third Place final games in each age division.
The MVPs from the Championship games are awarded the very prestigious MBA ring designed especially for us by the Jostens company. This ring is highly coveted and treasured by the winners.
MVP's from the Third Place final games will be given an MVP Certificate that can be framed and proudly displayed.