Maine Hoops New England vs Canada Challenge 7th/8 NH Combo Hoops

Good Morning,

Unfortunately, we had 2 Girls High School teams drop out of the event late last night. They were both New England Teams. While I could just have the 2 teams they were scheduled to play, play each other, it would mean 2 Canadian teams having to play each other. They travel here to see New England Competition so I would LOVE to avoid that scenario.

Here is what I am looking for.

From Pool K - New England, 2 Teams to fill games at 9:35 and 11:45.

From Pool M - New England 2 Teams to fill games at 10:40 and 11:45.

If your in those Pools and your team would like a free extra game, (if you wanted to fill both, I'm good with that as well) please let me know as soon as possible. If you are a club with multiple teams and want to combine for the games, that is also ok. I am just trying to avoid having the Canadian teams play each other.

Thank you for your consideration.

Good Evening,

This is the final group notification regarding the tournament schedule. There were a few adjustments from the previous version, so please take a moment to review the schedule carefully. If any additional issues arise, you will be contacted directly.

📱 Tournament App – Highly Recommended
We strongly encourage all teams to ask their parents to download the Maine Hoops Tournament App. This is the best way to stay up to date with:

Schedule updates
Game scores
Bracket progressions
Important tournament announcements
Teams and clubs that use the app consistently have found it extremely helpful throughout the weekend.

To download:
Search “Exposure Basketball – Maine Hoops Tournaments” in your App Store.

Reminder:
➡️ Don’t leave home without checking your schedule!

🏆 Brackets & Tournament Format
As mentioned previously, almost all divisions will have some form of bracket play on Sunday. Please review the brackets carefully to understand how your team may advance.

Your Sunday game times will update automatically once Saturday’s Pool Play results are entered. These updates will appear on both the app and the schedule link.

We will be awarding Championship T-Shirts to all brackets. Teams competing both days and who go 4-0 will also receive Championship T-Shirts - Please contact Mike Tatro if you are 3-0 and he will have T-Shirts at your last game location or make arrangements.

🔍 Understanding the Brackets (Bracketology)
Within each bracket you will see:

Game Numbers – identifying each specific game.

Pool Placement Placeholders – examples like:
• 2nd in Pool C → the team that finishes 2nd in Pool C after Pool Play.

Outcome Placeholders – examples like:
• W1 → Winner of Game 1 advances to that spot
• L1 → Loser of Game 1 moves to that position

Once scores are entered, the bracket will automatically update, showing where teams advance.

Please note:
The Tournament Director reserves the right to make adjustments to championship brackets based on Saturday results if teams have clearly been placed in an incorrect competitive group.

You can view the brackets:

At the bottom of the schedule page
On the Tournament App

🔁 Consolation Games
Every team is guaranteed a minimum of three games.

If your team is scheduled for a consolation game, please honor that game.

There is nothing more frustrating in tournament basketball than waiting for a scheduled game only to have the opponent not show. Please respect the schedule and the other teams participating.

➡️ Please don’t be that team.

📊 Scores & Questions
Game scores are reported to Tournament Director Mike Tatro.

Occasionally a score is entered incorrectly, so please review your game results.

If you notice an incorrect score, contact Mike immediately.

📞 Mike Tatro
Text or Call: 207-590-6269

Mike should also be your first point of contact for general tournament questions.

📋 Game Rules
You can review the tournament rules here:

New England vs Canada Challenge Rules

📝 Scorer’s Table Responsibilities
Each team must provide one person for the scorer’s table.

If teams cannot agree:

Home Team → Official Scorebook
Away Team → Game Clock
One table worker per team receives free admission for the weekend.
Trust us — you probably have a parent who would gladly volunteer for that!

👕 Commemorative Tournament T-Shirts
We will have commemorative “Ballin by the Beach” T-Shirts available for purchase throughout the weekend. Click here for link to T-Shirt Design.

Individual Shirts: $15
Team Pre-Orders (Minimum of 5 Shirts): $12 per shirt
👉 To place a team order, please email:
📧 mainehoops@gmail.com

Include your sizes and we will have the shirts ready for pickup at your team’s game.

⚠️ Limited quantities will be available onsite, so team pre-orders are strongly encouraged.

🏟 Gym Opening Times
In most cases, gyms will not open until approximately 30 minutes before the first scheduled game.

Please communicate this to your players and families so they plan accordingly.

🎟 Admission
Weekend Pass
Adults: $20
Seniors & Youth (5–12): $15

One-Day Pass
Adults: $12
Seniors & Youth: $8
Admission is valid for all games at all tournament sites.

Credit cards or exact cash are appreciated.

I will email everyone tomorrow with the scoring system for the NE vs Canada Challenge, last year was the first year Canada won the Challenge!!! New England are you ready to regain the title?

📅 Schedule Link
You can access the full schedule here:

New England vs Canada Challenge Schedule

We’re looking forward to an exciting weekend of basketball. Thank you for your cooperation and good luck to all teams competing!

See you at the gym.

Lenny
Maine Hoops

Good Evening,

Important Reminder for Coaches Managing Multiple Teams

While we do our best during Pool Play to work around coaching conflicts, Bracket Play is much more difficult to manage. Once teams advance into brackets, game times are determined by:

Where teams finish in Pool Play
Whether teams win or lose
The need to keep brackets moving and early round games on schedule

Because of this, it is extremely important that coaches managing multiple teams have a backup coach available if needed during bracket play.

A large percentage of teams are coached by individuals handling multiple teams—sometimes as many as 3 or 4 teams. Unfortunately, it becomes impossible to space games out the way we often can during Pool Play.

We will continue to do our best to help where possible, but please understand that bracket integrity and keeping the event running on time must take priority once elimination play begins.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

— Maine Hoops

We’re getting closer to one of our most exciting weekends of basketball, and the 2nd Draft Schedule for NE-Can Challenge is now complete!

There were sveral changes from yesterday, so please take a moment to check your schedule again to make sure you have the most up-to-date information. I had teams, drop out, teams added and a host of other items. I'd like to say
while I do not anticipate many additional changes, I am not feeling as confident as I normally am.

We will send out the Final Schedule tomorrow evening, which will include all the key details you’ll need for the event including rules, admissions, event T-shirt, Tournament contacts, etc... As always your best option is to download the Maine Hoops Exposure Basketball App.

TELL YOUR PARENTS - If they download the app on the Home Screen is a tab that says "Messages" they can go there and get ALL the same information I send you! Great for clear lines of communication.

🏆 Sunday Bracket Play & Championship Shirts
As mentioned in last night’s email, Sunday will feature Bracket Play for all teams. All teams competing in bracket games will be playing for Championship T-Shirts, so there will definitely be something on the line!

For those who may need a quick refresher, here’s how the brackets work.

Bracketology (How to Read the Brackets)
This event uses a championship bracket format, meaning teams advance based on game results.

Within each bracket you will see:

• Game Numbers – These identify the specific game in the bracket.
• Outcome Placeholders – These show how teams advance.

Examples:
• W1 = Winner of Game 1 moves to that spot
• L1 = Loser of Game 1 moves to that spot
• W2 = Winner of Game 2 advances

Once scores are reported, the brackets will automatically update, showing where teams move next.

This is why we strongly encourage everyone to download the Maine Hoops Exposure Basketball App, where bracket updates and scores will appear almost immediately after they are entered.

📱 Where to Find Your Brackets
You can view all brackets in two places:

• On the Maine Hoops Exposure App
• At the bottom of the schedule page on the schedule link provided

While many teams will not know their exact Sunday game time yet, you will be able to see potential matchups and locations based on how the brackets play out.

One More Note on Brackets - I believe one of the things that makes Maine Hoops events succesful is that I don't lock into a "one" size fits all approach to scheduling. In this event with Bracket play, sometimes Saturday games matter for seeding and other times they don't. My Goal is to give you an event that allows you to play different teams and have competitive games.

Plus I LOVE teams having something to play for on Sunday other then play a consolation game and go home. I do have sound reasoning for EVERY Bracket and I don't mind answering questions on how I got there!

🔁 Consolation Games

One important note:
Please do not skip consolation games.

Nothing is more frustrating for teams than arriving ready to play and discovering their opponent has decided not to show. Tournament basketball is built on commitment and sportsmanship, and we appreciate everyone honoring their scheduled games.

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

📅 Final schedules will be released Thursday evening, so please keep an eye on your email and the app for the latest updates.

We’re looking forward to a great weekend of hoops at March Mayhem II!

👉 Click Here for the New England vs Canada Schedule

See you at the gym!

Lenny
Maine Hoops

Good Evening,

The First Draft Schedule for Saturday is now complete. There were A LOT of requests and I did my best to meet as many as i could. Before finalizing Sunday’s bracket play, we want to make sure everything is accurate for Saturday. Taking the time to review now helps us avoid unnecessary changes later and keeps the event running smoothly for everyone.

📲 Maine Hoops Exposure App
Please take a moment to download the Maine Hoops Exposure Basketball App and encourage your parents to do the same.

This is the BEST source for all event information, including:

Schedules
Brackets
Standings
Updates & notifications
Gym locations
👉 Having everyone use the app will significantly reduce confusion and communication issues throughout the weekend. All these messages can also be found on the home page of the App by clicking on the messages tab.

🔁 Back-to-Back Games
Maine Hoops will often schedule teams back-to-back for pool play games. We understand many of you travel to Maine and prefer not to spend your entire day waiting between games—this format helps get you in and out of the gym efficiently so you can enjoy the area as well.

That said, if your team prefers not to play back-to-back games, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your request where possible.

⏰ Schedule Review Timeline

Please review your schedule carefully
Report any concerns by 12:00 PM tomorrow
Sunday bracket play will be released shortly after
You can expect the Final Schedule on Thursday. Typically, there are minimal changes after this draft.

Thank you for your cooperation and attention to detail—we’re looking forward to a great event.

👉 Click here for the event schedule

Click here for the New England vs Canada Challenge Rules

— Maine Hoops

Good Evening,

I know many of you are traveling great distances for this weekend so I wanted to give you a quick update. Saturday's schedule will be out tonight, hopefully in the next 90 minutes or so. This schedule is very tricky as I try to balance teams from Canada with the New England teams, I am being very creative to say the least.

Sunday will involve Bracket Play for most every team, I think it makes for a better event when everyone has something to play for on Sunday. However, I will wait until tomorrow to release Sunday's schedule as I want to make sure everyone is good with the Saturday schedule before releasing. Thank you for understanding and you should hear back from me in a few.

Lenny