FAQs

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MIDDLE SCHOOL MATCHUP

What is Middle School Matchup?

MSM is a unique weekend tournament for middle school baseball players in areas that do not have formal middle school teams. At MSM we align players by middle school, regardless of skill level, and give them the special chance to take a short break from their current team and play ball with the kids they have grown up with! Smiles and high-fives are guaranteed.


Is this run by or affiliated with the city or any other baseball league?

Nope. We are a completely independent event. We are not a league, just a fun tournament one or two times a year.


Local leagues are great supporters of the event but there is no official relation between us or any league. We love their support and all they do for the baseball community.


Run by the city? No – We are not affiliated with any city either…although they always do their best to support us! It’s not uncommon to say mayors come by…they love the community feeling this tournament brings.

Part of a larger sports organization like USSSA? – not at all.

Is this run by the School?

Not really but different schools support us at different levels. Some schools hold pep rallies, put their team in the yearbook, and support the team like crazy. Others...not so much. It just depends on the leadership team. We do appreciate any support they can give us though. In some markets we have a PTA fundraiser program too! Ask about it.

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GENERAL

How are teams formed?

Timestamp is everything!


Most of the hard stuff comes when you have two teams in one grade. That is still just a small portion of the teams but it does need to be addressed.


The following is a very high-level view of how teams will be formed. 

 

MSM Terms

School Pure – A Team with 9 or more from same school
Two-Team – A school/grade with enough for two teams
Combo Team – When you have 3 or more we combo you up with a school.
Free Agent – a player form a school that could not form a team. Has a chance to still backfill a team like a pick up game.


9 Players – 13 Players – we build a team just like normal. School Pure


13+ Players – we start building team two. The first 13 by timestamp are given spots. We try like crazy to build two teams with the remainder.


18+– Two teams, divided by timestamp. There is no longer a talent consideration. People were gaming the system. The timestamp is true and irrefutable what someone puts on the registration form isn’t.***
If we can’t get two teams, the ones on the bubble will be dropped or offered to play on a combo team if available.


3-7 Players – Combo Team (you still wear team colors)


1-2 Players – Can be a free agent, or may be able to play you in a creative way (playing up) but most likely a refund.

-Team MSM reserves the right to build teams how we see fit and will sometimes make exceptions to the guidelines above.

-Team MSM builds teams before coaches are even contacted. There is no coach input – promise. It’s just a couple of guys in a war room building 200+ teams.

-We can’t do friend requests. You can try to register side by side though and get similar timestamps.

-If two team school – sometimes coaches can swap players with TD approval (of course parent approval).

** if you want to attempt to line up a more talented team you can attempt this by registering at the roughly the same time. We call this the ‘Prosper Special’ from 2014. It can backfire though.

We are already on a team/club. We can’t be on another team!

Yup we understand. This is just for ONE WEEKEND and most ‘teams’ only practice one time (if at all) to prep for this tournament. It’s not supposed to be more work…it’s supposed to be FUN! 100% of the players that form middle school teams are currently on teams of all levels. You will just be playing for one weekend of fun.

I have never played on a team before. Is MSM right for me?

No. We want MSM to be your BEST baseball experience but not your FIRST.


With the unique format of the tournament there is little to no coaching prior to the games and mix this with different levels of talent on the field it can become a safety issue as well. There have been cases of a super athlete coming over to fill a team that has not played in a while but we want to keep it to players that are currently or very recently playing.

I have a player that goes to a private school but lives in a school district. Can he play?

Probably not, sorry. The purpose of this tournament was to give kids a chance to play together when they normally would not (no baseball in middle school). Most privates schools do have baseball teams and play in a league. There could be an exception if we are having trouble making a team.

It looks like my team is not going to get 9 player but we still want to play…possible?

Absolutely!


Remember, it’s the most fun if we can make a ‘school pure’ team but sometimes that is hard, especially the first year…. but we will build combo teams as well (they will still wear school gear). These teams have been called ‘skittles’ teams by players. We wont add them to a ‘school pure’ team if they are complete but we typically can find a spot for them. You can see the MSM skittles teams all over our photo gallery. If we can not find a spot we will absolutely refund you!


The combo teams are usually very strong teams and we have actually had a two different teams take their combo teams and turn them into a select team after the brotherhood they built during MSM

Have a look at 'How We Form Teams' FAQ

I don’t see anyone from my school signed up yet?

No problem! Every school starts somewhere….and all it takes is just the first one, then it quickly snow balls into a team. Sign your kiddo up then start recruiting! The absolute best way to get a team together is to go to Facebook , grab one of our posts (this is a good one) and start tagging families with players. We have seen teams formed in as little as an hour that way!

I want to bring my own team to the tournament. Can I?

Sort of...

If you are new to MSM and you want to 'champion' a team from the same grade/school that is awesome (we may have discounts for you too!). You will still need to get them to register individually. This happens often. Give us a heads up and we can help out.

However, you can't deny a player that goes to the school.

And of course you can't bring your own select/club team (unless they all attend school together).

I have a player that is home schooled. Can he play?

Maybe. It’s a similar question and answer to the private school question above. However, we recognize that home schooled kiddos do not have the baseball opportunity either so if there is an opportunity where a home schooled student/athlete can really help a team out or if there is room go ahead and contact us. (no funny business or ringers please)

I want to do this in my area…what do I do?

Contact us at info at middleschoolmatchup.com and lets discuss it. We are expanding to different areas in US and there are opportunities to work with us! Everything from being a Tourney Director to owning your own Franchise!

I know my registration timestamp is important…but I have two kids to register and I don’t want one left behind

Thank you for signing up more than one kiddo! That is awesome. We understand this and both kids will get the timestamp of the first completed registration. You still want to get them both done asap.

How do I contact you?

Get instant help on Facebook

or Sign up for Email updates and you can reply to one of those emails. 

How do I sign up to be a coach?

First, thank you for even considering. We open up coaching applications a day or two after we open official registration. Get on the VIP list in your area to find out when we open for official registration and you can also check the event page for a link once we open in that area. We take applications until the day we close and coaches are selected and notified the following week.

You can also sign up HERE

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REGISTRATION

What is the difference between the VIP List and Registration?

Great question.


VIP List – Because of our unique format, we really need a heads up on who’s is intending on coming to help us get a good vision of how teams are going to shape up, so that we can order jerseys, umps, fields, etc. So we initially just ask you to show interest by signing up without paying. Once you sign up you will show up on the ‘who’s coming list’ when it’s updated next. We send out invitations early to everyone on the WCL. This is important to you because many teams sell out in an hour…so you are going to want this early access if you are serious about playing.


Registration – This is when we officially launch and open registration where we take payment and are asking to fully commit to playing with your team. At that point you will get highlighted some way on the who’s coming list and teams will officially start getting formed.

The tournament has different phases or steps.


1. VIP List
2. Registration/Payment Opens then Closes
3. Team Building by Tournament Director
4. Coaches selected and notified. (who will then tell the players)
5. Gear Distrobution
6. Tournament

Are uniforms supplied?

We create a custom shirt for each player for each player. So even if you are a ‘combined’ team, you will still be wearing a jersey for your school. Coaches will decide what pants you wear.


Uniform numbers – Right now we are not doing custom numbers. It’s a big task just to get the shirts ordered with so many different schools.


Caps– we want the kiddos to wear the caps from their current team they are regularly playing with. This gives it a cool all-star game feel…and looks really really cool as you look across the diamond. There are teams that get together to purchase team caps…that’s fine too and up to you guys.

What is the refund policy?

Full refund up until we close registrations. Just shoot us an email at any time

Bad Weather – Our tournament directors are excellent and we will do our best to make games up during the week or find another weekend to play. With our unique format we do things a bit different than other normal tournaments. Other tournaments do not have to order shirts or mess with custom awards so early. Because of this, if by chance we can’t get this tournament to play there are no bad weather refunds. Again, we will do EVERYTHING we can to get this tournament completed. We have never had a complete weather loss.


Player Dropping – Once teams are made and uniforms are ordered there will be no refunds. Because of our unique format, when a player drops it can really create a domino affect on a whole division. Especially when dealing with mixed teams. We may work with you on a case by case basis to see if we can grab someone off a waitlist etc, but our general policy is no refund.

Tournament does not 'Make' - Of course if we can't build enough teams for a fun tournament you get a full refund.

What if we get rained out or have other bad weather?

Our tournament director is excellent and we will do our best to make games up during the week or find another weekend to play. With our unique format we do things a bit different than other normal tournaments. Other tournaments do not have to order shirts or mess with custom awards so early. Because of this, if by chance we can’t get this tournament to play there are no bad weather refunds. Again, we will do EVERYTHING we can to get the tournament completed.

**These FAQ are general answers but different events may have slightly different rules.