Maui wowee?

Just talked with the tournament director of the Maui Summer Classic (July 21-25), Marcus Rogers, by phone. He came recommended by a friend of mine, Todd Rickard, who helps with the tournament and is also the head coach of the Lahainaluna High School girls team. 

Plusses:
• Most of our Thunder players have never been to Maui, so this would be a nice experience.

• Coach Rogers said he'd give us a big discount for being 1) a local team and 2) bringing two teams. Instead of paying $650, each team (Intermediate and JV) would pay $500 each.

• This is a big one. Coach Rogers said he'd be willing to let our two juniors, Michael and Keanu, play on our JV team as long as it's clear that we're not deliberately trying to stack up. We don't have a lot of seniors and juniors — the Varsity Division allows seniors who are graduating — so he's willing to be flexible.

• If we decided and could afford to fly up a Varsity team, most of the guys would be from our current JV and Inter rosters. Coach Rogers said he'd give us another discount for fielding 3 teams. Each would pay $450 instead of $500.

• If we do take two teams up, since many of our guys play in both Inter and JV Divisions, Coach Rogers is willing to have us play back-to-back so that we don't have to rush between sites in Lahaina and Kahului. Convenience is always good.

Minuses:
• I haven't checked into condos and hotels on Maui yet, but generally Maui is pricey. Then again, so is Kona and we got an incredible deal last year at that condo. Nothing like having a lot of space, a big kitchen and all the luxury of a condo.

• If Coach Rogers and his staff see us play and deem that we're too strong for the Intermediate or JV Divisions, he will move us up. He doesn't want to see teams consistently losing or winning by 30 points, he said, and will do what's best for everybody. I'm fine with that.

• Even with the discounts, it's not a cheap excursion to Maui. The budget is somewhere around $6,000 to $7,000 for the stay (July 21-25, return home July 26).

• The Kalani and Le Jardin leagues will be in playoff mode that week. Kalani's one-game playoff for all 12 teams is on Tuesday, July 21. At Le Jardin, we have a regular-season game on Wednesday, July 22, then playoff games (if we make the top 8) starting on Saturday, July 25. If we travel that week, hopefully we can work something out, but nothing is guaranteed.

Players, parents, friends - your feedback, please.