It was a bit of a black eye for USA Hockey this weekend. Long story short, the innaugual Vacaville Adult Women's Wine Tasting Classic Tournament wasn't run very well. The guidelines for planning your team's skill division were based on men's hockey and didn't suit the women very well. As a result, the Cluck in' Omegas were too skilled for the Bronze Division. Several teams got scared and complained after seeing such a display of skill put on by the Omegas, in their first game. We were greeted with USA Hockey representatives accusing us of cheating and threatening us to forfeit games for illegal players.
I will be the first to say that the Omegas should have been in the Silver Division, but it's a tough call. Having just played in San Jose a few months back, the team didn't even make the playoff (Top 4). So, stepping down a division in NorCal hockey seemed like a logical call. Through a roster snafu, several players dropped out and were replaced by more talented players. But that happened a week before the tournament.
The Omegas played-out the qualifier round, basically demolishing the teams. There was some incentive to lay down and keep the games close, in order to stay in the tournament. These girls couldn't do that. They respected the teams they played and didn't run up the score, but sandbagging wasn't ever part of the plan.
In the end, the tournament organizers got what they wanted. The Omegas had all their games forfeit. In return, they were going to send them tournament winner duffle bags in the mail. The Omegas had won the un-official Bronze Division Championship. While the remaining teams actually played a playoff to decide the championship.
Basically, the Omegas got screwed for entering the wrong division. No Sunday playoff games.
In hindsight it worked-out for all involved. One of the players got the leave early and meet her family in Hawaii. We got to sleep-in and enjoy the rental house. That place made the weekend. What a difference from going back to a hotel! Instead, it was jump in the pool or Jacuzzi and have BBQ or homemade Thai food. As a team bonding event, it couldn't have gone any better. The other couples were great and we all got along well. Yet we all had our own sleeping quarters and bathroom space. I wouldn't be surprised to see this group rent out that place as a vacation home next year, without the hockey tournament. It was just a cool place to hang-out, with cool people.
Tournament from Hell avoided!
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