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About brackets

Canadian teams and discount:  It is difficult to compare US and Canadian teams in general terms, but we have learned from experience that Ontario teams are at least a level ahead of ours -- for the most part, A here is B there, AA here is A there. We want this to be a good experience for you and will offer a $200 US discount off the fee to the first 10 Canadian teams -- girls, senior or collegiate -- that register for any Pony Tail Tournament. To see if you qualify, contact the tournament director before registering: Ponytail2009@aol.com

Developmental teams:  We have built separate "B" brackets for developmental teams, girls teams that might be playing independently this season, or developing high school teams -- generally, inexperienced players, players who are young for their team's age group, or players still developing their skills for the Tier II level.  . . . We will customize the brackets to suit developing teams. . . . Consider entering your team in our funtournament. The Pony Tail is a good way to build enthusiasm for girls ice hockey. We have been successful in making good match-ups in the seeding of the tournament.
Look for "B" when you register your teams. If you have questions about where your team fits in, please call us at 410-491-2942 or email ponytaildirector@aol.com.

"A" teams in our regions are generally teams that have played at the Tier II (i.e. CBHL, MAWHA White, GAL, or PAHL) levels during the regular season. If you have a U16U or U14U team that you consider one step below that level -- a developmental team -- contact us and we'll make sure your team is well placed in the Pony Tail.  We pride ourselves on setting up competitive brackets, appropriately placing teams and seeding the tournament for the best experience for all teams.

Senior women:  We designated this bracket for Senior D/C teams because they seem to be prevalent in our region. However, we can give this bracket any designation based on the teams that show the most interest. In Baltimore, we have the Baltimore Blizzard and they compete with teams from Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the Mid-Atlantic Women's Hockey League. We reserve the right to set up a women's senior/collegiate division if we think that will create the best bracket. We could also match stronger senior teams with the stronger teams in the U19 A group.

Collegiate teams:  We welcome college club teams, either ACHA or DVCHC. If you have questions about this, please contact Dan Rodricks at 410-323-8243. If you make the Pony Tail Tournaments part of your season plan early -- leaving open the possibility for Labor Day, the MLK Holiday in January and our annual March tournament -- you could help us create our first collegiate bracket.

High school teams:   High school girls who play ice hockey are invited to bring their team -- or a tournament team composed of players from various schools -- to the 7th Annual Pony Tail. We have created a new division -- U16/19B -- that is perfect for high school teams. We would welcome teams from anywhere, including our own teams in the Maryland Scholastic Hockey League: Bryn Mawr, St. Timothy's, Holton-Arms, TC Williams, and Archbishop Spalding. If someone would like to form an MSHL girls team, we would welcome that entry, too.

Seeding:  With the Pony Tail, we do our homework, rate teams and seed the tournament as best we can. The result has been very few, if any, blowouts in round-robin play, and good games to the finish.