TOURNAMENT CANCELED

August 14th, 2010

Birmingham, Alabama

Updated as of 11:46 a.m.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 14, 2010 11:30 A.M. Central Time

Announcement from the Vestavia Hills Soccer Club and Liberty Cup Elite Challenge Soccer Committee:

ALL FIELDS ARE CLOSED AT ALL LOCATIONS and as a result ALL REMAINING TOURNAMENT GAMES ARE CANCELED-NO GAMES WILL BE PLAYED THIS AFTERNOON OR TOMORROW.

The various governmental and private entities that own the fields where our Tournament games are scheduled have independently determined that the field conditions warrant closing their respective fields for either or both the remainder of today and tomorrow.  We therefore must cancel the games scheduled at those fields.

While we regret the fields being closed by their respective owners, we cannot disagree with their decision. According to the National Weather Service, Birmingham has experienced a total rainfall of less than two and one half (2 ½) inches over the past forty-four (44) days.  Then, this morning we experienced a deluge that presently has flash flood warnings posted for our community and the National Weather Service advising of potential downpours totaling two inches in some locations with some areas receiving more.  Put simply, it would appear that our community is presently receiving the equivalent of 40 days of rain in one morning.

We worked very hard to make this a fun tournament for your teams and for your families.  We sincerely regret the inconvenience you and your families have experienced due to the weather and will do what we can to make sure you want to come back next year.  While we are stewards of our Club, we are also parents and we recognize in these times that many families are hard pressed to afford the costs of travel soccer teams.  We greatly appreciate your decision to come play soccer with us and we want to treat each of you as our best customer and neighbor.  Rest assured we will keep that in mind when we begin our inquiry into insurance coverage due to today’s weather and events.

While the Tournament rules clearly state no refunds should be anticipated, the Club and Committee will be meeting immediately to explore the possibility of event insurance coverage for your team’s Tournament Registration fee.  We will be reporting the outcome of those meetings to your team managers within the next fourteen (14) days.