Battle At Altitude 2025 Announcement
Philip Hickey
Please find the full announcement of our 19th Annual Battle at Altitude here:
DAUHC President
Hello, fellow underwater hockey enthusiasts!
DAUHC is pleased to announce the 19th annual Battle @ Altitude tournament.
This year, we will be expanding the format of our tournament to 3 full days, allowing us to accommodate up to 24 teams. The tournament will be January 24th-26th, 2025, at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center (VMAC), in Thornton, CO.
We hope and expect that the expansion will improve the tournament experience. With 24 teams and 3 divisions, we expect there to be good, close games for teams of all ability levels. We are aware that there may be some growing pains, however, so we have the following contingency plan:
If 18 or fewer teams have paid their $100 deposit by the Early-Bird Deadline (see Dates/Deadlines table below), we will drop back to a 16-team, 2-day format. The 17th and 18th teams to have paid their deposits will be wait-listed.
If fewer than 20 registered teams have paid their full event fee by the Late (final) Deadline (see Dates/Deadlines table below), we will drop back to a 16-team, 2-day format. Teams beyond the first 16 to have completed their registration payments will have their event fees and deposits refunded.
If, at any point in the registration process, we get to 20 registered teams who have fully paid their event fee, then we will lock in the 3-day format at that point. We hope this happens early in the registration process, and we will send out an announcement as soon as it does, so that attending teams can finalize their plans and book travel and accommodations.
We will do everything in our power to keep team managers updated as we go through this process. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to tournament organizer Phil Hickey (perphec...@gmail.com)
B@A REGISTRATION:
To register your team (Team is not considered registered until both steps 1 and 2 below are complete):
Go to www.uwhportal.com, sign in, and then navigate to the 19th Annual Battle @ Altitude event page. Once registration opens you will be able to click on "Register a team" and follow the prompts. The only information required to initially create a team is a team name and grade selection (both can be edited later). Any other team information and your roster members can also be added/edited later. Please send any questions regarding team creation and roster building to sup...@atlantissports.org.
Pay your $100 deposit:
● Paypal (preferred): ColoradoUWH...@gmail.com. Please send as friends/family transfer. As always, if you incur Paypal fees, we will ask you to cover them. Also, please indicate in your Paypal memo:
○ What team you are registering
○ Team organizer contact email
● Venmo: @ColoradoUWH. Please indicate in your Venmo memo:
○ What team you are registering
○ Team organizer contact email
● Check: Make payable to DAUHC and mail to: Tyera Eulberg, PO Box 270164, Louisville, CO 80027 Also, please include a note indicating:
○ What team you are registering
○ Team organizer contact email
DATES / DEADLINES
*Teams with incomplete/incorrect team info/rosters by the Team & Roster submission deadline will incur a $20 fine (must be paid before your team plays its first game). Exceptions for emergency roster replacements can be made on a case-by-case basis.
Complete/Correct team info/rosters includes:
Team name provided
Team skill grade selected
Team logo submitted
No open team invitations
All your team’s players have cap numbers assigned (unique integers from 1 to 99).
Players may also mark their number on their arm, but it must match their cap.
Each player’s white and black caps must have the same number
All your team’s players have completed their 2025 USOA Registrations AND linked their USOA SportsEngine account to their UWH Portal account.
TEAM EVENT FEE:
Early-Bird Team Event fee is $1800. Your $100 deposit counts towards this amount and your team’s player’s banquet entries are included.
The Late (Final) Team Event fee is $2200. Your $100 deposit counts towards this amount and your team’s player’s banquet entries are included.
To meet either deadline, your team must be at least created on https://uwhportal.com and your team’s event fee must be received in full. Teams that have not paid their event fee in full by the Late deadline will not be accepted and their deposit will be forfeit.
POOL LOCATION & TIMES:
The pool is the Veteran's Memorial Aquatic Center (VMAC) at 5310 E 136th Ave, Thornton, CO 80241 (same as usual).
VMAC features crystal-clear water and some of the fastest UWH on the continent, with state-of-the-art sport court and built in walls and goals. The two courts are ~7 feet deep, and 25 yards long by 15 yards wide. The tournament pucks will use polished stainless sliders that provide one of the fastest and smoothest playing experiences in the world.
B@A will run approximately:
Friday: 8am to 9pm (Note that Friday’s start time may be adjusted if fewer than 24 teams attend - we will announce any adjustment as early as possible to help teams plan their travel and accommodations)
Saturday: 8am to 9pm
Sunday: 8am to 5pm
REFFING:
This year we are planning to again follow the Tri-Referee Rotation. This means Dedicated Referees (Level II or above) in the water and on deck for every game! As before, the other reffing slots will be staffed either by qualified Arranged Referees or Player Referees (Minnesota Rule) with some timing help by our fantastic volunteers. If you are interested in being a Dedicated Referee (travel and lodging expenses covered + per game stipend) please fill out the Dedicated Referee Interest Form by November 16, 2024.
REFFING OPT-OUTS:
For an additional $250 fee, your team can opt-out of Player Referee (Minnesota Rule) referee responsibilities entirely. However, there is an added stipulation this year, your team must also provide at least 2 players from your roster to be Arranged Referees (must be at least level 1 to qualify) who are available for at least 2 games per day as a water referee; the opt-out system only works if there are Arranged Referees to cover the games. The Arranged Referees must accept their UWH Portal invitations by Saturday, January 18, 2025 to be counted. All Arranged Referees receive a per game stipend of $15 if they are level 1 and $20 if they are level 2 or above.
There are up to 12 team opt-out slots available (this number may be reduced if fewer than 24 teams enter). These opt-out slots are handled on a first-paid first-served basis (once registration is open). This fee is refundable if your team does not secure one of the final number of opt-out slots, if you cannot provide the required 2 Arranged Referees and are therefore disqualified from opting out, or if opting out is canceled due to lack of participation. All non-opt-out teams will be responsible for providing 1 Player Referee after each game they play.
TOURNAMENT MANAGEMENT:
We are happy to feature the complete Atlantis Sports time/score management system to provide up to date integration with UWHPortal.com.
LODGING:
We recommend you look for hotels in Thornton near 120th and I-25. There are several to choose from, including, but not limited to, LaQuinta, Super 8, Double Tree by Hilton, Baymont by Wyndham, Holiday Inn Express, Delta Hotels by Marriott, Fairfield Inn and Suites, Comfort Suites.
BANQUET:
Location: TBD
Banquet pricing has been automatically added to each team’s event fee. Team organizers may request a refund for players who do not attend the banquet. Each team may submit only one (combined) refund request, and they must be received by The Team & Roster Submission Deadline of January 12th. Please note that attending the banquet is attending the banquet, whether you intend to eat or not. If you show up without a wristband, you’ll be asked to leave or pay the late price of $70.
Additional banquet tickets may be purchased for $35/ticket until January 17 and then for $70/ticket until January 26th via PayPal to ColoradoUWH...@gmail.com.
Wristbands for banquet access will be handed out to team managers during the weekend. Please have your wristband before you arrive at the banquet venue.
SKI-O-RAMA:
Agnes is once again offering an opportunity for anyone coming to Colorado for B@A to also experience Colorado outside of the pool. You will have the opportunity to ski, sled, skate, XC ski, hike or just hang out. All of this fun takes place about 1 ½ hours’ drive (assuming no snowstorm) away from VMAC in Frisco, Colorado. Skiing is at Copper Mountain, but there are also several other ski areas close by. Unfortunately, the 2-for-1 coupons we got in the past are no longer available, but we’ll try and secure any discounts that we can. Housing in a private residence is provided for up to 20 people for 3 nights (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) following the tournament. There are also hotels nearby if you want more than a very basic place to sleep. Rides can hopefully be arranged amongst attendees. In the past we have been able to arrange carpools to Frisco and back to the airport. Worst case, there are also buses. Agnes will help arrange rides, but ultimately that will be up to you to finalize.
Please contact Agnes at agnesde...@icloud.com with any questions or to let her know that you are interested and to reserve your spot. A text to 303-885-8443 is also fine, but identify yourself or you will likely be ignored.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS:
All standard USOA-sanctioned tournament rules will apply. All 2025 USOA dues and waivers should be taken care of through Underwater Society of America prior to your arrival in Denver. We ask that you please link your UWHPortal profile to USOA to make this verification easier on us. Please contact sup...@atlantissports.org for any registration or linking questions.
B@A WEBSITE:
For regularly-updated tournament information you can visit https://battleataltitude.weebly.com or Colorado UWH also has a FaceBook page that will include updated information.
Tournament T-Shirts: Stay tuned on how to order our always-awesome T-shirts
Questions, comments, etc, please email us ColoradoUnde...@gmail.com