Memphis MLK 1/30-31

2010 MLK Tournament January30-31 Memphis Cook Convention Center 255 North Main, Memphis, TN 38103

Friday 1:40 p.m. update: 

1. The tournament is "on"...that's a sure thing.  The entry fee isn't a big deal.
2. We don't want players to make the trip if their team won't have enough players to play. 
3. We are expecting a 2-hour delayed start on Saturday morning, but it's not official yet.
4. I can't tell you what to do...there are rugged individuals with 4-wheel drives who will insist on going...and others driving the family mini-van with 2 kids in child seats who do not want to go.  We won't think any less of you if you aren't comfortable making the trip.
5. Most important of all...we don't know if it's going to get worse during the night, or better.  With work by road crews, it may be remarkably better by arrival time tomorrow.
6. If game time were a couple hours away, I'd say cancel it...but it's tomorrow.  This might be the blizzard of the century, or it might clear up....we don't know.
7. PLEASE e-mail joew@arkansasvolleyball.com if you've made up your mind and plan to be there...if a team only has 4 players, there's no reason to go.  If we don't hear from you, we'll assume you haven't made up your mind yet.  We need to make a team-by-team decision, especially on 11s, 131 & 141 who are on the AM wave Saturday.  131 appears to be largely on their way already or going tomorrow.

from my resident Arkansas state trooper: 

It’s pretty bad right now….but I would suggest to drive tonight and make sure they keep tanks on full before getting on bridge in case traffic stops.  We will not shut the bridge down…but usually it shuts itself down until we can get an accident cleaned up.    Afternoon wave tomorrow maybe ok until in the morning……AM wave, my suggestion would be head out today…..

an update:

We just had a wave to come through Forrest City and completely iced over all streets and roads……Several accidents on I-55 between Jonesboro exit and Memphis bridge….Most of accidents are one vehicle in the ditch……I will keep you posted as I gather info.

Arkansas Jrs. 18, 161, 15s, 131,

Bad Weather Policy:
It is the decision of each coach and/or club whether their team should attempt to travel to a tournament in bad weather. However, MLK 2010 will not be cancelled due to a bad weather. Teams deciding not to attend MLK 2010 tournament  will not receive a refund of their tournament entry fee. In addition, those teams must notify the Memphis Metro prior to the tournament that they will not participate or they may be subject to further monetary sanctions.

Tournament Web Site--  go to AES site for team play & ref schedules

Parking & Drop-Off may be a challenge--suggest you arrive at Parking ONE HOUR before scheduled match time (yep, that might be 7:00 a.m) If you are playing in the afternoon wave, parking may be a problem so arrive early enough to get parked, get in the facility, find your court, etc.

Directions to Cook Convention Center parking garage entrance on Front Street