When: Saturday, August 19th (Primary Date) or Saturday, August 26th (Rain Back-up date)
What: Six-a-side, cricket tournament infused with Oasis style fun played with a foam-filled tennis ball. Each innings will be 5 overs. We will have a summer picnic on the sidelines.
The tournament will include a family-friendly Informalz segment. Last year, participants in the Informalz ranged from toddlers to some very senior alumni. Refreshments will be provided.
Statutory Warning: Serious cricketers should leave their cricketing instincts at home (in the prelim rounds).
Who is Playing?
BITS alumni from classes ranging from 1975 to 2005 have already signed up. The first full team is a bunch of BITSians calling themselves HellRaizers, and they are coming from as far away as Cincinnati and Buffalo. They all get free DVDs courtesy of Pavilion Shop
The Tournament Director, Balaji, is a former Indian captain of the national U-17 side who played alongside Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble et. al.
Where: Rotary Field A, Duke Island Park, Bridgewater, NJ (Venue will be reconfirmed at least 1 week prior to the event)
How do we register?
Send your six-member entry with the following information to venu@dreamcricket.com Please note that we will safeguard the privacy of all registrants and their information WILL-NOT be passed along for purposes of Sales and Marketing. If any of the following information is missing, we may not be able to confirm the registrations.
1) Team name and captain
2) Full Name of each player (First name and Last name)
3) Against each name, please provide the following -
a) Indicate BITSian or non-BITSian
b) For BITSians, please indicate year of graduation or ID
c) For non-BITSian, please indicate age
d) E-mail id of each participant or phone contact
e) Level of play - arm-chair cricketer, entry-level, serious cricketer
Please note that we may request full address from each participant via e-mail at the time of confirming the registration.
I don't have a team (or I have a partial team), can I (we) play or just come to watch?
Sure. We will try and allot you to a team if you want to play. If you have an incomplete team, go ahead and send us the information as requested above and we will add team-members to make it a full team. If you want to come and watch, you are welcome but you will still need to register with us.
We have some non-BITSian friends, can they join our team?
Yes. But to qualify as a BITSian team, the team should have at least 3 BITSians.
Is the event co-ed?
Yes. The 2004 Player of the Tournament was a girl! And this event is kid-friendly. There is a complete children's play area adjoining the playground.
Registration Fee
Although registration is FREE, we urge all teams to donate $60 (more is definitely welcome) to support the various initiatives that BITSAA has launched in the past years. Please bring your donations to the venue.
Last year, we raised about $3000 for BITSunami from the cricket event alone. This year, you can help us exceed that amount so that we can sustain various BITSAA initiatives.
For more on the initiatives see bottom of this e-mail and please visit websites of BITSAA and BITSUNAMI
Prizes for registering
1) The team with the most interesting team name will receive a free SG Boundary Cricket bat courtesy of our equipment sponsor - Pavilion Shop. Please get creative (and keep them PG-13).
2) Youngest non-BITSian participant (male and female) will receive a free t-shirt from Pavilion Shop
3) Most recent BITSian participants (i.e. 2005 graduates or later) and most senior alumni in the tournament will both receive free Crease Clothing t-shirts (Five in all with slogans like "69-2. Not a bad position" "How is my driving? "Call 1800FetchThat." "Make Runs. Not War!" also courtesy of Pavilion Shop)
4) Early-bird prizes - First team to register will receive free India vs Pakistan 2006 3-DVD set thanks to Pavilion Shop
What are we playing for?
We are playing for fun and charity. Of course, while we are at it, we are also playing for a very impressive trophy that is being created for this tournament - a first for alumni-centric cricket in USA.
Merrill Lynch is the title sponsor of this trophy
Are there other prizes?
There are many other prizes for being truly skilled and for being totally useless with the bat and ball.
Other Prizes include :
Best Batting (man and woman) sponsored by Wissen Inc
Best Bowling sponsored by Radiant Systems Inc
Worst Fielding (most catches dropped); Best Fielding; Fastest Bowling; Worst Batting; Farthest Hit; Direct Hit; Most Enthu'd supporter; and Funniest Sledge.
A "Lack of cricketing spirit" award will be given to anyone that is not playing in the spirit of the noble game.
Volunteer Opportunities:
This is a massive undertaking (in keeping with our rich Oasis tradition). We need volunteers to make sure this event is a smashing success. From ground staff to umpires, photography to PR, from music to refreshments, we need volunteers of all kinds.
All former Oasis volunteers, union members, SMC folks, DOPY team members, theater and backstage folks - here is your opportunity to relive your BITS days. This time, it is for a cause. Please email venu@dreamcricket.com for more information.
Sponsorship Opportunities:
Merrill Lynch has agreed to contribute a significant amount to BITSAA International and become a title sponsor.
Dreamcricket.com (and its sister portal Pavilion Shop) are the equipment sponsor and early-bird prize sponsor for the third year running.
Radiant Systems (Radiant Systems Inc) and Wissen Inc (Wissen Inc) are continuing with their tradition of sponsoring BITSAA events and are underwriting the Best Batting Performance and Best Bowling awards.
We have sponsorship opportunities ranging from $250 to $1000 for individual awards, refreshments, and informal events. Please contact venu@dreamcricket.com for more information.
Use of proceeds:
All proceeds will be allocated to BITSAA selected charities including the East Coast Endowment and BITSunami - the BITSAA led initiative for long term relief and rehabilitation of Tsunami affected.
