Hotel Accommodations: A large number of hotel rooms have been blocked in each host community. All hotel information is listed on our website under "Hotel Information." While you are welcome to contact hotels on your own, you may find that many of them will be “filled” because of the extensive number of rooms we will block.
When making reservations, please follow the instructions online. Accommodations for different grades/genders are made by local convention and visitors bureaus or by our staff. Please request rooms blocked for “Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament (WSICT)” or reference “The Great Northwest Basketball League.” Be sure to put the rooms in your team’s (or coach’s) name so that the hotel does not inadvertently give them to someone else requesting WSICT rooms. We recommend that you call hotels between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on a weekday, because you are more likely to talk to knowledgeable staff than you will on evenings and weekends.
Rosters, Liability Waivers/Concussion Agreements: All teams that play in the Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament are required to have the following two items on file with our office at least four weeks in advance of the event at their grade/gender level. These items will be explained in more detail in the invitation.
All coaches and assistant coaches are also required to complete the online Waiver/ Concussion Agreement. The Coach Concussion Agreement has been made a part of the Liability Waiver/Concussion Agreement – so if you have signed this document for your child, you are good to go. If you are coaching and do not have a child participating, please complete the Liability Waiver/Concussion Agreement form using your own name instead of the player name.
Liability Waivers/Concussion Agreements must be submitted for each player and each coach listed on your roster or playing in the event. To submit Liability Waiver/Concussion forms online, have each parent from the team visit our website at gnbl.org, then click on "Waiver/Concussion Info" in the top menu bar. From there you can follow the online instructions. If you have questions during the process, please contact Jen Myer at jen@gnbl.org.
If your team is a member of The Great Northwest and you have already submitted Liability Waivers/ Concussion Agreements for all members of your 2023-2024 team who will be on your roster for the 2024 WSICT, you do not need to submit them a second time.
All Tournament Team: Since the first year we organized this tournament, the coaches elected an All Tournament Team, with separate teams for each division at each grade level. Award winners receive an individual award to memorialize their selection. Players named to the All Tournament Team in a given grade will be posted on the scoring results page for that grade/Division the Friday following each tournament.
Coaches are asked to nominate between three and five players from their roster who they feel have been the strongest players on their team all season. These players are the only individuals listed on the printed ballot for each team, with write-ins allowed for other players. At the event, we have a two-level selection process: 1) coaches voting for players from other teams based on strength of performance at the WSICT (you can’t vote for your own players on this portion of the ballot) and 2) a second process, where each coach rates the top performances on their own team after the event. Teams placing in the top quarter of that Division field are guaranteed one selection on the All Tournament Team. This two-pronged approach assures that top teams, with balanced rosters, receive recognition on the All Tournament Team. In those cases where it is a close vote (a tie or a one-vote differential) as to which one of two players on a given team should be placed on the All Tournament Team, we defer to the perspective of that team’s coach when making the selection. When the vote is not close (two or more vote differential), we solely follow the direction of the majority of opposition coaches.
We receive feedback about the All Tournament Team selection process after each WSICT. The biggest frustrations voiced by coaches were that they couldn’t watch all the teams in their division play in order to cast a more informed vote, and that they occasionally disagreed with opposing coaches about who on their own team most deserved to make the All Tournament Team. The latter issue we’ve already addressed, as best we can, as outlined above. As far as coaches not being able to watch the games of teams they don’t play, while we obviously don’t require coaches to do that before they vote, the opportunity to do so exists given the 1:15 and 2:30 breaks between games for all teams. However, even if every coach voted only for players on the opponents their team plays, the players that impressed most would still be the ones to make the All Tournament Team. The bottom line, however, is that the majority of coaches (over 80%) want to keep selecting the team. While not perfect, as it has evolved, we believe it is the fairest process possible.
As noted above, for the 2024 All Tournament Team selection process, each coach is required to nominate a minimum of three, and maximum of five, players to appear on the ballot. The deadline for submitting your All Tournament Team nominations is four weeks before the 2024 WSICT for your grade/gender (the same deadline as for Liability Waivers/Concussion Agreements and rosters).
Awards: The championship teams in each Division at each WSICT will receive a large team trophy, with smaller individual trophies for each team member. The trophies will read: “2024 Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament Champion.” Other teams receiving trophies will be as follows:
All individual players on teams receiving trophies for a place other than 1st will receive neck medallions. All individual players on teams not receiving a trophy will receive a large ribbon (2 ½" x 12"). All medallions and ribbons will be inscribed as follows: “2024 Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament, ‘x’ place.” We will provide 12 individual awards per team at the event (whether trophies, medallions or ribbons), but will provide extras after the event to teams with more than 12 players in attendance at the WSICT at no charge to that team.
Souvenir T-shirt and Sweatshirt Sales: State Tournament t-shirts and sweatshirts have been very popular souvenirs at past WSICTs. The 2024 t-shirts and sweatshirts will have a unique design to set them apart from previous seasons. For teams included in the 2024 WSICT field, coaches will receive information regarding how to order when they receive their acceptance email.
Press Releases: For the 2024 WSICT, all participants will be emailed a template to submit an individualized press release to their hometown newspapers telling of their participation in the 2024 WSICT and how they did.
Referrals: If you have suggestions of other teams in your community or area that we should consider for the WSICT, we'd appreciate receiving the contact person’s name and email address or phone number so that we can contact them.
Questions: Questions about getting an invitation to the Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament, pool construction, rules, and recommendations of other teams, the All Tournament Team and eligibility should be directed to: Terri Green at 715-386-4317 or terri@gnbl.org. Questions about hotel accommodations, liability waivers/concussion forms, rosters and submission of paperwork should go to Tracie Tilton at 715-749-9048 or tracie@gnbl.org.