ECI
Dynamite FAQs

The intent is for this section to be a ever growing list of those little questions that come up concerning ECI Dynamite/M-80's.

Email us with others you can think of that are not here!

Red type is updated information as of 12/14/2014.  The rest will be updated very soon!

What does the ECI stand for?

East Central Illinois

Is there a connection between HIS Place Sports and ECI Dynamite?

Randy Skaggs is the both the owner of HIS Place Sports, and the Head Coach/ Program Director for all ECI Dynamite/M-80's teams.

How much do you travel thru the summer season?

Generally there are 6-8 tournaments per summer.  Once again, it depends on the players age division.  We try to travel mostly to tournaments that have game opportunities for all age divisions- but occasionally this is not possible so that may mean one division ends up with an extra tournament during the year.  Tournaments begin in late April or early May for the younger teams and early June for the older teams.  The season ends the middle of July for the boys teams and the end of July for the girls teams because of the national tournament.  We do have a weekend or two off during that 7/8 week period.  The schedule page will be updated soon!

Where do you go?

It varies depending on the tournaments that Coach Skaggs feels we will be best suited for. Often its not about a win, but about competing against other teams that may already be at the level of play that our team is striving for.  In the past we have traveled to Peoria, Eureka, & Springfield.  Cape Girardeau, MO is one the schedule every year and is usually the furthest tournament we travel to.  Once again, feel free to check out this years schedule pages to see where we plan to be.

How expensive are the hotels?

We book rooms in blocks so that our players and their families can all be at the same place- but also to help us get a good rate.  It is often hard to choose lodging, especially in a town we may not have traveled to before.  Price aside, there are some requirements that we try our best to meet to make things easier on everyone.
Some of these are: 

Location- Of course no one wants to drive 30 minutes to a ball field if we can avoid it!

Free Breakfast- Many of us are traveling with families so this is a huge money saver, but also a big convenience for players who have to get to the field early.

Double Rooms- We need a lot of these to accommodate 5 divisions of teams.

Pool- Not a total necessity, but we do try to stay where there is one to give the players some easy opportunity for down time.

Laundry Facility- Have to have some way to wash those uniforms!

That being said, and taking into account that normally the area of the tournament is totally sold out once we arrive (meaning that it is impossible to move to another hotel if the one we are at is unacceptable), we try to stick with major, well known chain hotels.  For the 2007 season are rates range from $65 to $125 per room per night. 
The average rate is in the $85-$90 range.  So for a 2 night tournament lodging is usually around $175. 

What other costs should I expect?

Other than Lodging, transportation and food are the other main costs.  Occasionally there is an entrance fee into the tournament, and of course there are tournament shirts, etc. available for purchase if you choose to buy them.  To keep our cost reasonable and also to help with our players schedules teams often eat meals together.  Team parents will plan a easy to travel with menu and everyone pays $10 per family (depends on meal plan and # of days etc.) to cover the costs
of the food.  Lunches are usually provided for in this menu, as well as dinner one of the nights.  Running out for fast food lunches (or concession stand lunches) can get very costly and often our players do not have the time between games so setting up lunch has become a popular option for our families.  Your weekend costs can be kept to a minimum with good planning.

Do I travel with my player?

Absolutely!  Players are expected to stay with their parent.  If for some reason you are unable to go one weekend, you may be able to make arrangements for your player to stay with another family.  Written permission must be given and your are expected to cover a portion of the hosting families room cost for that weekend, as well as provide your player with the necessary money for food and drinks.

What can parents help with?

A lot! Parents often help the coaches (or may themselves end up being a coach), every tournament their are numerous responsibilities that parents take care of:

Team Thank You notes to be given to tournament director

Food/Meal Planning

Food/Meal Transportation

Food Purchase

Team Laundry

Also our parents help get trading bags ready for the Nationals, and take and submit pictures, etc. to be put up on the website.  Coach Skaggs often says that you become a parent to every girl on your team during the season...this is very true, and there is always something needing to be done!

If you are interested in helping in any way, please email Randy Skaggs at ECICoach@aol.com.

 What's the deal with all the push ups?

You'll see them a lot and for various reasons.  Players who slip and use the dreaded "Ya" instead of "Yes" will be doing them, last runner in from the field will be doing them too!  Often the player you see doing the push up may not even be the guilty party- or you may see a few girls all drop to do a push up- that is because our players are encouraged to pick each other up whenever they can.  What better way to show your teammate that you've got their back than to do their push up for them?  Its little things like that that set the ECI Dynamite teams apart from the others.

 ECI Dynamite Website

How to find what your looking for...as well as a few things you didn't even know you needed to find!

Bulletin Board:  You may have noticed that on many pages you have a drop down menu box to choose different divisions, locations, etc.  The same is true for the Bulletin Board page.  We've done this so that you can quickly access just the information that pertains to your division.   Sometimes additional information comes thru for a tournament or specific game that can not be accommodated on the scheduling page, that information will be listed here.  There is also a board for items pertaining to the Urbana Rec league.  Whenever possible we will cross reference information to make sure it is not missed, so don't be surprised if you see an entry listed more than one board.  Also note that there will often be a date and time stamp on the entry so that you can more easily determine if it is a entry that you have not yet seen.

Schedules:  Certainly one of the most important spots on the site.  When you access the schedules page you will see the 10U division schedule first.  Look above the banner ad and you will see "TEAM:" with a drop down menu so that you can select the team you need to view.  There is also an "All Teams" option if you wish to see the full program schedule.  Watch for little blue icons with an "i" on them, they'll be found next to the day- if you click on them you will be shown any additional information that you may need for that particular game.  This is where your field arrival time will be listed.  Information will be updated as soon as we get it (times, more detailed field info,etc.).  Also notice that the locations are clickable- when you click on them you will be routed to directions or a link associated with that particular location. (At this time the option is down-but is being worked on by our host 4/9).  If you notice something that doesn't appear correct- please email us immediately so that we can research it and update if necessary.  At the top of the schedule page you can also choose a printable schedule and/or you can search the schedule- which is great if you would like to just see the games that will be played at one location!

Directions:  Find directions to our particular locations (still be added), as well as links to our hotels and other locations that we think may be important.  If you know of something that should be added-feel free to email us the info!

Handouts:  Coach Skaggs is really excited about this!  Yes, now you can download and print items directly from our site.  We'll add just about anything that we can get our hands on here so that if you want it you can easily get to it without having to wait for someone to send it to you!

Forum:  A basic message board- anything can be posted here- questions, information, deals on equipment you have found, lost and found items, etc.  We are hoping that enough people will participate in the forum so that the information will stay fresh and be a help to those who might have questions about all things ECI.

Photo Albums:  The plan is to travel with equipment this year so that we can update photos, game results etc.  Any pictures you might take that you would like us to add- we will be so grateful to get them (Photographers...we certainly are not!).  Just email them to us and we'll get them on.

Chat:  Yes, we have our own chat available.  You do have to be a registered Leaguelineup member to access it (we chose option that for security), but you can registered quickly (not 3 pages of info!) and its free and we can confirm that we registered over 2 weeks ago and have received no junk mail, so why not do it??

Join our Email List!!  When you enter your address it enables us to send an email out when something big has been updated or something needs to go out to everyone at once.  If Coach has your email address...please join the list here too so that we won't miss you as we start transition to using the web site more than email for communication.

Sponsors:  Businesses can purchase a banner ad for a $25 fee.  The HIS Place sports ad is an example of this type of ad.  It is clickable- so when you click it is will take you to the business website.  In addition, businesses who have a banner ad can have a coupon created too!

Search:  Search option can be found next to the Guestbook near the top of the Welcome page.

We hope you enjoy the site and find it a great tool to keep up to date on the ECI Dynamite program.  Feel free to give the address out to family members who may want to take a look and keep up with the teams progress thru out the season!