What is Stay and Play?
The Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier is using the Stay and Play Policy again this year. Each team will need to book a minimum of 15 room nights. (1 room night is equal to 1 room for 1 night, so 15 room nights would be equal to 5 rooms for 3 nights).
In order for a non-local team to be accepted into the tournament, they need to be utilizing an Approved Tournament Hotel booked through The THS Company. This means that you may not book the hotel directly, through another travel agent, or through a 3rd party such as Travelocity, Expedia, etc. All rooms must be booked through THS.
Northern Lights has contracted with the THS Company to manage reservations and approve all hotels being used for this event.
Hotel reservations can only be booked online. THS will have Customer Support Specialists available in their Call Center (908-979-0928) to provide support and answer any housing questions that you may have, but please note that the agents will not be able to book your rooms over the phone.
Teams and parents may book hotel rooms for this year’s events starting on October 15, 2024 at 10:00 am Central Time / 11:00 am Eastern Time by first registering for the tournament and paying the entry fee. You then can make hotel reservations on the THS website by going to this link. Reservations cannot be made until you have entered the event and paid the entry fee.
Approved Hotel Lists
Below is a list of the hotels you may view prior to booking. Reservations may not be made through these links. These links will become active once the information is available.
Click Here for January 31 – Feb. 2, 2025 Approved Hotels List
Click Here for March 21 – 23, 2025 Approved Hotels List
Click Here for March 28 – 30, 2025 Approved Hotels List
How It Helps
Without Stay and Play, you would likely be spending much more money on local hotels or having to drive even further to the venue to get a reasonable hotel rate. Stay and Play enables us to provide room blocks to teams at discounted prices at hotels close to the Convention Center (most within walking distance!)
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Buyouts and Waivers to Stay & Play
It is not possible to “Buyout” from the Stay & Play policy.
It is not possible to be Waivered from the Stay & Play policy. (Local teams see below.)
The Stay & Play policy is in place to help us control the hotel rates for all participants. See the above section “How It Helps”.
If you have a specific hotel you wish to stay in, and it is not on our list, please contact The THS Company and they will work with you.
Hotels not on our approved list were most likely excluded due to high prices, or because of complaints/poor conditions experienced by previous participants.
Local Teams
The Northern Lights Stay and Play Policy has an exemption for teams which are in the local Minneapolis area.
The definition of “Local” is a team which is within 50 miles of the Minneapolis Convention Center.
A team’s home location will be established by one or more of the following items:
- The team’s hometown as indicated in their club or team’s name
- The address of the team’s office
- The address of the team’s club director
- The address of the team’s head coach
- The addresses of players on the team
- The primary practice location of the team
- The high school the team may be associated with
- Other publications or social media which indicates the location of the club/team
A club/team that has less than 80% of its players within the 50 mile limit is not considered a local team.
A club/team that attempts to use an address within the 50 mile limit for the purposes of claiming to be a local team will not be granted “Local” status.
Northern Lights staff will make the final determination of a teams “Local” status
If you have any questions about your team’s status under this policy, please e-mail us at [email protected].
Who is THS?
THS or Tournament Housing Services is the company Northern Lights has contracted with to handle all reservations and approve all hotels being used for this event.
If you have any problems or questions, please contact THS, not the Northern Lights office. Clicking on the logo below will take you to their webpage.