Elite Spring Thaw 2024

Welcome to the Elite Spring Thaw!

Elite Spring Thaw Teams,

On behalf of Kings Hammer Soccer Club, we would like to welcome you to Cincinnati for the 2024 Elite Spring Thaw. We are looking forward to a fun and competitive weekend of soccer! The Elite Spring Thaw has become one of the top pre-season spring tournaments for the highest level U8-U19 teams in the Midwest. All tournament games are played on turf making this event attractive to teams of all levels! This tournament is one of the most competitive tournaments in the region with over 270 teams participating annually from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Canada. In this event guide, you will find all the information you need for this year’s event including links to schedules, facility maps, and local area attractions to visit while you are in town. Please take a moment to look through the guide. We also ask that you forward this link to all of your players and families, so they have this information for the weekend. The link is mobile friendly as well so they can pull it up on their phone and refer to it throughout the event.

Thank you for choosing the Elite Spring Thaw. We are excited about the great competition this year and look forward to hosting your team in Cincinnati!

Tyler DeZarn & Craig Schroeder
Kings Hammer Event Directors

Questions

If you have any questions prior to arriving, please feel free to reach out. Good luck and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Tournament Contacts

Schedules, Bracketing, Coach Conflicts, & Field Changes: Craig Schroeder | cschroeder@kingshammer.com
Registration/Admin, Logistics, Volunteers, Hospitality & College Coach Registration: Tyler DeZarn | tdezarn@kingshammer.com | Lisa McIver | lisa@kingshammer.com
Sponsorships & Club Relations: Dave McIver | dave@kingshammer.com
Housing/Hotels: PYB | lindsay@pybsports.com

Schedules

For the most up-to-date schedules for the Elite Spring Thaw please click here. This is also where you will find all showcase results and standings. Please make sure you double check your game times and locations.

Facilities

Reminders:

Teams playing at Warren County Sports Park: Use the following address to enter: 3021 Greentree Road, Lebanon, OH 45036. If you are playing on Fields 17 or 18, please use Gate 4 when entering and exiting the complex. If you are playing on Fields 15 and 16, please use Gate 2 for entering and exiting the facility. It is imperative that you DO NOT WALK on the grass fields on your way to your game field. They will be marked as such.
Teams playing at Town and Country, VOA, and Riverside Park may not warm up on the grass fields at those locations. Those fields are closed until early April.
Teams playing at Bishop Brossart may not have cleats on the track.
Teams playing at NKU Intramural field, the first field when you walk in is #1. The next field is #2 and then #3 will be the field in the back right corner.
Teams playing at Riverside Park, the fields are numbered 1 and 2. 1 is closest to the very large parking lot and the press box. Field 2 is the far one with the smaller parking lot. 2A will be the field closest to the road and 2B will be the field closest to the trees.

Team Check-In

Since team check-in took place online in advance, you do not need to check-in when you arrive at the fields. However, please make sure to bring your player cards to each game.

Athletic Trainers

Trainers will be located at Warren County Sports Park, Voice of America Park, Riverside Park, NKU Intramural Fields, and Town & Country throughout the weekend in case your child needs to be evaluated for an injury. In addition, trainers will not be able to run ice to fields so please visit the medic/trainer if you need ice.

If there are no athletic trainers at your location, please feel free to have your athlete seen by the Athletic training staff at the nearest facility where we have on-site staff.

Awards

Awards will be given to the champion and finalist in each division following each Championship Match. They will be handed out by the site coordinator or referee at your field. If you are in a group of five where there is no championship match, we will try to deliver medals to your field if we are able to determine 1st and 2nd prior to all games in the group finishing. If we are not able to do so, we will mail them to you.

Weather Updates

In the event of inclement weather, we will update our website with details on the field status. If anything changes from a weather or field standpoint for the weekend we will inform all Coaches and Team Managers as listed in the GotSport system. Please make sure to update your team contact information if you have not already done so.

Event Merchandise

Pre-Order your Elite Spring Thaw merchandise today! Tournament merchandise will be available onsite at Voice of America Park and Warren County Sports Park starting at 9 am Saturday and Sunday. Online pre-orders begin on March 7^th and will end on March 14^th. There are options to ship to home or pick it up at the merchandise tent for both locations starting at 9am on Saturday. To preorder, please visit the following link.

On-Site Merchandise Tents:

Voice of America MetroPark – 7850 VOA Park Dr West Chester, OH 45069. The merchandise tent will be located by the turf fields.
Warren Co Sports Park – 3021 Greentree Rd Lebanon, OH 45036. The merchandise tent will be located in the parking lot near grass fields 8 & 10.

Find us on Social Media

We would love to see your pictures at the event. Tag us on the platforms below or send photos to info@kingshammer.com.

Explore Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky

We have included links below to the Cincinnati CVB, Bulter County CVB, Warren County CVB and Northern KY CVB so you can plan your weekend prior to arriving in town. These links include information on things to do (entertainment, attractions, shopping, outdoors) as well as dining recommendations.