The draw for the men’s division of the 2019 North American Invitational took place on August 31st in Prague, Czech Republic, at LCC Radotín’s Fall Tournament (Frank Menschner Cup).
Although there are no Czech Republic teams participating in the 2019 version of the NAI due to World Indoors, representatives from the Glasgow Clydesiders, NOAFE and the Toronto Tigers were on hand as Czech youth players from the Radotín Ants drew the pools. You can watch video of the draw on the LCC Radotín Youtube page:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y1ah7hlT-k
Gold A
Basom Bombers
Onondaga Fire
Toronto Tigers
Gold B
NAI Elite Prospects
Team Weekend
Young Guns
Gold C
Glasgow Clydesiders
Megasharks
Rochester Bats**
Gold D
Big Boys of Akwesasne
Seneca Marksmen*
Vermont Voyageurs
Silver A
NOAFE
Poland Heritage
Pittsburgh Kingz
Silver B
Brooklyn Dodgers
Denver Big Tunas
NAI House Team
Silver C
Hungary
Moon Bears
New Hampshire War Pigs
Silver D
Cleveland Demons
Music City
Syracuse Stingers**
The NAI has adopted the widely-praised tournament format of the Aleš Hřebeský Memorial, with 24 teams competing in Gold and Silver pools. The winners of the Gold pools advance directly to the quarterfinals. The second place teams from the Gold pools will compete against the winner of the Silver pools in play-in games (winners to quarterfinals, losers to 9-16 bracket).
All 24 men’s teams will be guaranteed 5-6 games and will compete to a final ranking. The third place teams from the Gold pools will compete against the second place teams from the Silver pools in the consolation play-in games (winners to 9-16 bracket, losers to 17-24 bracket).
The third place teams from the Silver pools will continue directly to the 17-24 bracket.
The schedule is expected to be released next week.
The draw for the youth divisions (U-18 and U-15) will take place after the number of final teams are determined. Youth teams are guaranteed a minimum of four games. The youth tournaments take place on Saturday and Sunday (October 12-13) with a handful of games taking place on Friday night (October 11).
NAI 2019 Tournament Format
*Update (Sep 5, 2019): The New Jersey Bootleggers have withdrawn from the men’s tournament and have been replaced by the Seneca Marksmen.
**Update (Oct 3, 2019): Graph Tex has withdrawn from the men’s tournament and have been replaced by the Rochester Bats in Pool Gold C. The Bats have been replaced by the Syracuse Stingers in Pool Silver D.
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