FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

FOR LAS VEGAS WORLDS​

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THINGS FIRST... THIS IS A WORLD SERIES EVENT WITH HUNDREDS OF TEAMS. IN ORDER TO KEEP THINGS PROFESSIONAL AND RESPECTFUL, OUR UMPIRES AND STAFF HAVE BEEN TOLD TO NOT TOLERATE ANY ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR (VERBAL OR PHYSICAL) OR ANY UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT INCLUDING:

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• NO “F” bombs

• NO drinking or smoking at any time in or around the dugouts or on the field of play

• NO throwing the bat

• NO taunting

• NO loud or vulgar music inside the parks 

• NO verbal or physical altercations

• NO out of control fans (Coaches must be 100% in control their fans)

(Any violations to these rules could result in immediate ejection from the game and/or the tournament. Warnings may or may not be given as this statement is your warning. The NCS Director at your park has the right to remove any team or players at any time for any violations.)

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There are also no paper brackets out at the fields so you must check the website frequently for updates to game times, scores, etc.

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​HOW DO WE FIND OUT  THE BALANCE WE OWE FOR THE TOURNAMENT?

 

Balances are always available through the www.playncs.com/slowpitch website under your team's profile. All your team's information is there including your roster, results of past events and also payments. Click the PAYMENT TAB to see what was owed for the event, what you've already paid, and the balance you still owe. If you paid a deposit only, your adult team balance is $325 due in CASH only at the fields before your 1st game. If you are a Senior team your balance would be $495 cash due before 1st game at fields.

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​WHERE DO WE GO TO CHECK IN AND GET OUR BALLS?

 

Checking in and getting your balls are done at the park where you play your first game. NCS will have a merchandise booth set up and that’s where you'll want to go. This is also where you will pay any outstanding fees owed (CASH ONLY). ALL FEES MUST BE PAID BEFORE YOUR FIRST GAME OR YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO A FIRST GAME FORFEIT! 

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​(Your whole team doesn't need to be in attendance. Only one representative needs to be there to check your team in and pay) 

 

***GET YOUR DEPOSIT IN BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER TO BE SAFE AND SAVE!*

 

 

WHAT KIND OF BALLS ARE ALLOWED?

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The only balls allowed in the Las Vegas World Series are ONXY for adults and BOOM +/ ONYX for senior play

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We will have NCS APPROVED balls for sale at each field.
Please don't drive to other fields to purchase balls because the TD's can only sell balls to the teams playing at their own fields. 

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WHAT KIND OF BATS CAN WE USE?

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All bats must have new or older USSSA, ASA-USA or NSA stamp (220 compression and 240 compression bats are ok)

No fastpitch bats, baseball bats, or cheater bats allowed. We don't have a bat ban list like other associations.

*** Senior Bats can only be used in the Senior Division ***

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WHAT FIELDS ARE DIRT AND WHICH FIELDS ARE TURF?

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The majority of the fields used for the Worlds Series are dirt and grass except for the following parks:

• Big League Dreams has a turf infield and grass outfield

• Shadow Rock and Desert Breeze both have dirt infields and turf outfields

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN IT SAYS WE ARE PLAYING IN A RED BRACKET OR A BLUE BRACKET?

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If your division has enough teams to be broken into two separate brackets, you'll show up as either playing in the red bracket or the blue bracket of your division. The teams that make the Championship Game of their colored bracket will be playing for a chance to make it to the one game, winner-take-all Division Championship. So... The losers of the Red and Blue Bracket Championships will tie for 3rd place and the two teams that win the Red and Blue Bracket Championships will play one game for all the marbles (it does not matter if one team is undefeated and one team is not in the final Division Championship... it is only one game).

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WHY ARE SOME GAMES TIMES IN RED ON THE BRACKET AND SOME ARE IN BLACK?

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If your game time is showing up in BLACK TYPE on your bracket, the loser of your game has another game somewhere in the bracket. If your game time is showing up in RED TYPE on your bracket, the losing team is out of the tournament.

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WHY DOES MY BRACKET HAVE A SILVER BRACKET SECTION AND HOW DOES THAT WORK?

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Teams that start the tournament 0 - 2 will drop down into a single elimination SILVER BRACKET. The winner of the SILVER BRACKET will be awarded a small awards package.

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WHAT DO I DO IF I NEED TO ADD A PLAYER RIGHT BEFORE THE START OF THE EVENT?

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Emergency roster adds will be available all the way up to December before the event starts. After that, rosters will be locked. Email jay.zetz@playncs.com with your name, team name, state, and division along with your contact info  - You have to let us know when you're done adding your player in the NCS system so we can check the added player. We will email you back to give you our approval or denial and then we'll re-lock your roster. If you don't let us know when the new player is added, we will not know to approve him / her. If you are caught adding a player that wasn't approved or if for some reason your roster wasn't locked and you add a player after the start of your first game, you will automatically be kicked out of the event. NO EXCEPTIONS!​

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WHAT DO I DO IF I LOSE PLAYERS AND I AM SHORTHANDED?​

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Post on social media and any Facebook softball sites your team's needs. We have found this to be the easiest and best way to find players willing to join a team for this event. If that doesn't work, email jay.zetz@playncs.com with your name, team name, state, and division along with your contact info and we will email players and also post on social media to help you find players.

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HOW DO I KNOW IF OUR TEAM IS 100% LEGAL TO PLAY IN THE DIVISION WE SIGNED UP FOR SO THAT WE CAN FEEL COMFORTABLE BOOKING OUR TRIP FOR WORLDS?

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We will be attempting to go through every team's roster prior to the event to make sure all teams are legal but with over 400 teams, we may not be able to check each and every one of them. Ultimately the COACH/MANAGER is responsible for ensuring your team is 100% legal. Make sure you check our roster and classification rules to make sure you're good to go. If you'd like to get your team approved as early as possible so you feel confident in spending money on your team's trip to Las Vegas, please feel free to email us at ncs.davidgraham@gmail.com . Make sure your team and players are signed up on our website and make sure all your players have approved their roster spot on your team by replying to the email that was sent to them from NCS. If they haven't approved via the link that was emailed to them, they will show as pending on your roster. Once all your players approve their roster spot, then email us your team name, state, and division and we will check your roster and email you back to let you know if you are approved.​

 

NEW FOR 2026 - "ELITE" RANKING. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

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ADULT DIVISIONS - If you see "ELITE" next to a player's ranking, that means that particular player can't play any lower than the division they are ranked which also means they can not be used as a chip in a lower division. For example, a "D" ELITE player can't be used as a chip in the "E" division and they can only play "D" or higher.

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SENIOR DIVISIONS - If you see a player that has "ELITE" next to their ranking, they can't play in a division lower than their rank. For example, if you see a player ranked as MAJOR ELITE, they can't play in the AAA division even as a chip. They can only play MAJOR and above.

 

WHY DO I SEE MAJOR, AAA, AA PLAYERS PLAYING IN THE “E” AND “D” DIVISIONS? 

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Our website shows the rating of players including those that play in our Senior Division.

Major, AAA and AA ratings are in general equal to "REC" “E” and “D” players in our Adult Divisions. Our programmers are working on dual ratings for those that play in both our Senior and Adult divisions so we are hoping those will be in place before the start of this event. ELITE does not mean illegal example D Elite  = D just can't play E or below 

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PLAYER RE-CLASSIFICATION REMINDER

We love the passion and energy every player brings, and we want to keep all divisions fair and competitive. For example, if you’re already competing successfully with a "C" team in another association, please don’t attempt to reclassify down to "D" or "E". Those requests won’t be approved and only slow the process.

 

Play where you belong, embrace the challenge, and help keep every division exciting and fun.

DO I GET MY DEPOSIT / ENTRY FEE BACK IF I HAVE TO PULL OUR TEAM OUT AFTER THE NOVEMBER 1st DEADLINE OR AFTER THE EVENT IS SOLD OUT? 

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NO... Not only do you not get your deposit back but you will also still owe the remaining balance of your entry fee . The NOVEMBER 1st deadline is the deadline to be able to pull your team out of the event with a refund  MINUS A $100 ADMIN FEE so any team that pulls out AFTER the posted deadline date is still on the hook for the full entry fee. Failure to pay your entry fee will result in you and all your players being banned from ever playing in an NCS tournament again. 

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ARE THERE ROSTER CHECKS AT THE EVENT?

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Yes, roster checks can happen at any time. All players must have their legal photo I.D. / Drivers License on themselves at all times that 100% match the name and DOB on the roster. If a roster check happens and a player doesn't have their I.D. on them at the time of the check, the team will forfeit the game immediately for having an illegal player in the game.

 

WHEN DO ROSTERS FREEZE?  

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Rosters normally freeze a week before the event. If a roster is accidentally left unfrozen, the roster would technically be frozen at the first pitch of a team's first game. No additional adds can be made and if they are, that or those players would be illegal and if caught, would be kicked out of the event and the team would forfeit that game.

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HOW DO I CONDUCT A PROTEST OF A PLAYER/TEAM AT THE 2025 NCS WORLD SERIES?

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Due to a recent programming error by our IT team, some of the rankings you see on our site are incorrect. They were working on a new onboarding ranking program and they ended up mistakingly changing several hundred player rankings to higher than what they actually are. If you STRONGLY FEEL a player or players are playing in the wrong division (meaning you know the player(s) personally and you 100% KNOW they are sandbagging), talk to your site tournament director to file an official protest. Keep in mind, protests and illegal players are not always cut and dry. We will also use our common sense when making a protest ruling so please keep this in mind. We hate sandbagging more than anything and if someone is illegal, we want them out of the event but we will not boot someone unless we are 100% positive they are cheating. The onsite Tournament Director's decision will be final in all cases so please be careful when protesting someone you aren't 100% sure are cheating. (If you feel the TD was wrong in his/her ruling, you can call the NCS National Office starting Tuesday following the event.)

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HOW TO FILE AN OFFICIAL PROTEST

(MUST BE DONE BEFORE THE END OF THE THIRD INNING OR BEFORE THE GAME STARTS):

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1. After you determine that the player(s) in question is not legal for the devision you are playing in, walk up to your site director and say you want to protest a player(s). 

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2. Explain the situation and why you want to protest that player (i.e. say we know this player from back home or from another tournament or we saw them playing at another field, etc.)

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3. Hand the protest fee of $200 to the director.

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4. The director will walk to the field and conduct a protest investigation. If you win the protest, you will get your $200 protest fee back. If you are wrong and the player is deemed to be legal, you will lose your fee.

 

THE THREE TYPES OF PROTESTS THAT WE ALLOW ARE: 

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• Checking (1) player that you know is ranked higher than the allowable player matrix (for example... a protest of a “C” player playing illegally in the “E” division. You would point out the player in question, we would ask for their ID, and then check the player to see if they are legal or not based on our rules. If they are found to be illegal, the team will forfeit that game, the illegal player will be kicked out of the tournament, and the team may continue in the tournament)

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• Checking chip players that you know are above the allowable limit of chip players (for example... a protest of a team having too many “D” chip players playing in an “E” tournament. You would point out the four players in question, we would ask for all their ID’s, and then check each of them to see if they were counted as chip players based on our rules. If we find the team is in violation of having too many chip players, the team will forfeit that game, will be asked to remove a chip player from their roster, and the team will be allowed to continue in the tournament)

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• Full roster ID check to see if all players are listed on the roster before the first game (this is NOT an online player ranking protest) (for example... a protest to prove a player playing in the game is not on the roster that is posted online either publicly or in our back-end at playncs.com. We would pull the roster, ask for all of the ID’s for the players, and make sure they are all listed on the roster. If we find players in the game that are not on the roster, the team will forfeit that game, and the team will be allowed to continue in the tournament with the players that are on the official roster).

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LASTLY.... If you have any knowledge of a team that is purposefully sandbagging days, weeks, even months before the World Series, please reach out as soon as you are aware. Don't wait until the event starts to let us know. We want those teams to stay home! Also, it saves us time, effort, and team's protest fees if we can catch these cheaters before they get to Vegas. It's much easier to look up illegal teams on a home computer before the event than to do it out at the fields on a cell phone when games are going on. Do us all a favor and help us keep our events as cheater-free as possible.

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DO WE HAVE TO TURN IN A LINE-UP AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME?

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If the umpire or opposing team asks for a copy of your line-up, you must give it to them immediately so have one ready to go before every game.

 

TEAM UNIFORMS MANDATORY?

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No but please do your best to look like a team. No need to be exact, full matching, etc. We just ask that there be clear individual #'s on the back of the shirt/jersey.  GET UNIFORM DEALS FROM OUR PARTNER - GEAR FROM Z - JUST MENTION LAS VEGAS WORLDS TO GET THE BEST DEALS 916-730-5343 ASK FOR SKYLAR

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CAN I PLAY ON MORE THAN ONE TEAM IN THE TOURNAMENT?

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You can only play on one team of the same gender. For example... if you're playing Men’s D, you can’t play on another Mens D team  or any Mens E team etc. If you're playing Womens D, you can't play on another Womens D team or on any Womens  E team etc.

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You CAN play on a Mens D team or a Womens D team and ALSO play on a COED team (No Mens or Womens E players can play in the COED OPEN division)

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You CAN play on a Mens team or a Womens team or a COED team and ALSO play on a SENIOR team.

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You CAN also play COED OPEN on Thursday and Friday and COED D on Saturday and Sunday as long as you fit the COED D matrix

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Please keep in mind... The different division's times will conflict. Divisions will also be at different parks throughout the Vegas area so it will be extremely difficult to play on two separate teams. Please don't call and ask us to move venues or game times to fit your schedule. There are so many variables including curfews, park base distances, and most of all park capacities that make fitting 450 teams into this event almost impossible (but we somehow make it happen for all of you).

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DO WOMEN COUNT AS CHIPS IN NCS COED?

YES but as of 2026, you now get (3) MENS chips AND (3) WOMENS chips per team.

 

WILL YOU HAVE FOR SALE ITEMS AT THE PARKS?

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Yes... Each park will be selling balls and great swag like jerseys, jackets, hoodies, hats, beanies, batting gloves and more!

These are sought after items every year so get them as soon as possible before they are sold out. Sizes start to diminish from Day 1 of the event so get what you want immediately upon arrival at your park or it will be gone before you know it.

 

IS THERE A HOME RUN DERBY?

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Yes... stay tuned for details, times & Location​

 

WHAT IF A TEAM NO-SHOWS DURING THE EVENT?

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If a team NO-SHOWS and you receive a forfeit victory, this does give your team a win and counts toward your minimum game guarantee.

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IS THERE A MANAGER'S MEETING?

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No... Enjoy Vegas and read all rules, rankings information, and EVENT INFO pages on our website.

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HOW ARE THE AWARDS DETERMINED? (Example.... Not always exact)

 

We award (15) individual items in our awards packages along with extra MVP, All-Tourney, and Coaches awards.

           - With divisions of 5 - 19 teams, we will award team packages to two teams.

           - With divisions of 20 - 29 teams, we will award team packages to three to four teams.

           - With divisions of 30 or more teams, we will award team packages to four teams.

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EXTRA INFO

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PAYMENT TYPES

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For payments, we DO NOT take Venmo, Zelle, CashApp, PayPal, etc. You can pay your entry fee by check as long as we receive it by October 20th. Otherwise, you must pay your entry fee online under your team account at www.playncs.com.

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Already Entered wan't to send check to lock in a spot?

Send and write check out to:

ALL WORLD SPORTS -

MAKE SURE TO SEND NOTE WITH PAYMENT EXPLAINING WHAT ITS FOR -TEAM NAME, EVENT NAME ETC

1079 Sunrise Ave Suite B-330

Roseville, CA 95661

 

BRACKETS

We don't use paper brackets at the fields. All times and results are posted at our www.playncs.com website

 

UMPIRES

​We use one man system but we always try to use a two man system for semi’s and finals (not guaranteed, but very likely).

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FIRST AID KITS (We Do Not Supply)

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Please bring your own First Aid Kits, ice packs, and any other safety related items (we suggest purchasing team insurance to be safe).

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TOILET PAPER

​We want to let you know that some of these parks don't do a great jop keeping up with the toilet paper supply throughout the day on the weekends so do yourself a favor and bring a roll or two out to your parks, just in case. You don't want to get caught with your pants down, if you know what we mean. 

 

FIELD PREPS

​We usually do initial full preps each day and then just quick preps/water when we can (time permitted)

 

RULES/RANKINGS

Visit www.playncs.com and read up before entering any NCS tournament as once you enter you are agreeing to our rules and policy.

 

TRAFFIC INFORMATION

​We can’t postpone games because of any freeway closures or heavy traffic. Plan on heavy traffic all weekend and leave to your park early.

 

PARKING LOTS

​Don’t leave valuables in your car. Vegas, as in most cities, has some great areas but they also have some not-so-nice areas where petty crime is a possibility.

 

FOOD AND DRINKS

​BLD and Arroyo Grande have snack bars. All the other parks may or may not have them so feel free to bring your own food and drinks to any park except the two mentioned above.

 

ILLEGAL TEAMS / PLAYERS

​At any time, if you get kicked out of our tournament for having an illegal player, your team will not get a refund.

If you have not received an email stating your roster is approved before the start of the event, you can be kicked out of the event at any time.​​​

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HOST HOTELS - Coming Soon....

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USE OF VIDEO FOR UMPIRE CALLS

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We will not use video to determine calls. You are welcome to send the video after the event to jay.zetz@playncs.com for use in coaching our umpires for future events.

 

PLAYING LOCATIONS BELOW

​Get directions now for the park/parks you are playing at and forward this information to your teammates. 

​See playncs.com Las Vegas Worlds EVENT INFO PAGE for exact locations per division.

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Best guess for division locations as of 

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Arroyo Grande / Russell Rd / Sunset Park 4 

Shadowrock / Vets Memorial 

BLD 

Desert Breeze 

Doc Romeo

Hemingway / (Boulder City  Vets) 

Hollywood 

Sunset Park 2 / Warm Springs / Aviary Park 

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