Tournaments - From the Outside

What's in it for the Organizers?

There are number of reasons why people put on a tournament. All hockey tournaments fall into 1 of 6 categories.

1. For financial gain - These types of tournament are held so that funds can be raised for a cause such as a charity, community or profit.
2. To honor someone - These tournaments are created as a tribute to a highly respected individual.
3. To invite teams from abroad to play each other - Invitational tournaments are held to have teams play each other from various regions and countries.
4. To enhance community festivities - Holiday tournaments are a good example of this. They are held in collaboration with a celebration such as Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter.
5. To decide on a champion - National and regional tournaments take the winning teams from their leagues and have them play against each other to determine an overall winner.
6. To profile talent - These tournaments give the opportunity to players to demonstrate their skills to evaluators, coaches and recruiters. Their design takes players from different areas and put them on various teams.

Getting Involved
Planning, organizing, scheduling, communicating and coordinating are some of the major tasks to ensure a tournament's success. To get these done takes time and manpower. If you would like to be a part of minor hockey, working a tournament is a great way to get involved.

Some of the jobs include:

• Tournament registration desk person
• Game statistician and tabulator
• Gate and ticket salesperson
• Security
• Team chaperone
• Welcoming person
• Fundraising and sponsorship sales
• Game star selection
• Media relations

Whether you volunteer or not, tournaments are a great way to meet new and exciting people from all over the world. Contact the tournament convenor and tell him or her you are interested to help out.

Set-up
Tournament organizers must have a clear vision of what the tournament is about. Everything surrounding the event is based on that vision. The look and feel, the teams involved, the sponsors and the events throughout the tournament will all stem from the vision.

The 5 Secrets to Successful Tournament Organizing
1. Plan your work and work your plan

1. Make a list of all tasks needed to make the tournament a success.
2. Create a list of roadblocks that could cause problems.
3. Write down what you can do to overcome the problems or what to do if they happen.
4. You now have a plan AND a back-up plan. Carry out the tasks on your plan. Effective planning means always having a back-up plan.

2. Sales & Marketing - offer a choice of 3 levels of sponsorships to companies

a) A premium or exclusive offering:

• limit it to a maximum of 4 sponsors
• Make it industry specific such as 1 beverage or 1 clothing company in the tournament

b) A value or package offering - provide multiple opportunities to give exposure to sponsors:

• tournament guide
• banners hanging during games
• a table to expose their products
• All star team name, etc.

c) Tournament exposure offering - sponsors choose only one of the following:

• hang a banner
• book ad
• giveaway to each team, etc.

3. Communication & Publicity

1. Teams - Advise teams of how the tournament will benefit them. Provide
   a clear step by step process to enhance their experience.
   Congratulate and thank them on their decision.
2. Media - Invite local paper sports and community journalists to
   participate in the game star selection and get featured stories. Extend
   communication to papers from the visiting teams.
3. Sponsors - Follow up in writing to confirm what was discussed.
4. Fans - Provide daily updates of what took place during the tournament.
5. Help and Support - Meet with everyone helping out. Acknowledge
   everyone and show appreciation. People want to feel needed and
   important.

4. Budget

1. Identify costs
2. Identify the minimum revenue amount needed to break even
3. Identify quick and slow, high and low revenue opportunity. Put your major focus on high and quick revenues.
4. Compare actual and budgeted amounts.
5. Keep track of all spend centrally. Do not allow many hands to touch the money.
6. Balance daily.
7. Reconcile at the end of the tournament.

5. Ask for help

1. Tell administration and management of your local leagues that you need help for the tournament.
2. Post notes in local rinks, grocery stores and community centers of jobs
   available. Be specific of what you need.
3. Interview potential candidates to get to know them before bringing them on board.

The Event
Tournaments are filled with emotions.

• Players and coaches come in with anticipation about the unknown.
• Parents feel a little overwhelmed and sometimes unsure of what to expect.
• Sponsors are anxious to win new business.
• Tournament staff feels a little nervous about how to make the event fun.

This mix of feelings can be handled quite easily through effective listening, compassion and the ability to manage expectations. Smile, have fun and enjoy. Tournaments are a great way to meet new people and share each others' experiences.

 reprinted with permission from
 The Hockey Source - "THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE FOR MINOR HOCKEY"