I was in Oxford, Ohio on the Miami University campus this past Saturday. Right before I pulled into town, I heard the commencement ceremony was scheduled for later that afternoon. Since my son was not graduating this semester, I thought little about it except that the traffic on High Street would be horrible (it wasn’t).

As I pulled into town, my glance caught the front of the Uptown Cafe (if you have not yet been there, go. Best pancakes anywhere!) What really stunned me was the line of moms and dads waiting to get in. The place was jam-packed with people. And this was bad.

This was bad because the Uptown is one of those little local places where you go to experience breakfast or a casual lunch. This is one of those places where they don’t mind if you bring your dog and hang out on the sidewalk tables, nursing a cup of coffee, grazing on a burger and fries for an hour (burgers are good, too.) I am certain that the moms, dads and almost newly-minted graduates had not stopped into the Uptown just for food, but to have one last cafe experience with their child-now-an-adult. And, because all the other parents were looking for that same experience, they were robbing each other of that one moment of convergence that would have become a memory. Instead, that moment will be forever as a rushed and crowded hassle. And it is sad.

Our Advice: Figure out what your tournament soul is and fight like hell to preserve it. The Uptown could have spent a few moments every morning throughout the year taking names and numbers of graduating seniors who eat frequently at the Uptown with the intent to auction a place on commencement morning. They could have opened at 3:00 am only for graduating seniors and their families whose parents wanted to slow down the day just a little bit before losing their child forever to employment, their own family, the outside world. (I would have gotten up early!!) For a student who has made the Uptown Cafe a part of their college experience for four-plus years — and shared breakfast there with their mom or dad when they were in town — the 30 minutes or so spent on graduation day would have been the most precious graduation gift the Uptown Cafe could have given.

If your soul is your registration night party for the coaches, make it special. I know of several tournaments that do a dang good job of using the registration for reacquainting with old friends. If your soul is allowing the teams to have fun, don’t invite or accept teams that will use win at all costs tactics (you know who they are.. so does everyone else.) You get the idea.

A soul is a terrible thing to sell. Once it is put on the market, it can never be bought back. Treasure it, grow it and above all, protect and preserve it.

I went to the local high school to drop off a book my daughter forgot for one of her classes. As I pulled into the parking lot, I swung in next to the Hummer that the local US Army recruiter drives.

This is one organization that understands its brand and its market. A Hummer screams power, domination, muscle.. What high school kid would not be seduced by a US Army branded Hummer?

Our Advice: If your tournament is a muscle event, be a Hummer! If it is a fun tournament, be a VW Bug. You get the idea. And, while we are at it, why not approach your local car dealership (one that sells what you are) and ask if you can borrow a brand wrapped vehicle for a couple weeks and drive it around town. Your tournament brand will be everywhere with very little effort.

This morning, I read an email from a coach attending a tournament that attracts very competitive teams. His team had been scheduled around a group of four teams that were coached by one coach. As it turned out, he got a schedule that has him playing one early morning game and then then not again until very late in the afternoon on the first day. And then, again very early in the morning on the second day.

He was quite upset, and with good reason. He paid the same price to get in the tournament. He has the same expectations of good competition and should be given the same opportunity for a trophy as the four teams coached by the same coach. I doubt, however, the tournament can do little to even out the play. And this coach will probably not be back.

Our advice: As more and more clubs adopt the multiple-team-one-coach policy as a way to save money, consolidate skill, etc, etc, dealing with these teams is having effects on your tournament schedule in ways that had not been anticipated. NOW is the time to craft a policy, publish it and stick to it consistently!

If your policy is designed to attract teams that are coached by on coach and your marketing push is a schedule that suits them, be prepared to reject teams that have their own coach. Long term, we believe a multiple-team coach system is bad business for tournaments. It takes control of the schedule and brand away from the tournament and hands it over to the teams. While scheduling multiple-team coaches for no conflicts may look like customer service from the onset, it is usually the first step in the demise of the event. The next step is price breaks for multiple teams, comp rooms for the coach, etc, etc. If all you attract are mutiple-team coaches, you don’t need an MBA to see where that ultimately leads.

Never forget: The coaches are primarily interested in what gives them the best deal, not what is best for the tournament event.

Recently, I was at a business conference that had nothing to do with soccer… but everything to do with customer service. We stayed at the J.W. Marriott in Tucson, AZ (which I recommend if you are planning a vacation soon!)

The entire conference was good. On the morning we were leaving to the airport, we got a car, but had a fifteen minute wait. No problem, the valet said, If you want to grab a cup of coffee at the Starbucks in our lobby, we’ll come and get you when the car is ready. Ok, so we did.

I ordered a grande, decaf, the clerk smiled and said all the right things. But when she gave me back my change, she just plopped it down in my hand with a bit of attitude, the whole time smiling and wishing me a good day.

Our advice: Words speak softly, but body language SCREAMS!! Make sure your committee, volunteers.. anyone who has any interaction with your guest teams, vendors, suppliers and sponsors understand that it is their role to manage the entire experience, not just to do a particular function efficiently.

Unfair as it is, my take-away from the otherwise good 4-day conference will be forever marked by the feel of change being slapped into my hand by the Starbucks clerk with a bad attitude.

Whenever a tournament cuts teams from its applications, we see the inevitable grumbling, angry emails, etc, but the one thing that seems to be fairly common is something that goes like this:

I can’t believe you didn’t accept our team. Out (team, club, etc) has been supporting your (tournament, club) for many years and we encourage all our teams to apply and support your (fund-raising) efforts by going to your tournament, etc, etc…. usually followed by the recent record of accomplishments over the teams that did get accepted.

Good teams get cut for many reasons, the most common is they didn’t fill in their accomplishments on the application. But that is not my issue. The issue is one of saying things like we support you.

Our Advice: While your tournament may be a fund-raiser, your primary function is one of entertainment. You have a product/service that you are providing that either meets the needs of the guest teams or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t meet their needs, they really should quit supporting you and go somewhere else.

Look at the premium soccer tournaments. They attract teams that meet CRITERIA that has nothing to do with how much a team/club supports them and has everything to do with does the applying team meet our acceptance criteria. If you are relying on the support of another team/club for your tournament’s success, you don’t have a marketable product. Do things well, apply consistent standards and your tournament will thrive.