I was at a tournament over the weekend. For each of the age groups, there were two flights -blue and white. I walked past the scores posting boards and the obvious leapt right out at me. One board that held the blue flight scores was blue; the other was, you guessed it, white.

It was a simple thing, but an incredibly obvious solution to getting the right people to the right board quickly. Instead of all the score sheets posted together, the tournament thought about how teams perceived scores reporting and made it easier for THEM. A little thing that made a big difference.

Recently, I went to a Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers baseball game in Dallas. My brother Mike and I have a tradition of traveling to an away series involving the Cleveland Indians. This year we chose Texas.

At the Saturday night game, we were enjoying the usual aspects of a ball game: ball park food, cold beers, new friends and great action on the field. Then came the wave! This is when I noticed something that applies to so many aspects of life and business. The wave was building steam in left field traveling through center field then making its way to our section on the first base line. We were getting ready, couldn’t wait for it to get to us!! There were a bunch of kids that were equally excited. The moment of truth came as the wave approached our section. My brother and I rose from our seats, threw our hands in the air yelling and screaming cheering our favorite team, the Cleveland Indians. The group of kids behind us cheered the Rangers with the same emotion.

Then I looked and there was a family in front of us that sat the whole time. Two of them, put their hands in the air reluctantly. The others didn’t move at all. As the game progressed the wave started two more times. We started building excitement in our section, joking with everyone, singing during the inning breaks and making new friends. The wave a started a third and final time. This time the family in front of us stood up with the same enthusiasm as the rest of the section, yelling and screaming for the Rangers.

Event planning and management starts with enthusiasm. It is contagious! Entertaining personalities, events, and atmospheres are welcoming! Everyone likes to smile and be a part of a festive, joyous environment. Does your tournament do the wave with emotion or from your seats? This can make all the difference in the world of recruiting and retaining teams, volunteers, refeerees, sponsors and venues. A positive buzz of energy will develop around your event by taking this approach. As a result, you will have less turnover, letdowns and negative situations because people will be vested. Start doing the wave with emotion as you plan for your tournament this year!

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CENTERVILLE – Dan Monahan is the tournament director for the Mead/CUSA Cup, hosting 413 teams on three venues around the Dayton metro area this Labor Day weekend. There are 723 games to be played, over 450 volunteers to coordinate, over one hundred vendor contracts to negotiate and 275 referees to schedule, house and feed. But don’t try giving him all the credit for the job; he won’t take it.

“The real strength of our tournament is the deep committee and volunteer structure the tournament and CUSA club has built over the past twenty-seven years,” claims Monahan. “There are fewer than twenty-five premier-level soccer tournaments across the country. We take pride in being able to attract the top-level clubs and keep them coming back to Dayton every year.”

The Mead/CUSA Cup is ranked number one in both boys and girls for Ohio South, and nineteenth national-wide, according to GotSoccer.com.

Monahan started his tournament career much like most; he volunteered to do something he liked to do. His first job eight years ago was coordinating the hotels and housing the guest teams. In 2002, he moved into the tournament director position, overseeing an average annual growth of 20 percent. This year, the Mead/CUSA cup will be host to local premier teams and teams as far away as New York.

“Our goal is to continue to attract the best teams to compete in the Mead/CUSA Cup, wherever they are, both nationally and internationally,” Monahan adds.

With the competition getting ready to kick off this weekend, it looks like Monahan and his tournament team are well on their way to achieving their goal.

PHOTO: Monahan addresses the volunteers one last time at the volunteer thank-you dinner last Sunday.

Welcome to the TourneyCentral.com Blog. It is here we will attempt to point out new trends, air opinions and generally share knowledge about the youth soccer tournament market. In the process, we hope to share some wisdom to tournament directors on how to run a tournament just a little bit better or more profitable.

Hang on and enjoy the ride!