You run a competitive tournament and a group of teams from the same club has applied as a block. Most of the teams are high-caliber and they are able to compete at the level you have set for your tournament. But, there are some B and C level teams in the group that just will not be able to compete.
You accept teams, but you cut the B and C level teams. Immediately, you get a letter from the DOC, club president, etc, threatening to pull the entire club from your tournament if you do not include the less competitive teams. What do you do? If you don’t accept the less-competitive teams, the club may go elsewhere. If you do accept the teams, then your brand of being a competitive tournament suffers.
Our advice: As more and more clubs are making multiple team and DOC-led coaching the norm, accepting individual teams on their merit alone, without regard for the club needs is becoming a challenge. Here is a what we think.
Ultimately, the DOC or the multiple team coach has made a decision to coach the teams, splitting up their time among the teams. They applied to your tournament, knowing full well what your selection criteria is. The parents of the players made the decision to put their kid in the team coached by the multiple-team coach, DOC, etc, knowing that they may eventually have to make these hard decisions. It is ultimately the coach who is responsible for putting his/her team in this situation. Keep this point in mind at all times.
If the DOC pulls all the teams and tries to find another tournament to accept them as a block, they are going to run into the same problem you have with the other tournament. If they put their teams into a less competitive tournament, the parents of the elite-level teams are not going to be happy with the competition and eventually, will leave this DOC for someone else who shares their vision. You know this, the DOC knows this. Keep your leverage.
Make sure you communicate expectations to DOCs or multiple team coaches that you are evaluating teams individually, based on their ability to compete, not based on whether or not they are part of a club contingent. Be very clear with the DOC and cc the club president, coach, team rep and everyone you can think of. Get a confirmation of the terms and conditions IN WRITING (email) before considering accepting the team into your tournament. Nothing less than your tournament brand is at stake here.
Post the terms and conditions of application on your application form and make sure it is checked off. With TourneyCentral sites, the T&C are placed on the application, are sent to the coach via email, are written into the team Message Center. You can now edit the T&C in your Web Site Maint Module>Variables.
Create another tournament for less-competitive teams that plays along side your competitive tournament. One is the Cup and the other is a Challenge. But, be very clear in your marketing that the Cup does not accept less than elite teams and the Challenge does not allow competitive teams.
The key here is to maintain your brand integrity, but also to manage expectations! DOC and multiple team coaching is here to stay, regardless of how bad an idea it is. The trick is to make sure it does not derail your tournament in the process.