Tag Archives: Soccer tournaments

March Youth Soccer Tournament Deadline Approaching

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There are two youth soccer tournament events that are still accepting applications for the third weekend in March 2011. Both the Dynamo Round Robin in Indianapolis, Indiana and the Middletown Spring Blast in Middletown, Ohio have an application deadline of February 20th.

Dynamo Round Robin The twelfth annual Dynamo Round Robin, on March 18-20, is a great pre-season warm up. Last year’s tournament featured several defending state champions and state runners-up. Teams from Oklahoma, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and other states were represented. This year’s tournament welcomes all girls’ teams U9 through U19. U9 through U14 teams will play four games while U15 through U18 teams will play three games. Entry fee for U9-U10 is set at $475, U11-U12 is $500, U13-U14 is $525, u15-U16 is $550 and U17-U19 is $575.

Middletown Spring Blast The Middletown Spring Blast, on March 19-20, will offer competition for boys and girls in the U-8 through U-19 brackets. The tournament will be held at Smith Park and AK Steel Soccer fields at Jacot Park in Middletown Ohio, and Franklin Community Park in Franklin. Smith Park has been home to many tournaments including the Franchise, State SAY and High School Tournaments. Both parks offer ample parking, playgrounds, walking trails around the park, refreshment areas and with a total 26 fields for your soccer enjoyment. Entry fee is $400.00 for U8-U10 with all others set at $425.00

Information on registration, travel, lodging, scheduling, scores and things to do when you are in town are included on both tournaments respective websites.

TourneyCentral announces major updates in 2011

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TourneyCentral, the only fully integrated online solution for youth soccer tournaments, announced today it has included several new features in the 2011 release of the popular soccer tournament software. The features will provide additional capability via sophisticated integration with new media, including social media. Soccer players, coaches and fans will be now be able to combine their tournament experiences with their personal Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts. TourneyCentral is the only event-focused youth soccer tournament software that provides a complete end-to-end integration solution.

“Our customers continue to ask for leading edge features as the soccer tournament market develops and grows and we continue to respond,” says Gerard McLean, President of TourneyCentral. “At the same time, our competitors have become more aggressive in their attempts to mislead the market regarding our capabilities and strengths. As the established leader in soccer tournament software, it’s time to make another giant step ahead of the market by providing these unique and unparalleled new features.”

In addition to participants, TourneyCentral has also integrated its online DEALS section with advertisers’ social media spaces like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Fans can now connect with advertisers in multiple ways, providing a stronger and more robust experience for important sponsors of the software.

“All our advertising for our tournament has moved online,” claims Dan Monahan, tournament director for the Mead Cup. “The tools that TourneyCentral provides for us in their online DEALS area are far more comprehensive than anything we can print in a program. We can sell more quickly, distribute to a wider audience and drive significantly more traffic to our advertisers.”

“We’ve listened carefully to what the core soccer market wants, and this newest release is our response,” says McLean. “We’re making the tournament experience even memorable for our participants by integrating today’s vibrant new media environment even more tightly with TourneyCentral.”

The only solution of its kind that does not rely on external partners to provide functionality, TourneyCentral offers a stable, secure environment for advertisers as well as fans, coaches and players.

ABOUT TOURNEYCENTRAL
TourneyCentral is the only fully integrated, event-focused online solution for youth soccer tournaments. Since 1999, TourneyCentral has been producing web sites that provide youth soccer tournaments with end-to-end integrated experience management for guest teams, from marketing through scoring. In addition, advertising tools provide tournaments with an increased opportunity for advertising and sponsorship revenue as a result of significantly increased traffic to the web site. TourneyCentral will be attending the NSCAA Conference in Baltimore in January 2011. For more information, visit www.tourneycentral.com.

TourneyCentral.com is owned by Rivershark Inc., based in Ohio. Companion and marketing partner properties consist of The Soccer Tournament Review, a blog and iTunes podcast for tournament directors, MyTournamentSpace, a photo-sharing site linked directly into the tournament game schedule and www.ticoscore.com, a single-source database and ranking system for soccer tournaments.

TourneyCentral will be attending the NSCAA Conference in Baltimore in January 2010.

Contact for more information
Gerard McLean
gmclean [at] rivershark.com
937-836-6255

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What GotSoccer GotWrong about TourneyCentral

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Recently, GotSoccer sent out a press release outlining the difference between their tournament management software and TourneyCentral. We, of course, were immediately flattered; not because we particularly care about what GotSoccer thinks of our product but because that told us that their customers and prospects were asking them about TourneyCentral. And they had to defend their product against ours.

That makes us happy.

But GotSoccer did get a few things wrong about TourneyCentral. After all, accuracy at a soccer tournament is very important, even more so when you trust software to drive your event. Accuracy makes sure the right teams (including referees) show up on time and at the correct fields and the right teams advance. Accuracy is critical to most soccer teams, coaches, parents and players when it comes to standings and who gets the trophy. If you are going to start comparing yourself to the big dogs in the yard, it’s important to get the big things right.

Here are just a few things GotSoccer GotWrong about TourneyCentral:
Continue reading →

What would Armando do?

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Armando Galarraga

Armando Galarraga

Ask any parent, coach or league organizer about why youth soccer is good for the kids and the community and they will invariably cite that it builds character, a strong sense of personal responsibility, leadership and teamwork. Then go to a game and what you most likely will see is a pack of babies, arguing over a referee’s call. And that’s just from the parent’s touchline.

Before you start hating on me, I’ve been there as well. I’d like to think that most of the time I exhibited behavior I would like my two kids to display. But I can remember some times where I displayed less than perfect sportsmanship. Whatever you think going forward, let’s at least be honest with ourselves.

When the kids are young, it is easy to say things like, “The score doesn’t matter” and “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you played the game.” And as they get older, this gets lost somewhere along the line and the only things that really matters are who won and who scored. If a team lost, it wasn’t that they were outplayed, but that the referee blew the call.

And sometimes it happens. It probably happens a lot, but the human element is all part of the game. Soccer, baseball, football, etc are all human sports participated in by human beings for human beings. When they step on the field, each player, referee, umpire accepts that each may make a mistake. If we require perfect, we would all be playing video games instead where the referees/umpires have pixel-perfect vision.

Some fans say, “It’s just a game” whereas others will say “It’s a business” as if being a business somehow makes the element of human error inexcusable. They argue on that we need instant replay to overrule the referee/umpire to set the record straight and tell what really happened. The player was robbed and that isn’t fair, they argue.

Life isn’t fair. Sometimes people make mistakes. Sometimes, those mistakes cost people money or recognition. But isn’t teaching kids how to deal with frustration with grace and dignity part of why we all promote sport?

Instant reply can tell whether someone called the play correctly, but it can’t see right or wrong. It can’t judge sportsmanship or grace under pressure. It can’t recall an infantile temper-tantrum over a play that was called incorrectly. It can’t establish character and human dignity. It can only prove somebody right and someone else wrong.

Instead of lamenting the lack of instant reply in soccer, Armando Galarraga gave every coach and every parent a greater tool than the high-speed camera ever could to judge whether a play was good or bad. Quite simply ask, “what would Armando do?”

And then do that.

Get ready to pig out on BBQ and soccer this weekend

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Mark Peebles checks the smoker in his Englewood restaurant.

The adidas Warrior Soccer Classic soccer tournament, one of the largest youth soccer tournaments in the United States, will see a new food vendor in 2010.

Oink-A-Doodle-Moo, a bar-b-que restaurant in Englewood is testing the waters so to speak, and will be at Thomas Cloud Park in Huber Heights, near Dayton, Ohio, for the event on Memorial Day Weekend.

“This is another avenue to get exposure,” said Mark Peebles, Oink-A-Doodle-Moo’s president and founder. “We like being part of the community and supporting youth sports teams.”

This is the second youth soccer tournament that Oink-A-Doodle-Moo will be at tempting tourney attendees with items from is savory menu. And if Peebles has his way, the passion emanating from Carol Maas, Director of the adidas Warrior Soccer Classic, and Gerard McLean of TourneyCentral will lead to other forays at youth soccer tournaments in the Dayton, Ohio area.

“I didn’t grow up playing soccer, but when I see Gerard and Carol and see their passion, it gets you excited to be associated with something like this,” Peebles said.

Plus, being at an event where participants and attendees come from literally all over the USA is beneficial for business.

“We are gaining exposure in the local area, but because we have a franchise plan set up we are able to possibly recruit people from other cities as well,” Peebles said.

Oink-A-Doodle-Moo conservatively estimates it will sell in excess of 200 pounds of meat, and go through a dozen or more gallons of sauce.