I was a little torn over which photo was the coolest, so I posted all three. They were taken at the MidAmerica Cup College Showcase going on in Peoria, IL this weekend and they were taken by Todd Taylor. If you want to buy some, visit here. I think he will be posting up more from the other games, so check them out as well.
Tag Archives: Soccer tournaments
Is your soccer tournament using Twitter?
We here at TourneyCentral have been encouraging soccer tournaments to get on board and use Twitter for their communications, scores reporting, etc. In fact, all of our soccer tournament websites are integrated with Twitter and will automatically post your front page news and scores updates in real time. All you need do is set up a Twitter account and enter the information in your Web Site Maintenance>Variables
This morning we saw a support question come over to one of the tournaments from a coach:
With the forecast being for rain/storms, how best can we learn about cancellations/postponements? Website? Email mailing list? Twitter (this would be great)? Phone call to certain phone#?
This would be great! Twitter is a really cool tool to communicate out to followers your local fields, local vendor deals, etc; all without having to set up complex SMS servers and verify cell numbers and email addresses. The user controls how s/he wants to receive your tweets (email, SMS) or if at all.
Our Advice: Get a Twitter account for your soccer tournament. Really, now. Do it. Then, set it up on your TourneyCentral website. By this time next year, you’ll either be in the game with Social Media or playing catch-up.
A few trends we’re seeing at soccer tournaments
As we watch the questions that come in from guest teams and track trending patterns from team applications, we’re noticing a few trends forming that we think soccer tournament directors should be aware of. Some of the behaviors are based on the economy and some just based on cultural shifts overall. All will affect the way you manage and market your soccer tournament.
Late applications
With the expectation of online registration, many teams are waiting until the last week or so to apply to the tournament, especially those that require full payment up front with the application. While this affects planning and can create anxiety not knowing which teams are coming, quality soccer tournaments need not worry as your tournament has been on the team’s calendar.
Early bird discounts don’t work but perhaps scheduling preferences or coaching conflict resolution guarantees for teams that apply early might be more of an incentive.
Also, if you have a high percentage of teams that travel in, check your hotel reservations. Teams may not necessarily apply early, but many will book rooms early.
No early morning Saturdays
To save money, teams are trying not to stay at hotels on Friday night, instead opting to drive in that morning. Most wait until they have been accepted and send an email, saying “oh, by the way, we need a late Saturday start….” We have no resolution for this as most tournaments have to play two games per team on Saturday to fit in a third round and championship games on Sunday. State associations have rules against playing more than two games per day and the math just doesn’t work. You can’t create more fields and you can’t make more daylight. Moreover, the coach and parents should recognize the dangers of playing a team that is not well-rested. You may want to point that out to him/her or even deny them admission due to increased liability for the tournament.
Multiple team coaches, no conflicts
A few years back, it used to be that only a handful of coaches had multiple teams. Now, it seems every club is doing this. Many teams will wait until you have accepted them and THEN tell you their coach is coaching multiple teams. (Many of these coaches also are requesting all their games start later on Saturday, a double whammy.) Again, the math just doesn’t work.
Our advice: You need teams to hold a tournament, but you can’t have teams dictate the terms under which they will play. Spell out the terms of acceptance UP FRONT on your application form by telling the teams the tournament starts at 8:00am on Saturday and finishes after the last championship game is played on Sunday. If they can not commit to being available for the entire time, they need to apply elsewhere.
Also, coaches conflicts are theirs to resolve, not the tournament’s. While most tournaments will do what they can to avoid conflicts, the sheer number of coaches with multiple teams almost guarantees somebody will be unhappy.
You may also want to establish “convenience fees” for teams requesting special treatment. For example, no coaching conflicts; $300/team. Late Saturday start; $450/team. Publish these early, confirm on application with an email.
Remember, the teams are applying into YOUR soccer tournament because the tournament is a good fit for their team, not the other way around. If your product does not meet their expectations, there are enough soccer tournaments now that will — for a while until they can no longer accommodate the demands. Just make sure your tournament maintains its high standards you worked hard to achieve and all teams play by the same set of rules.
Where is my money going? Why controlling the money for your soccer tournament is key to success
Often, we have requests from soccer tournament directors to set up their Web site so that the team fees go to this mailing address, the credit cards go to another, the t-shirt orders go off to yet another address and the pre-orders for the college showcase books go to another. While delegating different functions to different people is key to running an effective soccer tournament, delegating control of the money is not.
You don’t have to go very far to find a story about the trusted soccer club volunteer who was caught siphoning off the top. A soccer tournament pulls in a lot of cash. A lot of cash also goes out to pay referees, field fees, vendors, etc. For many organizations, acts of embezzlement can be the death of their club or tournament. And the less likely you think it will happen to you, the more at risk you place yourself.
When teams need you to research a lost check or provide a refund, they like to know that their funds are in the hands of you, the tournament director. They NEED to know there is a system of control in place.
Our Advice: Use one mailing address for ALL funds, from the team fees to the shirt pre-order to everything that the soccer tournament takes in. If you can send the money to a lock box at your local bank, that is even better. A PO Box is good, but checks should never be sent to someone’s home, especially when that person has a day job and their mail could potentially sit in an unattended mail box for hours.
Be transparent. Always have at least two people knowing about each transaction at all times.
An honest person would never object to tight controls in place. In fact, a prudent person would never want to handle or transport checks or cash alone or even at all.
Take control of the money. Always.
March 18, 2010 Update: Soccer America’s YouthSoccerInsider just published an article that is a must-read for all soccer tournament directors.
Tell me which teams have applied and I will apply to your soccer tournament if I like them
We are seeing more and more requests from coaches for the soccer tournament to give them the list of teams that have already applied for them to “evaluate” whether or not the tournament would be a good fit for their team. This has us scratching our heads a bit.
Nobody likes to pay money to compete in a tournament only to get stuck in a division with top level teams or, in my opinion, stuck with teams that offer no competition. I get that. But I don’t get is why the guest team coach feels the need to evaluate the teams that have applied prior to applying to a tournament.
Perhaps it is an erosion of trust between soccer tournaments and soccer coaches. Perhaps it is an increased need for the coach to “control” every aspect of the game. Perhaps it is increased pressure from the parents on the coach to place their team in tournaments where they can be “competitive” (whatever that ultimately means.)
Chris Brogan, who is a bit of a guru in the Social Media space, wrote a book called Trust Agents. It deals primarily with trust in online social media spaces like Twitter, Facebook, etc. but it touches a bit on how trust is becoming a currency. As tournaments are becoming more sophisticated, they will need to learn also on how to deal in a trust economy. It’s a quick, easy read.
Our advice: Always be giving guest teams a reason to trust you. Post your schedule from last year and encourage them to take a look at the teams that applied and analyze the point spreads. Every TourneyCentral soccer tournament is a 365/24/7 event that has last year’s schedule available until the application deadline. Use that to your advantage.
Take a really hard, objective look at your seeding. Do your club teams seems to walk away with the trophies every year? Why? Do you have an opinion that your club teams should be able to win your own tournament? Why? Given the choice between bringing in competitive teams for your club teams to play and getting better versus winning a trophy by seeding your teams lower, which is more valuable for the long-term growth of your club? Your tournament? Do guest teams walk off grumbling about how “the fix is in” for the club teams to win? If so, change that.
Trust is everything and will only become more valuable. If teams don’t trust you to place them correctly in your tournament, they will eventually go elsewhere. When they trust you, they’ll quit asking and let your history and reputation speak for itself.