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.