tournament experience

[fullor30]

Anyone ever run travel/middle school tournaments? An opportunity has come up and need some advice and guidance.

PM me

Thanks

[BillyMac]

[Sharpshooternes]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

.

[Mark Padgett]

Are you talking about being the tournament director for scheduling the teams and getting the venues, etc. or being the referee coordinator for a tournament?

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Are you talking about being the tournament director for scheduling the teams and getting the venues, etc. or being the referee coordinator for a tournament?

The whole enchilada

[Welpe]

In that case I recommend a hip flask of Jim Beam. I used to run intramural tournaments so if you have any questions, let me know and I can try to help.

[BillyMac]

Teams that sign up and then change their mind. Teams that sign up and pay late. Teams that sign up and never pay. Follow the bouncing check. Teams that don't submit a roster on time. Teams that try to use an ineligible player, i.e. a "ringer". Teams that request a slight modification in roster rules, and limits. Teams that show up wearing the same color jerseys. Teams that show up late to games. Teams that mistakenly don't show up for a game, and still want to play because, "They've paid". Teams that can't play at a particular time due to other commitments. Complaints about seeding, "Why do we have to play "them" in the first round?". Officials that change their mind, or are ill, or injured, and cancel at the last minute. Last minute "fill in" officials that show up at the wrong court, or at the wrong time. Officials show up, one of the teams doesn't, game is rescheduled, officials want to get paid. Bad weather that causes games to be rescheduled at the last minute, while some teams, or officials, are on the way, officials show up and want to get paid. Bad weather delays games for five hours. Bad weather causes games to be rescheduled at a time when a team, or an official, is not available. Janitors that want full union wages just to unlock, hang around, and then lock, the gym doors, that puts a burden on the tournament budget. Difficulty assigning table crews that know what they're doing, or know how to operate the scoreboard properly. Concession stand personnel that don't know what they're doing, or don't show up on time for their shift. Too little concession stand inventory. Too much concession stand inventory. Parents complaining about the cost of admission tickets, because they've never been charged to see their kids play before.

Murphy's Law doesn't make an exception for basketball: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

[SNIPERBBB]

You forgot having a power outage halfway through Day 1 and just as your telling people to go home after an hour delay, the power comes back on and frantically scrambling to make sure people dont leave.

[grunewar]

Gee BillyMac, tell us what you really think!

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by grunewar

Been there, done that?

I've never actually run a tournament. Back when I was coaching middle school, my team entered a post season, fund raising, middle school tournament every year at my high school alma mater. The director would share his trials, and tribulations, with me. I would occasionally fill in when he needed an official at the last minute. Back at my own school, I would organize a pre-season intramural schedule for players to get ready for tryouts. I would also organize a three on three fund raiser tournament for the American Heart Association every year. My daughter played AAU basketball, and I noted the difficulty that her AAU director, who was also her coach, had in running his AAU tournament every spring.

Nothing's ever easy.