By Neil Gardner
Tournaments are becoming increasingly attractive to tennis clubs around the country because of their competitive atmosphere, wealth of competitors and their ability to quickly gauge a team’s skill level. The number of tournaments has increased nationally each year since 2004, in some part because team captains are realizing that hosting a tournament can be a very rewarding experience for all involved. There is, however, a lot that goes into planning a successful tournament, and the goal of this article is discuss the keys to planning a successful club tennis tournament.
Early planning is vital to the overall success of a tournament. Start preparing 4-5 months in advance and allow time to advertise your event. The earlier you announce the event, the longer it has to promote itself through word of mouth and other channels. Of course, it also helps to get the word out, so utilize all available ad resources, including posting the event on CollegeClubTennis.com, sending emails to team captains and informing your local or sectional coordinators/supervisors of the event. Creating an event flyer or webpage can be extremely valuable as well, and picking a good name for your tournament will help advertise it. Furthermore, pick a specific date and stick with it; candidate teams should know that this is a serious event and that you are serious about hosting and putting on a great event. Also, decide on a deadline for teams to submit their application + fees. You will need time after all the teams are known and all the money is in, to make final purchases and create the event schedule.
Starting to organize yourself early will also give you time to raise money by applying for grants/stipends from the USTA and NIRSA. Typically the application and reward process is slow and if you don’t apply several months ahead of time, you risk having to dig into your club funds to pay for unexpected last minute purchases. Having enough money to run a tournament is key and you would be surprised how quickly the purchases add up. A 16-team weekend tournament could cost as much as $2000 if you include food and t-shirts, which most large tournaments provide these days. Other costs include balls and prizes. The USTA has donated cases of balls in the past, so contact your sectional representative before buying them. Prizes in the form of trophies or plaques can be obtained from a number of vendors; RSN Promo and TrophyCentral.com allow for engraving of tennis-related awards at a relatively cheap price. CustomInk.com is an excellent resource for design/ordering t-shirts at a discounted price. Contacting local tennis outfitters can also help; in some cases they might be willing to donate rackets, strings or other giveaways.
Communication is another factor that can make or break a tournament. Don’t try to plan and run the event yourself; enlist the help of fellow club officers/members and get their input. At the very least, assign them simple duties such as reserving court space or calling food vendors. Also, communicate well with candidate team captains from other schools; send update emails every so often and respond to their inquiries in a timely fashion. Being accommodating is important and will influence who attends your event and who won’t. Furthermore, be open about which teams you have communicated with and which teams are planning to attend. Having a top school attend your event will surely attract more teams and make for a worthwhile and rewarding competition. Looking into and passing along local hotel discount information to team captains will also be appreciated.
In the weeks leading up to the event, make final arrangements. Reserve/borrow tables and chairs for a tournament desk, finalize food delivery plans and ask for team rosters so that the right number of t-shirts can be ordered. Make the event schedule, keeping in mind the number of teams and courts and the time it will take to play each match. The day(s) of the event, arrive early and get help from your team members and friends. Assign people responsibilities such as taking scores, directing players, cleaning trash; don’t forget that on top of running the event you must also manage YOUR team to success. Be prepared for the worst, in terms of fielding questions, concerns and special requests from other teams’ members, not to mention refereeing disputes on the court. Hopefully everything will run smoothly, but don’t be surprised if there are a few hiccups. Time will also fly, so be sure that you have control over the teams by enforcing game penalties for late arrivals.
After the event is over and you are wondering why you volunteered yourself for so much work, keep in mind that what you created was an enjoyable, competitive atmosphere for a number of teams and hundreds of individuals including players and supporters. If the event went well, you can look forward to hosting again a year later and expect most teams to return. If you make it a yearly event, it will gain more and more steam and attract more teams and sponsors. Also, don’t forget to wrap up the event/results in an article to CollegeClubTennis.com and an email to the teams. Letting the teams and the world know how it went and thanking everyone involved will only help when you plan for next year!
