The National Association of Tournament Directors officially launches
Something pretty exciting happened on Monday this week. The National Association of Tournament Directors (NATD) launched. We’re pretty excited about this venture as it is beginning to validate what we here at TourneyCentral have been saying since we set up shop.
Soccer tournaments mean business.
When you run your soccer tournament event like a business, sponsors take notice. You are no longer “just the local club” but a serious marketing channel that drives traffic to their door. The tournament is not just a bunch of soccer people getting together for the weekend, but a serious community effort that fills hotel rooms and drives an impressive economic impact. Professionalizing the soccer tournament industry makes sense on all fronts; from more marketing reach for your host club to increased sponsorship fees for your event.
The rule is simple: business people like doing business with business people. Serious people people invest in their industries. The first sign of that investment is membership in a trade association.
According to their press release, “The NATD will become the premier professional association within the United States by bringing together all elements within the Tournament Planning Industry for the purpose of networking, commerce and sharing information and experiences. The Association will set the standard for providing tangible resources to Tournament Directors designed to raise their events to new heights of success and profitability.”
And they have some pretty influential soccer people behind this venture like Louise Waxler (NSCAA) and Lynn Berling-Manuel (Soccer America, now AYSO) which is always cool to see soccer leading a venture.
TourneyCentral will become a member of NATD shortly. We expect that the quality tournaments will also join and contribute to making the soccer tournament industry more professionalized as it grows. We will be offering to display the NATD logo on the websites of the soccer tournament events who are members.
Our advice: Become a member of NATD. And when you do, send over your membership number and dates, inclusive, and we will make sure your membership is proudly displayed in your sidebar.
