Soccer Tournament Review

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Look at common things that you see everyday in new and different ways. Here is an example.

Sometimes I run across something that is just so stupid I have to say something. WePlay.com is that level of stupid.

Reported by the New York Times and blogged about, WePlay.com is a site that is a social network for kids who play sports. I would have shrugged this story off except at the 2008 NSCAA and US Youth Soccer shows, there have been entire companies built on creating social networks for soccer. Kids can upload their video, share soccer stories, put in their practice schedule, etc, etc.

And, all doomed to fail. Here is why.

Youth sports in America is something kids DO, not who they are. Segmenting kids’ lives into specific interests is just not going to work because the kids themselves resist the labels. Today, for 90:00 minutes, they are a soccer player, then later this afternoon, they are a music enthusiast and after that, they are a blogger. Tomorrow, they will be a student, then a peer counselor, followed by a fashion consultant. They may become a soccer player again for about 40:00 minutes of the required 90:00

They already have a WePlay.com called MySpace and Facebook. Before WePlay.com launched, the developers and their financial backers should have taken a long hard look at what makes MySpace and Facebook tick. And, segmenting social networks into specific interests is the antithesis of a social network.

In some respects, our calendar of soccer tournaments could be called a social network. But, we’re not and are not delusional about the amount of time and attention players, coaches and family give to the tournament. We are almost relentless about our “90:00 minute attention span” rule. Focus on them when they are playing, do not expect they will care about you before or after. But, be grateful if they do!

Our Advice: Do not get caught up in imagining the teams care more about your soccer tournament than it being a great entertainment venue for a weekend. It is and will be nothing more to your guest teams and their families. Instead, focus your time and energy into providing them with a great time while they are your guests. Strive to capture their attention for 91:00 minutes while they are your guests.

For your on-line presence, keep your tournament web site as close to real-time as possible. Also, soccer tournaments should to focus on providing Widgets (Facebook apps) that kids and parents can bring the tournament into their Facebook, MySpace pages. Integrating interests is how kids see themselves. Parents and marketers need to quit seeing kids as “the soccer player”, “the actor”, “the singer”, “the bandie”, etc. Take a look at a typical soccer-playing kid’s Facebook page and my point here is established. (BTW, every TourneyCentral tournament has a widget teams can grab from their application page and paste into the team, club site that has the schedule, news and DEALS build in real-time.)

Focus on providing a great time; the players and their families will take care of making your soccer tournament part of their networks all by themselves.

Last weekend at the 2008 NSCAA Convention in Baltimore, TourneyCentral had a cake on display, made by the awesomely cool artists of Charm City Cakes (Ace of Cakes, The Food Network) It was big, it smelled delicious, it drew a crowd and it was awesome.

The cake artists at Charm City Cakes OWN their market. Duff decided at some point that being a good cake creator was just not going to be enough and that he was going to own awesome. As examples, the piping of the goalie gloves was intricate. The ball was perfectly round. The gloves were to scale with the ball. The cake was a product of years spent honing a craft and a unwavering dedication to awesome. Even a simple sheet cake from Charm City Cakes, I suspect, has elements of awesome baked and decorated in and on it. In spite of their fame, they were just regular people, taking calls, answering emails, fretting over whether I was happy with the cake or not.

Our advice: We’ve all been to “just another tournament” and it always has that certain “nothing special” feel. And then we’ve been to AWESOME tournaments when it almost doesn’t matter that our team didn’t place or even win any games. But everyone wants to go back.

Strive to be that tournament that everyone wants to come back to, win or lose. Look at your tournament from the point of view of the teams. What makes these events awesome? It may be the simple things that have nothing to do with the competition on the pitch, like a smile from the volunteers at every turn, a great hotel stay, upbeat energy from the HQ tent (yes, teams can feel tension!).. simple things — like awesomeness — that are hard to describe and harder yet to create as a formula. Yet, you know if when you “feel” it.

Behind the scenes as an attempt to get into the essence of awesome. When we booked into the NSCAA in Baltimore, I knew I just had to get an Ace of Cakes cake. This was back in September, 2007. I dropped them an email, asking if they would be interested in making a soccer cake for the exhibit booth, how much, etc. I really didn’t expect anything back because these guys are famous and I’m not, but Jessica sent me an email back within a day with a “yes, we can and want to” and a price (which I thought was way too low for an “Ace Cake”) We signed an agreement, did the money thing and we had our cake booked. On a phone call later that week, Mary Alice then asked what I wanted the cake to look like, what flavor, etc.

My response was “You guys are the artists, so whatever you want within a soccer theme. And pick your favorite flavor for the cake.” The phone call immediately turned from an order-taking into a creative session, where the tone of her voice got that bit of excitement edge. We hashed through several design ideas and came up with a soccer ball being caught by a pair of goalie gloves. And, the entire bakery would sign the “game ball” (which I thought they would charge extra for, but didn’t.) I suspect the creative process kept going all the way through until delivery.

From the emails through the phone calls, through the on time delivery during a Baltimore snow storm, to the excitement Mark (he delivered to the show) felt about the huge soccer show (while we were “ooing” and “ahhhing” over the cake; he was “ooing” and “ahhhing” over the huge soccer show, which made US feel like WE were the ones who were doing something special!), these guys were about the most awesome folks I have ever bought anything from. Ever.

The real product they are selling is not really just cake, but awesomeness that focused everything on the customer experience. Never for a moment, did they forget that the real product was an intimate, authentic customer experience. And they were responsible for managing and steering that. And they did it with ease, grace, professionalism, genuine excitement, pleasure and a sense of humor. Simply awesome

The Thanksgiving weekend used to be a quiet weekend, where you could relax and reflect, without having to worry about your spring soccer season.

But, things change. Quickly. Over the weekend, almost every single one of our spring tournaments that do not yet have a sanction form posted (state associations, are you listening???) and have not yet opened their dates to 2008 received several emails from coaches, similar to:

“What are your 2008 dates?? I am planning my spring season now and need to know to be able to lock down our spring tournaments with my parents before the holidays kick in.”

Our Advice: Your soccer tournament is a 365/24/7 event, so treat it like one. The day after your tournament, you should be thinking about next year. If you are a spring tournament, your absolute, drop-dead deadline now is Thanksgiving weekend. If your web site is not open for business by then, you are simply not in business. (We’re not sure what the fall deadline is, but almost guaranteed it is way before June 1st in most markets.)

If your US Youth state association is holding things up by having “sanctioning meetings” in December or some other end of the year meeting, and your event is in May, SCREAM AT THEM! The market is changing and soccer tournaments are becoming more competitive. They need to adjust their practices to meet YOUR needs. You can always look at US Club Soccer.

I received a call from a local soccer coach who was interested in planning his spring soccer tournament season for his team. He initially wanted to confirm that some of the events that had not yet received sanctioning (are you one of these tournaments?) were still on. But then, he shared something interesting and very telling.

Part of his criteria for selecting tournaments is whether or not they are hosted by TourneyCentral. Most of the other soccer tournament web sites are just way too confusing and hard to use, he said. We’re flattered, of course. This year, he added a new criterion I hadn’t thought of.

In the local area, there are several coaches who are known for scouting out tournaments that need one of two teams to “round out a bracket.” They wait until the last minute, contact the tournament and get in for free or nearly free, maybe paying just the referee fees. This is kinda like flying stand-by, so these teams may not get in, but it is still a good deal if you do. The tournament doesn’t disclose this, but coaches sure do talk. And they are pretty good gossips! So, part of his new criteria is: If he sees teams from these coaches, he passes the tournament on by.

Every local area has coaches who scrounge for tournament deals. And, all the coaches from the local area know who these coaches are, even though your guest teams may not. But, I can see the next step for this coach is to start calling some of the local coaches of an away soccer tournament — perhaps a neighboring club — and ask who these “flying standby” coaches are. Then, they see if they have played in your event and pass you on by.

Our advice: Don’t discount. Ever. Always have a backup plan for a division you need to round out. Can you play a round robin format? Can you move the seed one team up a division or possibly one of your club teams? What if you dropped a team to even out a division instead of letting one in for free (again, one of your club teams)? Short term, you may take a hit on the fees, but long-term, letting coaches in for free to round out a division ultimately hurts your soccer tournament brand. With lasting damage.