Reflections of a Sectional
Image via Wikipedia The last two Saturdays we had the honor of hosting sectional tournaments. For those that don’t know, the Little League tournament you see on TV starts at the individual district level and about two months later concludes in Williamsport. It is the greatest tournament on the planet! Likewise, this tournament is held for every division.
The sectional is the portion of the tournament that follows districts. In our section, we have three districts. They play a 3 team, one day, round robin tournament . The first game is 1v2, then the loser plays 3. Then the winner plays 3. The games are at 10, 1, and 4. Needless to say, it is very hot!
What we did right:
1. We had a fantastic city worker to prep the fields for each game
2. We had a fully stocked and staffed concession stand
3. We assigned 2 hour concessions slots to all-star teams that played in the districts
4. We iced down drinks in coolers
5. We had a full blow public address system
6. We played lots of music in between innings and games
7. We sold roster t-shirts to offset the costs of the tournaments
8. We raised concessions prices for the senior boys tournament
What we did wrong:
1. We underestimated the demand for t-shirts for senior boys
2. We overestimated the demand for t-shirts for major girls
3. We didn’t raise concessions at the major girls tournaments
All in all I think we did a fantastic job! While the sectionals tournaments are money losers because you have to purchase the banner, medallions, and pins, they are an opportunity to show off your facilities, city, and an audition for the lucrative state tournaments that come around every few years.
Additionally, our District Administrator gives all of the rain outs and championship games to us for our district top team tournament and all-star tournaments when we host the sectionals for him. We have done very well over the last couple of weeks having to make many trips to Sams!
As I watched the people leave they sincerely thanked us for hosting their kids and had smiles on their faces. That is all that really matters isn’t it?
What is the best thing you have every done hosting a tournament?
What is the worst thing you have ever done hosting a tournament?
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Raising Money at Tournaments
Image via Wikipedia Yesterday we had the honor of hosting our district’s sectional tournament for the major softball division. The sectional was created to reduce the burden on the state tournaments, but in our case is a bit silly. We have only three districts in it so it is a 3 game round robin . Whoever shows up in their two games wins and goes to states. That is for a different article though. Today, I would like to discuss making money for your league hosting a tournament.
The cost we have to put out to host the tournament is about $700. This includes the flag for the champion, pins, medallions, and medals. The problem with only three teams playing is that there is no way to make that money up with concessions. We sold almost $500 in concessions, but that is revenue, not profit. We still had to purchase the stuff that we sold.
Therefore, we needed to find a way to raise more money. Our initial thought was a souvenir t-shirt. Everyone wants a momento of the tournament right? WRONG! We sold only about 20. Why?
I think it is because the girls play in a tournament every weekend just about and purchasing a shirt at each one is not feasable. Had this been the state tournament we probably would have sold enough to justify the costs, but at the sectional they simply did not sell.
This creates quite a dilima for the hosting league. First we have to feed all the umpires and district adminstrator. There is a cost for that. Then, we have to make sure all the volunteers have water and such to keep them going. And then theres the city guy which we have to make sure he is watered and fed as well. Suddenly we are losing a lot of money hosting this event!
So how can we raise more money at this event? We tried a 50/50 drawing and didn’t sell a single ticket! What tactics have you used in the past to raise money at tournaments? Please share with us so we can all reap the rewards of the hours of effort that goes into hosting a tournament.
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