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Running a Successful Tournament
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To find out what it takes to run a successful tournament, we
contacted Don Flynn, owner of First Pitch Baseball (www.firstpitchbaseball.com). With ten years of coaching under his belt,
including running a few tournaments as fund-raisers, it occurred to Don to
launch a company to run tournaments where he lives, in Champaign-Urbana,
Illinois. He had a great first year
in 2003 and is excited about First Pitch Baseball’s six upcoming 2004
tournaments.
Don’s
prescription for success is to, “Have precise rules and regulations,
over-communicate with coaches, hire and train good employees, and use the
Internet to manage and advertise the tournaments.” He posts tournament schedules at least ten days prior to the
tournament and updates tournament information as often as necessary to keep
teams current with information on weather, changes in schedule and
rainouts. At tournaments, attendees
know they can ask staff (easily identified in their bright-orange t-shirts
emblazoned with “STAFF”) for help about anything related to the tournament,
from restaurant recommendations to schedules.
While Don manages his
tournaments via his own website, he believes USA Sports Rankings is
invaluable for advertising, and at very reasonable rates. As more coaches and teams are learning
that USA Sports Rankings site is a source of tournaments, it is becoming even
more valuable, saving Don the expense of printing and mailing hundreds of
printed brochures. Even though Don
Flynn considers himself the “new kid on the block” with respect to running
tournaments, he clearly knows what it takes to doing it successfully!
…Speaking of Tournaments
It’s
time to take off the long johns and scarves and put on the sunglasses and sun
block. USA SportsRankings will co-host the Triple Crown Spring Nationals in
Clearwater, Florida, come play ball and check out some MLB Spring Training
while there! Every team that signs up
will receive a free membership for a basic team package with USA
SportsRankings!! The tournament will take place March 26th – March
28th. For more information, click
here, or contact Craig Petroff at (970) 223-6644 x160 ( craig@triplecrownsports.com ).
Did You Know? 
Message Board: You
can use the USA Sports Rankings message board to exchange information and to
learn from the experiences of others.
Just click on “Message Board” on the left side of your screen, choose
a topic, then read items of interest or post your own item or question. In the past, posting was limited to
members only. That has been changed, non-members can start posting as
well. Check back often to see what’s
new!
To Extend Your
Membership:
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Just log in to your account (“Admin Home”).
§
Click on “Manage Accounts” under “Admin Edit” on
the right side of your screen.
§
Click on “Purchase” for the team membership you
wish to extend, and on the “Choose a Package” screen.
§
Click on the “Add to Cart” button for your team
membership extension, then finish the checkout process as usual.
What’s PayPal?
PayPal is
the service we use to manage our monetary transactions. If you have never used it, you will be
surprised to learn how easy it is to sign up and get started. Once you do, you may use it for many other
web services and purchases. All you
need is a credit card to which PayPal will transfer your purchase; it’s as
simple as 1-2-3-4-5!
1.
Click on the “PayPal” logo once you have completed the sign-up page.
2.
You will need a credit card to fill out the PayPal form and follow its
easy directions.
3.
When finished, you will be returned to the USASportsrankings.com
checkout page. Print this for your
records.
4.
Watch for a PayPal e-mail message with a link you will use to activate
your PayPal account.
5.
Follow the link and directions, and you’re all done!
Remember your PayPal
password! You will need it whenever
you make a PayPal transaction.
It would be hard to beat the
success of Illinois coach Russ Gangler’s Schaumburg Seminoles. Five years ago, when Russ was coaching his
9-year-old nephew’s recreational baseball team, his friend, Mike Swierze,
gave him the idea of starting a traveling 10-year-old team and, together,
they got it going. The Seminoles
haven’t stopped since. That first
year, they went from the “Schaumburg who?” to winning the state championship
and playing in the Las Vegas, Nevada World Series. They played in World Series again the next two years, making
the Seminoles the only team in Illinois to go to three World Series
tournaments. Asked what has led to
the team’s phenomenal success, Russ credits great talent and good coaching,
including that of his assistant coaches, Dave Kane and Dan Olt, both of whose
sons are Seminoles. That, plus lots
of hard work! Russ has the Seminoles
practicing nearly year around, teaching them to play “big-league ball” to prepare
them for high school. “Our goal for
2004 is to be the first team from Illinois to win both the USSSA World Series
(in Cincinnati),” Russ said, “And the CABA major World Series (in Broken
Arrow, Oklahoma).” He believes the
team will meet that goal because of the sacrifices players and their families
are willing to make for the team.
Following close on the heels of the Seminoles are the
Schaumburg Redhawks, started two years ago by Russ’s brother, Ryan. Russ is excited to have more teams forming
and signing up with USA Sports Rankings.
He said the site has been great for baseball in Illinois, and great
for getting the word out about the Seminoles; they are now known all over the
country, not just in Illinois. Russ
says the site is also convenient for tracking their team record as well as
those of other teams and players, both in his league and in others. They keep their team stats on-line and
highlight 3-4 players each game. Russ
says that he “Would never have believed four years ago that travel baseball
would be at such a high level,” as it has become and credits USA Sports
Rankings for helping to make it possible.
He believes the site becomes increasingly valuable as more teams join
up. Go Seminoles, the USA Sports
Rankings January Team of the Month!
Back to top.
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Court || Fort Collins, CO 80528 || 970-225-1933
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