Hosting a Hockey Regina One-Day Tournament
Author: Bob Chmielnicki
Note: That SHA considers “Exhibition Series” that have more than two team participating a tournament.
Before Starting:
Before you even start planning to have a tournament the team should have a vote if the parents support putting on a tournament. There will be a tournament if both the manager and coach want one based on my experience. Regardless of how people voted everyone must contribute to the tournament and meet minimum standards. Not all families will contribute equally but all families should contribute the minimum. A possible definition of minimum is providing 3 prizes for the tournament and working 3 shifts on the day of the tournament.
Organizing:
There should be an organizing committee with a chairperson. This person should preferably be someone other than the coach or manager. The committee should have about 6 to 8 members. The first meeting should be about 8 weeks before the tournament if it is in the first half of the season. If it is in the second half it may be longer because you will want to have the initial meeting within the first month of play. My experience has been that 3 or 4 meetings will be required. Make sure that someone is taking minutes for the meeting. Remember to assign tasks at the meetings with a deadline. Make sure the minutes of the meeting are shared with the other parents. This way they will know what is expected of them also.
Paperwork:
The tournament must be sanctioned by the SHA for $25. The proper paperwork is available in the manager’s kit received at the beginning of the year. The papers are also available on the Hockey Regina Website. A $100 cheque must be made out to Hockey Regina. This cheque is ripped up once the score sheets to the tournament are submitted to the SHA within 3 working days of the tournament. Hockey Regina will provide the necessary score sheets for the tournament.
Entry Fee
The going rate for a one-day tournament in 2006-2007 was $250. Make sure to provide a deadline on when the payment must be made and when the rosters are to be sent. It is preferable to have this resolved at least 4 weeks before the tournament. This may sound harsh but your team is incurring expenses and they need a commitment. Also all the teams would like to have schedule as soon as possible.
When to have the tournament:
The tournament should be on a day when no or few teams in your division are playing a regular season game, preferably on a Saturday. This means that the organizers must review the division schedule in advance. Also try to avoid having a tournament the same day or same weekend as other teams in your division. In fact it is prudent to phone some managers or coaches in advance to see if they would be interested in entering your tournament. Only do so if you are willing to have them in the tournament. Also avoid having a tournament during the holidays or a long weekend. Make sure that every family can participate on the day of the tournament. After the date is set make sure that the tournament is advertised on the Hockey Regina web site. Also make sure that all coaches and managers in your division are aware of your tournament.
How many teams to have:
The tournament should have an even number of teams. The tournament should have either four or six teams assuming this is a one-day tournament. A four-team tournament is preferable if the goal is just to get ice time and play three games. One problem with four-team tournament is that teams will have to play back-to-back games. A six-team tournament is preferable if it is a fundraiser. A six-team tournament will run for the entire day.
Where to have the tournament:
Ideally the best place to have a tournament is in Regina. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to get a rink in Regina for a whole day so the tournament will likely be out of the city. Some criteria to consider are the following:
· Location of the rink relative to the teams in the tournament. If all the teams are from the east end then perhaps a town east of the city would be preferable. Generally the closer to the city the better.
· Cost for the rink. Most rinks charge a fee. Towns further away from Regina generally charge less or nothing at all. The ones that charge nothing at all make their money from the concessions.
· Number of dressing rooms. Six dressing rooms are ideal if it is a six team tournament. That way no team has to move their equipment outside of the dressing room. Big dressing rooms are preferred but generally that is a lower priority.
· Size of the foyer. A large foyer is preferable as it provides more room for prizes and setting up.
· Concession stand. A concession stand is required if the tournament is all day. Hopefully it has some variety but lunch and snacks are a necessity. If the stand does not serve breakfast it is helpful to fine the nearest restaurant in advance of the tournament. In one tournament that I put on I found out the most popular restaurant in the town. I asked them to sponsor our tournament by advertising in our program. In turn most of the teams at the tournament went there for breakfast. It was a win/win scenario.
Referees
You should try to get referees from the town where the tournament is being held. The rink manager will likely offer to help find local referees or he will provide a number of someone who can. The going rate in 2006-2007 was $20 per referee per game. Generally you want to have two refs per game. You should make sure the refs are familiar with the rules like no body checking for Initiation, Novice and Atom House. Make sure that you have a number to call if the referees are not there. Generally the person in charge will be there for the first game, but you also want a number to phone in case something goes wrong. As a back-up plan ask two parents to bring their skates in case the refs are late or do not show up. At one of our tournaments we had no refs at the start of the first game, but luckily one of the parents had his skates. He refereed the first period. By the second period the referees showed up and we were able to keep on schedule.
Who to invite to the tournament
Generally start with teams from your division in Hockey Regina. If you are having out of town teams in the tournament get an e-mail and phone numbers list of coaches and managers of all possible teams. For Initiation and Novice the rules are the same for all levels so inviting a rural team is no problem. Rural teams have body contact at the Atom level and Atom House does not. This should be considered when inviting teams. I also look at the schedule for the year to see if our team is not playing any teams during the regular season. These may be the first teams that I invite if we want to play them.
Scheduling
Scheduling for a four-team tournament is rather simple. Each team will play the other once. There will be 6 games overall. Two teams will have to play back-to-back games.
Attached is a sample schedule for 4 teams:
Start / End / Visitor / Home9:00 / 10:00 / Kings / Rebels
Clean Ice
10:15 / 11:15 / Vipers / Hawks
Clean Ice
11:30 / 12:30 / Kings / Vipers
Clean Ice
12:45 / 1:45 / Rebels / Hawks
Clean Ice
2:00 / 3:00 / Vipers / Rebels
Clean Ice
3:15 / 4:15 / Hawks / Kings
Colored Uniform / White Uniform
Scheduling for a six-team schedule is more challenging. First you must decide if the tournament is just going to guarantee 3 games or there will be a championship round. If you choose the latter, then there are two possible formats. The first is to have every team play two games and then the top 2 play in the A Championship; next 2 play in the B Championship and the bottom 2 play in the C Championship. I will illustrate with an example:
Team Win Loss Tie For Against Points
Kings 2 0 0 9 2 4
Bullets 1 0 1 8 4 3
Hawks 1 0 1 7 6 3
Sharks 1 1 0 5 6 2
Rangers 0 2 0 4 9 0
Flyers 0 2 0 2 8 0
Kings would play Bullets in the A (Bullets tied the Hawks, but the Bullets have the better for and against record).
Hawks play the Sharks in the B
Rangers play the Flyers in the C
The players generally enjoy being in a championship game but there can be problems. Teams can end up playing the same team twice. Also teams can end up playing back-to-back games, which is a decided disadvantage. The other option is to have two groups of three with first in-group A playing first in group B for A Championship, etc. I will illustrate with an example:
Group A
Team Win Loss Tie For Against Points
Kings 2 0 0 9 2 4
Sharks 1 1 0 5 6 2
Flyers 0 2 0 2 8 0
Group B
Petes 2 0 0 12 6 4
Pats 1 1 0 6 6 2
Chill 0 2 0 3 9 0
Kings plays Petes in A
Sharks play Pats in B
Flyers play Chill in C
The third option is to guarantee every team three games. This way, everyone knows when and whom they will play. The parents appreciate this method most. The teams will know what time they will be arriving and leaving for the day. Some points to consider when scheduling:
· Who plays in the first game? Generally the host team plays in the first game just because they are there already. In a six-team tournament there are nine games. The other team playing in the first game should be scheduled in the seventh game to shorten their day.
· Every team is the home team at least one game. There is no strategic advantage to being the home team at this level. Most teams prefer one color though so this gives them an opportunity to wear their favorite jersey.
· Do not schedule teams in back to back games.
· Who plays in the last game? Generally the host team is expected to be the last team to play. Their opponent should be a team that played in game 3.
· Every team should have clean ice for at least one game if the tournament is not having the ice cleaned every game. To save time you may only clean the ice every second game. Be sure that every team has at least one game on clean ice. The teams will appreciate this in the schedule. If you don’t the teams will notice this.
· Try to match teams by their abilities if possible. Check the standings before you make the schedule so the top team is not playing the bottom team. This can be accomplished if the tournament is near the end of the season. It may be difficult if it is near the beginning of the year or rural teams are involved. Generally rural teams are more competitive at these age groups.
· Length of games. I have found 3 fifteen minutes periods straight time is sufficient. The entire game should be no more than 55 to 60 minutes. Another possibility is 2 twenty-five minute periods although some feel hockey should have 3 periods.
· Cleaning the ice generally takes no more than 15 minutes.
Attached is a schedule below that can be used as a template for 6 team tournament:
Start / End / Visitor / Home8:00 / 8:55 / Kings / Prairie Storm Thunder
9:00 / 9:55 / Vipers / Hawks
Clean Ice
10:10 / 11:05 / Chill / Rebels
Puck Toss #1
11:15 / 12:10 / Prairie Storm Thunder / Hawks
Clean Ice
12:25 / 1:20 / Vipers / Rebels
1:25 / 2:20 / Kings / Chill
Clean Ice
Puck Toss #2
2:40 / 3:35 / Prairie Storm Thunder / Vipers
Clean Ice
3:50 / 4:45 / Hawks / Chill
Clean Ice
5:00 / 5:55 / Rebels / Kings
Colored Uniform / White Uniform
Note that I added an extra 5 minutes for a puck toss. I will discuss fund raising events in more detail in the next section. The event does not take long and I have found it to be popular for both parents and children.
Some tournaments like to have shootouts after the games. This is usually a fun event, but it does add time to the tournament. My preference is to provide an event that both the players and the parents can feel good about when they come home. The players generally enjoy them but the parents would prefer to go home earlier.
Fund Raising Events
The four primary reasons for having the tournament are to give the players an opportunity to play hockey, also give them an opportunity to have fun, create team comradery and the last is to raise funds. There are many ways to accomplish the latter. I will provide what has worked at our tournaments. These are by no means the only way to raise funds. All of them are traditional events that many of you would be familiar with.
· Puck toss
o Have one to two puck tosses
o Cost is two dollars per puck or three for five dollars
o Object of the game is to throw the puck to the button right at center ice. The closest puck wins to the button wins half the pot. The team keeps the other half.
o Need at least 75 pucks but no more than 150 pucks (preferably multiple of 3)
o Need a bucket to carry the pucks
o Have all the pucks pre-numbered
o Have a pre-numbered sheet on a clipboard where people sign their names with their number
o Make sure that the teams playing right before the puck toss and right after the puck toss know about the event. Make sure that they are reminded before their games because the pucks usually sell out, but the majority of the sales are generally 15 minutes before the start of the event.
o Be sure that everyone knows where they can throw from
o I encourage the teams that have just played and about to play to throw from the player’s bench to make it more convenient for them
50/50 draw
o Sell tickets with the winner receiving half the pot