Common challenges we work on

Some of the most frequent problems:

• Everything is held together by people, not systems
  If 1–2 key people were unavailable, the whole tournament would be at risk.

• Draws, grading and formats feel messy or unfair
  Teams are confused, divisions aren’t balanced, and fixing issues is manual and stressful.

• Venue operations are inconsistent
  Some venues hum, others are chaos – cash handling, uniforms, rules, complaints and referee support all vary wildly.

• Communication is reactive
  Information goes out late, in too many places, or in ways teams don’t actually read or understand.

• Staff and volunteers are burning out
  Everyone does “whatever it takes” each year, but there’s no clear roles, training, or post-event review.

• Financial picture is unclear
  There’s revenue but you’re not really sure where the profit is going, or how changes (e.g. extra venues, new tech) affect the bottom line.

What I help you do

Support is tailored to your event size and capacity, but typically includes:

What I help you do

Support is tailored to your event size and capacity, but typically includes:

1. Tournament design & structure

• Clarify the purpose of your tournament (development, rep standard, economic impact, pathway event, etc.)

• Design or refine your grade structures, age groups and formats

• Map venue capacity so you know your realistic ceiling

• Align your tournament with your strategic goals (participation, pathways, community, revenue)

2. Systems, roles & operations

• Develop a clear Tournament Operating System:

  • Key timelines and milestones

  • Roles and responsibilities (staff, referees, volunteers, venue supervisors)

  • Venue set-up standards and checklists

  • Game day procedures, escalation paths and incident management

• Create simple, repeatable playbooks for:

  • Duty teams / volunteers

  • Venue supervisors

  • Referee allocation / support

  • Scoretable and tech

3. Grading, scheduling & competition management

• Support you to improve team grading and division balance

• Set up or refine scheduling templates and rules

• Help reduce:

  • back-to-back games,

  • impossible travel between venues, and

  • “why are we playing them again?” moments

• Integrate your competition platform (e.g. PlayHQ) into your process, not as an afterthought

4. Communication & experience

• Plan communication timelines and channels (before, during and after the event)

• Draft or refine information packs, FAQs and codes of conduct

• Introduce simple feedback loops – surveys, quick check-ins – so you get quality data, not just social media noise

5. Financials & risk

• Map income and costs so you can see where the tournament truly sits financially

• Help you understand the implications of adding/removing venues, divisions or services

• Identify key risks and mitigations – weather, facilities, medical, officials, behaviour – and make sure they’re owned by someone

• Clarify the purpose of your tournament (development, rep standard, economic impact, pathway event, etc.)

• Design or refine your grade structures, age groups and formats

• Map entry caps and venue capacity so you know your realistic ceiling

• Align your tournament with your strategic goals (participation, pathways, community, revenue)