It was one of those weekends. You know the kind. We have 4 kids. The girls had their events, and fortunately they are old enought to drive so they could get themselves to their events.
But it was the boys. They were both in soccer tournaments on the same weekend. Each tournament was located on separate sides of the city. We couldn't be in both places at the same time.
I took the first game on Friday night for my oldest son. Their team had struggled most of the season so we were surprised when they dominated the first game. They were moving on!
My second son's tournament started on Saturday. I drew the straw for those games while my wife returned to the second round of games for my oldest son. It was a bit wrenching because I wanted to be in both places. My own quick survey of the other teams in the tournament from the Friday night game told me that we actually had a chance to place in the tournament.
But there I was on the other side of town with no way to track what was going on. That is...until my phone buzzed. I had a text message. The text message got to me even before my wife's phone call. We were victorious, and I was reminded of the power of online tournament management. This tournament came equipped with text message updating. I was notified of the scores by text message as soon as they were posted.
It was some relief to know this as we headed into Sunday afternoon games. As their team kept advancing, I kept getting text messages with surprising speed to let me know they were winning. It was with some chagrin that I also got the text message telling me they'd lost in the semifinals--a game they were expected to win.
Nonetheless, this tournament weekend juggling taught me a powerful lesson about online tournament management. When a tournament is managed online and coupled with text messaging, it gives an incredible attraction to the tournament director to cause teams and leagues to keep coming back. Does your tournament have this online power?
--William High is a freelance writer.