Who are the people and organizations that make tournaments happen?
Three groups makes racquetball tournaments go: the local Tournament Directors, the Indiana State Racquetball Association (INSRA), and the United States Racquetball Association (USRA).
USRA
The USRA is the governing body for racquetball in the United States. For people competing in local tournaments, they maintain the standard rulebook, track the national rankings of every player in a sanctioned tournament, and provide insurance for local tournaments.
The USRA also publishes a bi-monthly magazine that advertises our local tournaments nationally. Their larger mission is helping promote racquetball to keeping it vital and growing as a national sport.
INSRA
The INSRA, Indiana's state racquetball association, organizes racquetball on the state level. The INSRA coordinates the yearly tournament schedule and promotes racquetball in Indiana. The INSRA is responsible for the advertising tournaments; you may have seen the poster of this year's tournaments. And of course you're reading the INSRA web site now.
The INSRA runs the State Singles and State Double tournament. They also provide help and support to tournament directors. For first time tournament directors, the INSRA will help teach them the ins and outs of running a tournament.
Local Tournament Directors
The local tournament directors are independent of the INSRA and USRA. They independently finance the event, and take responsibility to make the actual events happen. They plan, organize, and execute the tournaments.
There's a lot of details involved in running tournaments. Here's a brief rundown, from the early planning to the wrap up:
Chronology of Tournament Events
Twenty to Fifty weeks before the tournament
Local Tournament Directors
Commit to hosting a tournament.
INSRA
Set the tournament schedule for the year. Coordinate the schedule to minimize conflicts, both within the state and with National events.
Publicize the tournament schedule, and include the tournament on INSRA.ORG web site and in the posters for the year's schedule.
USRA
Distribute tournament information nationwide in the USRA.ORG web site and in Racquetball Magazine.
Ten weeks before the tournament
Local Tournament Directors
Make arrangements with the racquetball club for court times. Typically, the tournament director will pay the club between five and nine dollars per person entering the tournament. The cost will vary depending on the club and the time of year.
Create the tournament entry form.
INSRA
Create mailing labels for Indiana racquetball players and mail out tournament entry forms. Also, make the entry forms available on the INSRA web site.
Three to Five weeks before the tournament
Local Tournament Directors
Order tournament shirts, door prizes, and trophies. At this date the tournament director does not know exactly who will play the tournament, so the order for shirts, trophies, and food will be an estimate.
Make arrangements for Credit Card payments.
INSRA
Pay National sanction fees $100 per tournament
Two weeks before the tournament
Local Tournament Directors
Arrange for food to be delivered on the day of the tournament. The cost will vary with the size of the tournament and the variety of the food. Most tournaments will pay from four hundred to one thousand dollars for food.
Entry forms will start arriving for the tournament.
One week before the tournament
Local Tournament Directors
Create the player roster. This is a list of personal information for each player, such as their contact information and shirt size. The roster also needs to track what events they are playing, their doubles partner, their USRA membership status, how much they owe for their events and how much they've paid.
INSRA
Provide racquetballs for the tournament. At least one case is needed, two for larger tournaments. A case contains seventy two racquetballs and costs about one hundred dollars.
Help tournament directors prepare for the tournament, giving advice and assistance where needed.
Three days before the tournament
Local Tournament Directors
Three days before the tournament, the directors can create draw sheets for each event. Based on the number of entries for the events, the tournament director will decide the exact format for the tournament. Some of the decisions are:
Which events have enough people?
How many flights for each particular event?
Round Robin or Single Elimination?
The limiting factor in the decision is often the amount of court time available at the club. For instance, say a round robin event has eight participants. In flight of eight people, it will require 56 matches to complete. If the event is split into two flights of 4, it will take only 27 matches to to complete, including the playoff between the flights.
Once the number of matches needed to complete each event are determined, the start times can be set. The tournament director will try to schedule the events so players will not have extended wait times, or be doubled booked to multiple matches at the same time.
When the times are set for each event, the directors will create score cards for each event. The directors will answer calls from players asking for start times. Start times are sent to the INSRA. The start times are posted at INSRA.ORG, and are available from the host club by noon on the Thursday prior to the event.
The directors continue to update the player roster, as late entries arrive and and players drop out.
INSRA
Publish the player's start times on the INSRA web site by noon Thursday prior to the event.
During the tournament
Local Tournament Directors
Along with an INSRA person, process USRA membership forms.
Accept payment for the tournament, along with payment for USRA membership.
Make sure the insurance waiver has been signed.
Update the player roster with payment information.
Assign courts to pending matches. This can be difficult, as players do not always report results promptly. However, assigning matches quickly and effectively is key to running a good tournament.
Record scores and results.
Distribute tournament shirts and door prizes.
Distribute trophies to winners.
Pay referees five dollars per match, if this is a tournament with referees.
After the tournament
Local Tournament Directors
Send the tournament results to the INSRA.
Send the sanctioning fees to INSRA. ($375, with a $50 rebate for promptly sending results.)
Send USRA membership forms and fees collected to INSRA.
INSRA
Within two weeks, send tournament results and results to USRA
Coordinate the paper for tournament insurance
USRA
Post tournament results.
Update national rankings.
Update new membership information.
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