Organising a tournament on the beach requires a different kind of preparation as that of a tournament in a traditional sports venue. The beach is a public place, attracting many people, and subject to very specific rules. In addition, this environment gives you the necessary freedom to organise an event that stands out from the crowd. Here are some tips and ideas to organise a successful tournament on the beach.
Contents
- Be creative
- Prepare your tournament
- Should you rent or buy equipment
- Manage player registrations
- Be ready for the big day
1. Be creative
Your tournament must stand out from other events in the area. Here’s how to make a difference and get your attendees to leave saying “we’ll come back next year”:
- Entertain with fun activities – bouncy castles, DJs, etc.
- Attract local and influential personalities – athletes, artists, youtubers.
- Involve sponsors to finance activities or prizes to be won.
- Encourage attendees to dress up and adopt a theme to decorate the beach.
2. Prepare your tournament
Establish and communicate the rules
What would a sports competition be without rules? Establishing rules may seem tedious, but there are simple ways to avoid writing them yourself:
- Download them directly from the website of the relevant sports society if it is an official competition
- Get inspiration from the official rules and add some variations if it is an “original” tournament
- For example: obligation to dress up
Display your rules and make them easily accessible to ensure that your participants have read and understood it. To do this, add them to your:
- Website, on a dedicated page
- Facebook event – with a nice visual
- Facebook page
- Description on your online booking platform
- Information email to participants a few days before the tournament
On the day, display it on large posters in A0 format or on PVC tarpaulins.
Request authorisations
To obtain the right to use a public space, you will need to make a request to your local council. Find all the details here: Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales) — gov.uk.
You can read about how to ensure the health and safety of your participants by visiting the following web page: Guidance on running events safely — hse.gov.uk.
Tip: Remember to take out insurance and avoid any inconvenience if a participant or volunteer is injured!
3. Should you rent or buy equipment
Sports and physical activities generally require equipment to:
- Play/Practice: balls, nets, whistles, cones…
- Reward the winners: trophies, cups and medals; prizes and gifts from sponsors – sports equipment, gift vouchers…
- Various reasons: music, goodies, decoration, parasols and tents..
- Prepare/tidy/clean up: garbage bags for waste, markers, tape, string…
Remember to create a budget to avoid unpleasant surprises!
You don’t have to buy all this equipment. You can rent them or borrow them from sports clubs for example. It may be interesting to buy them only if you will use them regularly. For rewards, ask for financial support from your sponsors and partners. This will reduce your costs and increase the quality of the prizes!
4. Manage player registrations
Create your event on a registration platform like Weezevent and make it easier to manage your participants. Customize the registration fields to obtain the names of participants and their teams, their identity documents and medical certificates. All this can be configured in a flash and also allows you to collect valuable information such as the email addresses of all participants. You will be able to remind them of important information a few days before the tournament: access to the venue, rules, schedules. After the event, you will keep in touch with them and invite them to your next tournament!
5. Be ready for the big day
The tournament is coming up, you’ve prepared everything, and you’re looking forward to enjoying your event. Be prepared and attentive to the smallest details. Feel free to send an email to your participants on the morning of the event to remind them of some information – weather forecast, equipment not to be forgotten, etc.
Come early to your event venue – the day before or early in the morning – to set up and test everything. You will be calm and more efficient if you are not disturbed by the most punctual participants.
It’s up to you! Organise a successful tournament and discover all the benefits of our solutions by clicking on the button below:
