Running a Competition TME

Then there are prizes if it's a competition.

You'll also need to consider first aid/doctors.

 

Other things that spring to mind are:

Rules
Weight categories (weigh ins)
Age groups
Separate warm up and competing areas
Judges
Venue (costs)
Medical disclaimers
Marketing / advertising

 

There's a huge amount to consider, so take your time to think it through and plan it meticulously.

Clearly visualise what you want to achieve. How many rings, how many competitors, what age groups, how many officials etc. Keep that firmly in mind all the time.

Research your date. Think about school holidays and how they will affect turn out, for example.

Research your venue. You need somewhere big enough, obviously, accessible from wherever people will travel from, with decent parking, facilities for competitors and spectators, food, etc etc.

Get insurance that covers everything. Do not neglect this in any way. You could lose everything, including your liberty, if you don't take it seriously.

Research the required medical cover. How many first aiders, whether you need an ambulance on standby, etc etc.

Think about officials. How many are you going to need to run each ring? Now you need to at least double that figure. A number won't turn up, people need to leave a ring to go to the loo, have food, etc, and if you need it to keep running you need replacement officials.

Think about equipment required. Not just mats, but things like pens, paper, timers, bells or buzzers for calling time, etc. Test it all, have spares, spare batteries etc ready.

Put a lot of thought into logistics. How will winners/losers be recorded, by whom and where? Who will hold and medals/trophies? Who will go and get them after a division has completed? Will you do a presentation in the ring, or have a podium somewhere for a photo op? Have you got a decent photographer? Will there be music? Have you got a PA system for announcements? If you have several rings, how will people know which ring to go to? Have you got signs to number the rings? This stuff is boring but really important, and can make the difference between a shambles that drags on for hours and a slick show that people really enjoy.

Once you've figured all this out you can do some pricing calculations and see if it will actually make any money for your charity!

Push the pace. All the time. Tournaments will massively overrun if you let them. Work hard to keep things on track.

The org I'm in, TAGB, have become experts at running big tournaments. A thousand and more competitors in a day including the added effort of some competitors who are kids. The organisation involved is staggering, and they are improving it all the time. We aim to have double the number of officials required on every ring, there is a dedicated first aid team of maybe a dozen people, Welfare Officers to look after juniors and just help out, Media Team photographing videoing, Tweeting and Facebooking, boxes of equipment pre-packed for each ring, and so on.

I went to another event, run by a major Martial Arts magazine a few years back. 5 teams competing against each other, one ring. It had lots of promotion, and I was expecting a slick event. The music was booming, great atmosphere, but then you started to notice that they had to scrabble around to pick officials, they didn't seem to have sorted that out in advance. Then they were looking to borrow a phone to time the bouts. They had a buzzer but the batteries were flat, so they threw an empty plastic water bottle into the ring to indicate time was up. Moving from bout to bout took ages, as a result of which the event overran by hours, so people were having to leave before the end to get back for family commitments etc. It really brought home to me the details that make an event really professional.

Now, I'm not suggesting you want 1500 people on 20 rings, but even for a much smaller event the effort you put into organising will make a huge difference.