Tournament Weather Policies

recently, there has been allot of talk about the weather. If you aren't aware, many soccer leagues have missed basically an entire month of the season because of the untimely rain's we've had in the Southeast. While the rains have been welcome relief from the drought, they ave played havoc with the soccer season.

Not only have leagues had problems, many tournaments have experienced difficulties with the weather as well. A couple of weeks ago the SRFC tournament in Smyrna had to cancel Sunday games after a deluge on Saturday night. But most striking of all was that the Murfreesboro Soccer Club had to cancel an entire tournament on the Thursday before a tournament before a single game was played. Apparently, they had seen what had happened up the road in Smyrna the week before.

While most tournaments have a disclaimer stating that once your team is accepted, the entry fee is non-refundable, you have to wonder what they would do if an entire tournament is canceled. i applaud the decision to call a tournament early if you know that you can't play. At least the teams get a chance to cancel travel arrangements and get some sort of refund. But you have to wonder if the hosting club has any obligation to return any of the funds to the applying teams. The implication of the terms as I have always understood it was that you were not eligible for a refund if the tournament was canceled while in progress. Maybe I'm the only one who looks at it that way. While the club may not be obligated, I realize that they have fixed expenses before the first game is kicked off, you have to wonder how clubs will feel about applying again of they feel they are owed something. Personally, i think at least a partial refund is in order.

A couple of years ago I heard about a club that took a different approach. They guaranteed a full refund if less than half of the games were played due to weather. They figured that they would get completely rained out about once every 7 years but the loyalty they built up from that guarantee more than made up for the losses. They were also able to charge more for every entrant because of the guarantee. Allot of managers find tat a very attractive option.

Why more clubs don't try this, makes no sense to me. Perhaps it's because the clubs have no money at the beginning of the tournament to pay for the fixed expenses. All a club would have to do is to set aside a portion of the proceeds from a tournament for a "rainy day" fund. Basically, it would be a self-insurance policy. If you don't have the funds, why not take out a trip insurance policy on the tournament. A policy like this would be well worth it to insure a great experience for all involved.