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Volleyball Competition Organisation, Rules and Considerations

After the Olympics, the obsession of some with Volleyball has shot through the roof, especially with the gold medal wins by Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor (USA) in the 2008 Olympics, the buzz in the US among Volleyball enthusiast and some who are new to the sport have increased. It is the foregoing buzz that has caused many to consider organizing a Volleyball competition. Even though summer has come and gone, it may still be worthwhile financially to hold indoor volleyball competitions, however, there are a few things you should consider when organizing it.


Competition Rules:

Organizing a successful Volleyball Competition is dependent on a number of factors, one of these important factors is the implementation of concise competition rules. Competition rules should contemplate the size of each team, match duration, uniform requirements, event points, pool and round robin points, resolution of point ties and medal presentation or prize receipts.

Team Size - The size of each team should be specified. Minimum requirements for reserves on each squad should be chosen and having team captains and managers should be a requirement for each team, not only for team management purposes, but also to act as liaisons between the team and the competition organizers.

Match Duration - There should be established amounts of sets and points for each match. Generally, a best of five sets, first four sets to twenty five and the fifth set to fifteen each of them with a minimum lead of two points, is used in Volleyball competitions. You need to set start times and warm up times. Also consider how injuries and other unforeseen events can impact match time. The rule of thumb in sports is that long delays makes for boring games, so excellent time management is required.

Uniform requirements - There should be standards for the kind of uniforms that can be worn for the competition. Uniforms should be approved by the competition organizers before the competition starts. All players should have uniforms which differentiates them from the other teams. One way to do this is to ask each team to pick particular colors for their uniforms. Some competition organizers ask teams to have two sets of uniforms with two different colors, so if two teams have a match, and they have the same colors, then they could flip a coin to decide which colors each team would wear. Safety equipment, even though separate from the uniform, should be a requirement. Consider having team members keeping their nails tapped or cut and things like jewelry should be considered as dangerous for competitors.

Event Points - A scoring policy should be set and issued to each team before the competition.

Pool and Round Robin Points - Points should be awarded at the end of each match. The point system can be as follows, Winning Team - 4 points, Drawn Matches - 2 points for each team, Losing team - 1 point and teams that forfeit gets 0 points.

Resolving point ties - A system that deals with ties should be developed. What sometimes happens in some competitions when two teams are equal on points is that the result of earlier matches between both teams usually decides who goes through to other rounds. Some competitions flips a coin to choose who moves on to other rounds.

Medal Presentation or Prize receipt - Prize and medal submission should be communicated to each team before the competition and should be presented to the recipients after the last match has been played.

Sponsorships:

Sponsorships have always been used in Volleyball Tournaments to get the necessary funding for the day to day operations. It lends some amount of credibility to the tournament, especially when the sponsorships comes from reputable companies. Tournament organizers should seek endorsements from community business or any other well know organization in the planned tournament site. Try to stay away from organizations that has a poor public image as this may deter people from joining your tournament.

Accounting:

Accounting records should be maintained to ensure that organizers keep track of the payments being made and the money received during the tournament so that profitability can be monitored. A simple Receipt and Payment Statement can be done during the competition through accounting software like Quick Books or it can be done manually.

Budgeting:

A budget is also important for the successful running of any tournament. You have to forecast your expenditure and match that with your expected receipts. The foregoing is important as you can assess whether the tournament is financially viable before the tournament is even started. Budgets can also be matched with actual spending and receipts during the tournament, to ensure that projections are being met and to make it possible to know what changes can be made to initial plans in case budget projections are not being met.

Promotion:

The usual TV, Radio, Internet ads & Posters are necessary. Apart from this however, the tournament should be promoted at high schools, colleges, beaches and gyms in the area you wish to have the tournament. You can also seek to promote your tournament on volleyball forums.

Alliances:

If possible, try to seek alliances with current tournament organizers. I find that companies tend to link with tournament organizers to start sporting tournaments for staff, so an alliance with them assures that you will have a set amount of teams, even before you promote your tournament.

Emergency Services:

Tournament sites should have sick bays, registered medical staff and an ambulance and ambulance team ready for any eventuality.

Other sources of income:

You should consider having vending machines or concession stands at your tournament. This can mean extra funds for organizers.

Legal Restrictions:

Ensure that you check all the relevant state laws for holding competitions of this sort.

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