Tournament Resources

Your team may decide to enter in-town or out-of-town tournaments. Typically, it's best to sit down with your coach and identify tournaments that the coach would like to play in. Once you have a plan, present the plan to the team.

Every family (even those who don't play in the tournament) is responsible for its share of tournament fee and coach costs (applies only to teams with non-parent coaches).

You may not pull players from other teams to participate in a tournament, even lower-level teams. Only exception is if a goalie is needed you must have permission from your team, the chosen goalies coach and this must be a goalie from an even or lower-level team.

10U & ABOVE TOURNAMENT RESOURCES

Most tournaments are hosted by a few large companies that are linked below. Beyond these tournaments, some clubs host their own tournaments. 

• Big Bear Tournaments
• HockeyTime Productions
• MyHockey Tournaments
• Ultimate Tournaments
• TCS Hockey

Nashville has become a very popular tournament destination, as such tournaments may special entry rules that you will need to pay special attention to. Due to the sheer volume and limited ice, the number teams accepted to these tournaments is extremely low. Best advice is to apply early and also have back up plan.

COACH EXPENSES

Like all other parents, parent coaches are responsible for their own travel expenses. However, if your team is booking enough hotel rooms, your coach's room may be comped by the hotel or tournament company.

Non-parent coaches receive a Per Diem to cover their food and gas costs. Their hotel room, if not comped, is also covered by the parents on your team.

TOURNAMENT PREPARATION

Once your team has agreed on a tournament, you will need to do the following things:

1. Complete Tournament Application - You should submit your tournament application ASAP so spots don't fill up. Never assume that you are in the tournament just because you sent in the application. Always verify with a contact from the tournament that your team's spot in the tournament is secured. Tournament companies want your team to have a good experience and as such they do their due diligence to ensure teams are competitive. At times if they cannot field enough competitive teams, they will move you to a different city/tournament/date or have to cancel all together.
2. Submit Your Down Payment
3. Submit Hotel Preferences - Most tournaments require you to stay at a tournament-approved hotel, "Stay to Play." You should send those to the tournament director ASAP. All players must stay at the required hotel. Families cannot use hotel points, book through a discount site, etc.
4. Collect Hotel Reservation Information - Some tournaments handle this differently, but some require the team manager to collect credit card information and reservation dates from each family.

Some other things to consider:

1. Tournament Schedule - You should expect to learn of your game days/times 7-10 days prior to your tournament. Some tournaments can start early as early as 7:00am on the first day and go as late as 6:00pm on the final day. 
2. Plan Team Outings - Oftentimes teams will plan dinners or activities to do when out of town. This is an excellent way to team build. Also consider looking into getting a banquet room one night at your hotel for the kids to play or eat in. If they are unused, the hotel will often give you one for little to no cost.
3. Goody bags - Teams can choose to create goodies bags full of snacks, drinks, etc to enjoy during their time out of town.
4. Volunteers - You will need volunteers for opening the penalty box door for each game during the tournament games.

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