Organizing A Dodgeball Tournament

Transcription

1 Organizing A Dodgeball Tournament Spread the Word: Here s some easy ways to promote your event - Put up posters around school and in the community. Promote the event during morning announcements Submit a Press Release in your local paper You can also contact with local newspapers, news channels and radio stations to help you publicize the event. Include the information on your school marquee Promote the event on your school website Promote the event during your a assembly Send a letter home to the parents Publicize through social media (Facebook) Have a heart survivor share their story with the student body T-Shirt Ordering: Two weeks prior to the event contact your AHA representative to order your t-shirts in the quantity and sizes you anticipate needing for the tournament. Any remaining t-shirt can be returned. Team Sign-Ups: Time to get the school excited about playing dodgeball! Approximately 4 weeks before the event, announce to the school community that team sign-ups have begun and that there are team sign-up sheets at [location]. This is the same location that students will drop of their completed team sign-up sheets, so have a manila folder for teams to drop their completed sheets and team registration fee in. Teams are co-ed (at least 1 member of the opposite sex per team) and each team will need to designate a captain. Costumes are optional but a great way to add fun to your event: Teams could have a costume or uniform to dress up in for the tournament. Teams do need to be dressed in at least the same color t-shirts so the referees can identify the team as a whole unit. You could award a prize to the best costumed team. Get the entire school community excited about getting a team together (all genders and grades). You should also be sure to talk to your teachers and faculty members and encourage them to form a team (having a faculty team is great and really fun!). Reach out and encourage EVERYONE to get involved. Students can either pay the registration fee themselves or ask their family, neighbors, and friends for donations in raising the registration fee with all proceeds going to the American Heart Association.

2 Continue to make announcements at your school encouraging more teams to sign up and alerting everyone to the due date of team sign-up sheets (1 week prior to the event). Event Preparations As the event approaches, there are some preparations and logistical things you need to take care of to make sure the event runs smoothly. Volunteers Referees: You will need Referees to officiate the games. Talk to students and teachers and find volunteers to referee (one per court). Give them a copy of the Official Dodgeball rules in advance so they can be ready for the tournament. Photographer: You could find a few volunteers to take pictures during the event (but make sure to have the appropriate lenses for capturing the fast-paced action). You can also have photographers to take team pictures before the game, with each team holding an event poster. Also have photographers take actions shots throughout the tournament. These can be used in the local paper, the school newsletter, website, etc. Announcers/MC: You will want to find two students, who aren t participating on a team, staff or parent volunteers to be your announcers. They are going to run the scorers table, make announcements, helps organize the tournament and play music throughout the tournament. Choose someone with the energy and intensity to keep the students excited about Dodgeball throughout the event. They can make it funny, entertaining, keep people interested, and direct traffic so that teams will be on deck and ready for play. Help Setting-Up: You should also reach out to other students/volunteers to help set the gym up for the event. Talk with your school s maintenance department to make sure you have 4 tables set up: a scorers table, a table to sell t-shirts, a table for water cooler, and a table for an educational booth (if you are doing one). You also need to have a microphone set up at the scorers table and a music system working (ask school about using their system and speakers), plus music. Make sure there are stands set up for fans to enjoy the action. If your school has portable bleachers, make sure you can set them up for the event (use benches if bleachers aren t available). Also check to make sure there is a parking lot that patrons and contestants can use. Help Cleaning-Up: Make sure to leave the school s facilities better than you found them. That means take posters outside the gym, throw away food, store banners, and clean up trash. EQUIPMENT You will also need some equipment for the actual dodgeball tournament. Dodgeballs: 10 per court (you play with 8 at a time but dodgeballs pop). Whistles: 1 per court (for referees) plus 2 extra for scorers table to get everyone s attention throughout the tournament Rules: Print a big poster with the Dodgeball rules. No headshots no exceptions to this rule Tape: You will also need tape to outline the dodgeball courts in your gym. Use a color that will stand out on your school s gym floor so everyone can clearly see the courts.

3 Tournament Bracket Now the fun part Bracketology. One week before the tournament, team sign-ups are closed and you have all of the team sign-up sheets and the $ team registration fees. The actual tournament is a March Madness type set-up a single elimination bracket leading up to a best of three games final to decide the champion. You should, however, let every team play 2 games. Once teams lose, although they are out of contention for the championship, they should play a second consolation game. Use a website like: Type the number of teams you have into the bracket and it will give you a bracket. Now randomly put the teams into the bracket and you are ready to play! The teams that lose their first games, will play one additional consolation game not part of the bracket but just for fun (schedule these games right after the 1st round of games is over). The finals should be best 2 out of 3. Day Of The Event: The day has finally arrived! Promote Event: In the days leading up to the event, hang posters across the school and make constant announcements about the upcoming event. Make sure everyone in the school knows about dodgeball! Hand out fliers at lunch and at the end of the school day reminding everyone and making sure teams come up with crazy fun costumes for the event (optional). On the day of the tournament, promote dodgeball in the morning announcements and hang posters outside of the school s entrance area. Optional Play Ideas: Here s how you can play multiple games with multiple teams: Make time limited games You can make the game last team standing or time limit who has the most people left whichever comes first. Not only will it make teams play a little more aggressively, but it also will keep sideline teams watching the clock as they know they are on deck. Have simultaneous games going on. Championship Winners: A nice idea for your championship team is to award a trophy(s) or other type of award (i.e. gift bags, gift certificates from local merchants, homework passes, etc.). For a fun trophy you can take a generic bowling trophy put a mini headband around the person and label accordingly. It closely resembles Dodgeball and is a funny award for the winners. Optional Fundraising Ideas: If you are looking for additional fundraising avenues for your event, hosting a concession stand is simple to do and man. Most schools are already set up for concession stands so check and see if this might be an option. Gym Set-Up Make sure you have your event volunteers there at (time gym is available) to help set up.

4 Gym Set-Up Guide: Each gym is different, but this is a general guidelines of how to set-up for the event: the playing field shall be a rectangle at least 50 ft. long and at least 30 ft. wide, divided into two (2) equal sections by a center-line and attack-lines 3m from, and parallel to the centerline. Ideal measurements: 60 x 30 Identical to a volleyball court. Step 1: Mark the courts with tape (make sure court is clearly visible). Step 2: Set up official s table in between two courts at back of room. Be sure to have microphone and speakers set up for music, music CDs and announcers. Step 3: If available, bring portable bleachers (or benches) to middle of the court for fans to watch the action. Step 4: If you want to add an educational element to your event, set up table to side where you can have educational brochures available from the American Heart Association, have your local EMS do CPR and AED demonstrations, hold blood pressure screenings, etc. Step 5: Set up a table near the entrance of the gym for t-shirt sales and donations to the American Heart Association. Although there is no mandatory donation to attend the event, you can encourage an optional donation of $1-5. You can also take checks of any size to send to the American Heart Association following the event. Have a volunteer running this table selling t-shirts and receiving donations throughout the event. Step 6: Set up a station with a water cooler for the competitors. Step 7: Hang Dodgeball For Heart posters throughout the gym Meet with the Refs Before the tournament starts, meet with the Referees and make sure they know all of the rules of dodgeball Give them whistles. Referee should be dressed similarly. As their uniforms have them wear referee shirts, if available, or have them wear matching colored t- shirts. Stress to the referees that while this is a fun event for a great cause, the participants will be competitive so it s important that they be fair and impartial referees. Pre-Tournament Meeting Now it is time for some dodgeball! Gather all of the teams in the gym to explain the tournament. First, read the dodgeball rules so the teams know how to play. Emphasize that headshots are illegal, and that good sportsmanship is important. Show the teams the bracket, and explain how the tournament is going to happen. Make it exciting and drama filled. Introduction Speech Now that you have filled the gym with students, teachers, parents, alumni, local community members, media reporters and fans, take this time to make a speech before the dodgeball games start. Thank everyone for coming out to the event and for supporting all the great work that the American Heart Association to save lives from the Nation s Number 1 Killer Heart Disease, and the third leading cause of death Stroke. Announce what the first games are going to be and get the tournament started! Team Photos Before each team plays their first game, bring them over to a corner of the gym where you can take their team picture.. Each team should be dressed in their crazy uniforms (optional). Tell them to hold a dodgeball and a poster from of the Dodgeball Tournament. Have your volunteer photographer take pictures of each team. Time to play some dodgeball!

5 Pre-Event Checklist Event Logistics Choose event date, time, location Assign student leadership team responsibilities and select faculty advisor Meet with your local American Heart Association Representative to determine your event details. Work with local American heart Association Representative on event materials, including posters, parent letter and sign-up sheets. Set fundraising goal Publicity Announce Event Send a parent letter home School-wide announcements Social media group/announcement (Facebook) Announcements to get students excited about signing up Event T-Shirt on display Press release Team Sign-Up Post team sign-up sheet 4 weeks prior to event Team Sign-Ups Team sign-up sheets due 1 week before event Make sure all demographics of school are included (having a teacher team is especially great!) all teams must be co-ed (1 or 2 member minimum) Ordering T-shirts Order t-shirts through your AHA representative accordingly to early registrations and potential registrations and t-shirt sales. This should be done at least two weeks prior to the event. Volunteers Referees Photographer Announcers / MC Help with Setting-Up Event Help with Event Clean Up. Will you want a Trainer present? Set-Up What time is gym available for set up? Outline courts Gym set-up (tables, bleachers, speakers, microphone, music, etc.) 10 dodgeballs per court Equipment Whistles for referees Tape for outlining courts Poster board for bracket / Official Dodgeball Rules Order any educational materials to have at booth (contact AHA rep) Donation box

6 Day of Event Checklist Before Event In the days leading up to the event, hang posters across the school, make constant announcements and pass out handouts at lunch and at the end of school to get the school community excited Day of the event Promote dodgeball in morning announcements and hang posters outside of the school at the drop off area (main entrance) T-shirt sales throughout day Gym-set up Gym is available at? All event staff/volunteers there to help set up when gym is open Outline Dodgeball courts with tape Set up scorers table (announcer/mc) Set up speakers / microphone / music Bleachers/benches set up for fans Table set up for t-shirt sales Donation box Store dodgeballs by scorers table Set up water station for contestants (Gatorade coolers and cups) Organize two volunteers to take photos of the event Team photos before the tournament begins and action photos Encourage students to bring drums, noise makers and anything else to the event to promote a fun atmosphere for the fans. Meet with Refs to ensure they all know the dodgeball rules, have a whistle and are uniformly dressed. Pre-Tournament Meeting (in Gym for most schools) All teams gather Read dodgeball rules Answer any questions Show tournament bracket drama and cheering Announce 1st games Get everyone into gym (if not already there for pre-tournament meeting) Introduction Speech Thank everyone for coming out to support the lifesaving work of the American Heart Association. Announce schedule for first few games Announce team photo location (corner of gym web ordering availability of photos) Announce tournament champions Announce total amount raised from the event.

7 Post-Event Checklist Figure out total dollars raised: Combine: Team registration fees T-shirt sales Event donation box Any other fundraising activities you did Send funds to American Heart Association using the envelope provided. Send appropriate thank you letters to anyone who helped with your event. Send out Press Release including tournament details, tournament winners, pictures, and amount raised.

8 Dodge Ball For Heart Day, Month Date, Year SCHOOL NAME Dodgeball Team Rules The teams are made up of 8 players Each team must have at least one male and one female (example: six girls and two boys or five boys and three girls, etc.) There must be a team name There must be a team captain so they can contact them if needed Each player must be wearing some type of uniform (similar colored shirts, costume, etc.) so that the refs can identify the team as a whole unit Closed toe shoes must be worn The team sign-up sheet must be handed in with the team registration fee paid in full by <Date> (1 week before Event) to < Location>. Each player s entry fee is $. This must be paid to in full before the Dodgeball Tournament begins (NO EXCEPTIONS). Donations are non-refundable in event participant cannot attend the event. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask <name and phone number>.