Hotels at Tournaments

[Davemy]

So there are all different types Tournaments. Some are a business for some and there are others that are run by Organizations that are not for profit. Even thou all we mostly see on Social media are Tournaments that are for profit companies like TCS or D9. The majority of Tournaments are run by not for profits. Speaking for the not for profits, Aunt Rosie's is a Fundraising Tournament for our League that services over 500 House and Travel Kids. 100% of the money we make at our Tournament goes back into our complex. People have no idea how much it cost to maintain 5 fields and we plan on building 2 more fields this year. Softball is a crazy expensive sport just like most travel Sports for parents.( Hockey, Soccer, Baseball) We know if we can offer a good experience to the parents there is a good chance we will see them again down the road.
As for Aunt Rosie's we have never penalized a Team for not using one of our Hotels. We contact every Team Manager or Hotel Coordinator after they register and 75% or more use our service. Its quick and easy for them and we stand behind all the hotels we offer. It is no secret that it is a source of revenue for us but if we are providing a good price with good customer service there should not be anything wrong with that. I know our Tournament is not technically a Stay and Play but its pretty close.

 

[Hilliarddad3]

See Dave your answer there is the key "we have never penalized"

I don't care if tournies do legwork for teams with local hoteliers getting better rates to help everyone, it's just those that do penalize that make me sick and if I ever got back into travel again would avoid those tournies or not play by their rule again....

 

[Davemy]

Supertech
As of today we are not a Stay and Play Tournament, We do not penalize for not staying in our Hotels. We might look like a Stay and Play Tournament because we are aggressive or because we do a really good job providing Hotel Choices. Our Service I know takes a lot of pride in what they do. The service we use would love for us to go 100% Stay and Play. We are very happy with their performance or results they are doing now. By not going 100% Stay and Play I think they work harder for us and the Customer. Who knows thou we might someday go 100% Stay and Play but I doubt it!

 

[CARDS]

Go to play at the Keith Carver in Maysville KY... Not only do you get hotel discounts but team coupons for local restaurants!
This tournament is for the ladies. Fenced fields, clean rest rooms and plenty of good old KY hospitality.
If you like playing top comp enter the open…If your team is not quite as strong enter the HS division…

 

[Dawgsdad]

Fastpitch Showdowns has started this program this year. They have a list of hotels to choose from but they also offer a "local team" opt out. If you are within a 70 mile radius, you are not required to stay at the hotels chosen by a hospitality group. I think it should be up to a 90 mile radius as some parents will choose to drive each day to cut down on the costs of a season of travel ball. The whole deal is shaddy IMO.

 

[Supertech]

Davemy
It was not my intention to bash your tourney, I was just using it as an example of what i think is wrong with requiring teams to stay at certain places or penalize them. That just rubs me as wrong !!!!! I did not realize that Travel Ball would be this way and will be more selective next year when choosing the tourneys we will play in. Again, I am sorry if I made anyone mad as this was not my intention.

 

[Erie]

My initial post was the result of getting an email from Fastpitch Showdowns. It caught me off guard to say the least. But, I should have realized it earlier by reading everything (rookie mistake). With that being said, we had such a great experience last year as a result of, not just the tourney, but the hotel and it's staff. As a result, we booked early and got an elite hotel, IMO, at $129. Then the email. The confusion was over the "Heads in Beds" program, which I get from a tracking perspective. But, if I'm staying in your city anyways, just let me prove it with a receipt and be done. Don't make my life more difficult to spend money in your city.

After reading all the posts, I see now it is where things are going regardless of my or others opinion of it. We can choose to play the game or not. IMHO, offer a "kickback or discount" for using their service but do not penalize those who choose not to. I know many in our organization and others choose to camp a lot at tourneys, how is that handled?

In fairness, I have been trying to, work through this and so far they have been great to work with. Will let you know the outcome. Good luck to all this season.

 

[EDGE MARCHINY]

My wife gets a great deal for hotels from her work and now we can't us that we have to pay 129 a night just sucks but hey its only money right

 

[raidian70]

I had a wise coach once tell me to watch what I spend at the younger levels, because you will need to spend it later. We have played Fastpitch Showdowns for a couple of years, but chose not to this year because of the hotel requirement. At the 12u level, it isn't necessary. When we get to 2nd year of 14s, I probably won't even take the hotel requirement into consideration, just go play. At the 10s and 12s there are plenty of places to play without the requirement. But if it is something the TDs set up to help you, like some do, where it is not a requirement, that is a great thing.

 

[Mike_Craig_-_Ohio USSSA]

My last take on this. I think many of the posters on here are mistaking tournaments that use housing services as a "Stay to Play" policy. These are two entirely different animals.
1. Housing Services - contracted with the tournament to provide housing service. They get a projection form the TD of potential amount of teams for the event and go into the area where the event is being held and set up room blocks at several different places. You can still book on your own if you desire. Most housing services offer a rebate to the TD or some sort of comp room policy or reduced rate for the director to book rooms to house tournament staff or officials. These are not mandatory to play in an event.
2. "Stay to Play" - a policy enacted by a tournament director or staff that dictates that in order to participate in their event you have no choice but to book rooms with their housing service company. If the tournament is using this policy, they may have a policy for local teams or semi-local teams or they may not. What some of these events are doing is making you either provide some sort of booking confirmation before they even accept your entry fee or before they put you in the game schedule. I will not get into what the kickback is to the tournament because they all vary by how much the tournament itself wishes to take.

I think what is happening in this thread is some people are mistaking housing services as a "Stay to Play" policy when they are 2 different things. Housing/Event services are popping up right and left and focusing on the growing side of youth sporting events. If any of them actually knew how to count, we would use them more but after watching them get room counts wrong for all of the years we used them when the NSA came to Columbus, we work with the CVB in those areas now. The CVB's have a vested interest because if you ever see the fee on your hotel bill which references convention or visitor tax, that is where CVB's get a good piece of their funding from and have to justify their existence to keep those dollars coming in.

I don't claim to be an expert and guarantee someone can come in here and fill in the details better, but that is just a working knowledge which is all I need right now.

 

[backstop09]

My last take on this. I think many of the posters on here are mistaking tournaments that use housing services

"Housing services"? Really??? What a joke. Call it what it is. It is a middleman markup that unnecessarily increases the price and lines someone's pocket. Expedia or Travelocity is all the "housing services" anyone ought to need.

 

[hot corner]

The difference -

Stay to play - it is required for out town teams to book rooms through the tournament.

Housing service - it is still the teams option to use their service or not.

 

[softballoldtimer]

These companies let you chose how much you want to upcharge and make on each room, some as little as 5 a room, others as much as 20 or more a room per night. The organizations for example typically pocket all this money, also typically in contract if they sell so many rooms for example 20 you can get one free comped room for someone. thus one of the reasons you see them require you to stay at their hotels. Its a easy way to raise funds when hosting tournaments.