As a TD we have to balance the costs incurred with the refunds given. A complete wash out is the easiest to deal with, its been a monsoon for days and the fields are unplayable on Wednesday and the hurricane is stalled off the coast. We still have t-shirt costs, field costs, the trophies are made, the food is in the concession stands and the fields are prepped etc....
The on and off again rains are the worst. Should you cancel the day, shorten the games, send everyone home or wait. The expenses have already been incurred the teams are ready, the umpires are waiting, everyone wants to play. Each field is different in the way it takes water, a few are quick to recover others are lost for the weekend. We have further difficulty in that the fields are in different complexes and even a few miles difference can mean that a field is good to go while another is lost.
There is not a TD alive that doesn't want you to play your games but we play a game outside at tournaments that are hours away from your homes and hearths. Most travel teams appreciate your hard work to get the games in and some will even lend a hand, those teams I treasure. Last year we used over 400 bags of field dry the year before 7. Profits were kicked in the head, but we got the games in. No one gave us an extra dime.
I guess there are for profit tournaments but i can't think of many in our region. Most tournaments are run as fund raisers for the local teams and all 'profits' are plowed back into local softball. Over the years we have built up a war chest to reduce our risk due to bad weather but we are still underwater on Fridays and depend on the partial refund policy to make our nut should we get rain.
If these tournaments are such money makers, are so poorly run, with such bad umpires and evil TD's; please start your own. I am ready for a break.