Tournament Director Best Practices

Preparing before your tournament can help prevent delays and keep your event running smoothly. Use this checklist to make sure you have the supplies, backups, and contingency plans you need before competition begins.

Tournament Supply Checklist

Before heading to your event, make sure you have the following items:

  • Printer
  • Extra printer paper
  • Spare printer ink cartridge
  • Pencils and paper
  • Scotch tape
  • Extra mat tape
  • Trash cans for each mat and throughout the facility
  • At least one set of ankle bands at each mat
  • An athletic trainer with a dedicated space in the venue
  • Paper towels
  • Nose plugs
  • Gloves
  • Disinfectant spray
  • Stopwatches for clock failures or power outages
  • Flip charts for:
    • Dual meet scoring when a scoreboard cannot accommodate the score
    • Clock failures
    • Power outages

These supplies can help your tournament continue with minimal disruption if unexpected issues occur.

Back Up Your Tournament Data

After your brackets have been created, make backup copies so you can recover quickly if equipment or internet issues occur.

Save your brackets as a PDF

After each round:

  1. Save a PDF copy of your brackets.
  2. Give each file a descriptive name so it is easy to identify the correct event and round.

Saving bracket PDFs after every round helps ensure you always have the most up-to-date version available.

Print your brackets

Print a paper copy of your brackets to use as a reference if you temporarily lose access to a computer or printer.

Keep blank bout sheets available

Save and print PDF copies of blank bout sheets before your tournament begins.

Blank bout sheets allow you to:

  • Continue scoring matches if a computer is unavailable
  • Continue operating during a power outage
  • Record exhibition matches when needed