One challenge I’ve experienced as a new coach is not knowing what to expect at tournaments. I have to rely almost exclusively on word-of-mouth anecdotes to gauge tournament quality and set my expectations (is it more circuit or lay? how aggressive are the fines? will it likely run late? how is the food? etc.) This information is helpful for setting expectations with my coaching staff, volunteer judges, students, parents, etc., not to mention useful in deciding which tournament to prioritize when there are several options the same weekend. But word-of-mouth is inefficient (who do I even ask and how do I get in touch?!) and unreliable (do they hate the tournament because they had one horrific experience a decade ago?!).
I’d like to have something like a Capterra/G2-style ratings & review database for tournaments, with both TD/tab-contributed data, and also community feedback for things like efficiency/punctuality; judging quality; facilities accessibility; food/concession offerings; equity responsiveness; fees/fines reasonability; etc. This would hopefully improve overall tournament quality and would also help to better capture and aggregate the things our community cares more vs. less about when it comes to what we deem a “great tournament.” I especially hope it’d be useful for new(er) coaches, TDs, tab, etc. who don’t have years/decades of experience to base opinions.