1. Poor Communication with Teams and Staff
When emails go missing or instructions are unclear, it creates unnecessary stress. Last-minute changes that aren’t shared properly lead to confusion, delays, and frustration for teams, referees, and parents.

2. Scheduling Errors That Cause Chaos
Scheduling can look easy on paper, but once you're dealing with hundreds of teams, coaching conflicts, and spacing between games, small errors snowball. One missed conflict or poorly spaced schedule can throw off an entire division and impact the tournament experience.

3. Misplaced Teams and Registration Issues
Teams get placed in the wrong bracket, teams get upset, managers get yelled at, or special requests get lost. These problems often stem from using manual tools or registration systems that don’t catch conflicts early. Once brackets are live, it’s much harder to fix.

4. Overloading Your Volunteers
Volunteers play a huge role in making tournaments happen, but assigning too much to too few people causes burnout and mistakes. It’s tough to stay organized when volunteers are trying to juggle scoring, field coordination, and parent questions all at once.

5. Burning Out Your Tournament Director
When one person handles everything from registration to weather delays to referee questions, it’s overwhelming. Many directors do a great job for a year or two, but the pressure adds up. Giving them support can help them actually enjoy the weekend and even watch their own kids play. That kind of balance keeps strong leaders involved long term.

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