Ryan Shiffman, Coaching Director at Ellerslie AFC and Tournament Director for the U11s National Tournament, was told just two weeks out from the 2020 U11s National Tournament that the software he was planning to run the event with would not be available to him.
With teams lined up from all around the country to compete at his event, he needed to come up with a solution fast.
Others in the club suggested he look at Friendly Manger’s competition management software, but Ryan was concerned that implementing a new piece of software in such a short timeframe would not be possible.
He needed a dedicated website that would let him easily communicate with all the teams coming to the event, and he needed a robust competition management tool to run the draw and results.
In November 2020, with just two weeks to spare, Ryan decided to take a chance on Friendly Manager.
"I was unsure whether turning to a new management tool just two weeks before our National Tournament was set to launch was the right thing to do, but right from the start the staff at Friendly Manager put my mind at ease and worked tirelessly to ensure the product we used to display our draw and results for the tournament looked professional and was finished on time,” Ryan says.
The team at Friendly Manager saw that time was of the essence and threw their experience and expertise at the event to ensure Ellerslie Football was able to run its tournament to the standard required of a national event.
“They made themselves available at all hours to get us across the finish line,” Ryan says. “There are truly excellent staff and people behind this quality product.”
In less than two weeks, Friendly Manager had set up a dedicated website that Ryan was able to customise and brand to match existing marketing collateral.
Friendly Manager’s competition specialists assisted Ryan with creating the draw for each of the divisions and had it live on the tournament website for all teams to see.
“I began to breathe again, believing that things might actually work out okay,” Ryan recalls, “until a team pulled out just before the tournament was about to start.” The team at Friendly Manager showed Ryan how to make the changes required and the updates were on the website immediately.
Throughout the tournament, teams were able to access the draw and scores in real time and this made a large contribution to the ultimate success of the tournament.
“Running a tournament is a huge undertaking,” says Ryan. “Ensuring you have the right software to manage the competition removes hassle and significantly reduces the time required to administrate the event. The punters also think you’re amazing.”
