Just picture it — a gorgeous summer day by the lake with great food, cold beverages, and a park full of your friends playing rugby. For most players and fans, a summer rugby tournament like the Lakefront 7s is the ideal way to spend a Saturday. But each year we hear stories of teams that waited too long to register and missed their chance to participate.
There is no worse feeling than being left out of summer sevens. So here are the top 5 reasons to register early.
1. Better participation
By setting your summer schedule early, you’re sure to maximize the participation of your team mates. From coordinating vacation time to competing for limited roster spots, the earlier you register your team the better your numbers will be at the event and even at practice.
2. Free advertising for your team/club
Once a a team registers, they are usually promoted on the social media channels of the sevens tournament. This exposure will let team fans as well as potential players know about your club and provide opportunities for recruiting and expanding the reach of your network by gaining more followers.
As above, the earlier you can register, the earlier the chances that the people you want to recruit will see your news in time to follow your club’s social media and/or contact you about participating on your team.
3. More time to collect fees and easier ways to pay
One of the major reasons teams cite for delaying their event registration is the inability to collect fees from players in advance. And that’s totally understandable — no one wants to be left holding the bill. But whether it’s the club bank account or a team member paying in advance, registering early is ALWAYS a better financial decision.
First, registering early gives you more time to collect fees from your teammates.
Secondly, most events have a flexible refund policy that lets you cancel your registration with reasonable notice. For example, at the Lakefront 7s we offer full refunds any time before June 1st in any given year.
It’s always better to reserve your spot early and use the refund policy as a last resort to recover costs if you cannot get players to commit and pay their share of the entry fee.
4. Social brackets fill up early
Many sevens have a festival atmosphere. So it’s not surprising that the social brackets fill up quickly. So if you are planning to play in a social or “super social” bracket, register early to guarantee matches at the competition level you prefer.
In addition, early registration may offer a choice of kick-off time. For example, the Men’s Social bracket at the Lakefront 7s is often so large that we split it in half. This means half of the teams play in the morning and the other half play in the afternoon.
Preferred kick-off times can can easily be accommodated when a team enters early. This is nearly impossible for teams that register late.
5. Have more fun
There’s no faster way to ruin a great day of rugby than to be worrying about money, scrambling to get players, and competing in a bracket you would rather not be in.
In contrast, when you are organized and plan well in advance you will be more relaxed and have a lot more fun at your event. So be sure to register early for all of the events on your summer sevens schedule.