SportsEvents is edited for those who plan tournaments or other sports events.
Issue link: https://sportsevents.epubxp.com/i/261418
February 2014 14 www.sportseventsmagazine.com Just Do It Last fall, Teach, Grow, Achieve (TGA) Premier Golf and Tennis, celebrated 10 years in operation. It's a commendable achievement, to say the least, but not one the organization was going to celebrate publicly, until they were encouraged to do so by their participants. "A number of our students and their par- ents asked us to [celebrate]," said TGA CEO and Founder Joshua Jacobs. "Our [initial] classes ran in the fall of 2003, and it was August, so we planned a mid- October celebration and had around two months to get the job done." Jacobs and his team elected to hold the celebration in Los Angeles, the site where the program (now franchised in 23 states) began, and called on city officials to assist with a somewhat unusual request. "We wanted to provide an exciting experience for both golf and tennis play- ers," Jacobs said, adding that TGA's ideal solution was to secure an 18-hole executive golf course that would allow them to carve two tennis courts into the grass on two dif- ferent golf holes. "We thought working with the Los Angeles City Golf Division and Los Angeles City Parks Department was going to be a big hurdle, especially when needing to create tennis courts on a golf course." However, much to Jacobs' delighted surprise, "given our history with them, not only were they extremely helpful and supportive when it came to the event and the permits, but they also helped carve the tennis courts into the golf course. Both divisions were outstanding." In the end, TGA's anniversary celebra- tion was a huge hit with its attendees, due in no small part to the strategy they put into place to hit the ground running against a quickly ticking clock. "Create your budget first and then work within it to create the best possible event," Jacobs advised others working within a short time frame. "If you only have a short time to coordinate the event, make sure you have enough staff and labor to get your plan done, especially the marketing and promotion of it." Expect The Unexpected While the National Club Softball Association (NCSA) World Series is a highly anticipated annual event, it's one Director of Softball Operations Savannah Ahrens didn't know she would be oversee- ing until she was promoted to her current position in July 2012. "One of my duties is to organize, manage and run a successful World Series event to culminate the sea- son," Ahrens said of her first big project on the job. With the event scheduled for May 2013, Ahrens and her team had just under 10 months to get the job done. While Ahrens said she felt prepared to face her challenge head-on, she didn't predict the host of interesting chal- ▼ GAME Plan Time Is NOT On Your Side... But You Can Still Pull Off A Great Event! BY TAYLOR PEYTON STRUNK When planning a sports event, preparation is a key to success, and having ample time is a key to proper preparation. But, occasionally, for one reason or another, time is not on a planner's side. However, that doesn't mean the event is doomed for failure. Far from it, in fact. Armed with a few months, or even just a few weeks, here is how your event can take off—and soar—just in the nick of time. *02-20 SE FEB 2014_SportsEvents TEMPLATE 2/11/14 10:36 AM Page 14