Familiarity is key!

"Key to what?"....For me, it's the key to attracting new people into clubs & venues, and the reason they'll keep coming back!

In my last blog post I questioned whether the standard 'flyer' knockout competition is a suitable format for attracting & integrating new players. In my opinion, a more suitable option is creating a weekly league that encourages people to come back on a regular basis. This brings 'familiarity' and routine to their participation in cuesports, which is something that makes people feel comfortable, right?

A weekly league format gives people a familiar routine where they know in advance:

1. When they're playing

2. How often they're playing

3. Where they're playing

4. Who they're playing

5. What happens after they play, (impact on league standings, etc)

6. What their own current standard is, (handicap rating)

One single competition format for your club/venue probably isn't the answer though, right? To suit everyone a combination of both is more likely to be the mix you need. Perhaps a healthy mix is to have leagues throughout the week and an open flyer at the weekend?

Honestly, it doesn't take a lot of effort!

With the PackOfReds platform leagues & knockout tournaments of any size can be created in minutes. You just share the sign-up link via social media, WhatsApp, email, etc. for people to join.

The fixtures are automatically created and players upload the scores themselves. They can pay upfront via the platform if the organiser chooses, which saves venues the hassle of keeping track of payments.

For example...

In my own local club, Potters in Drogheda, we've created the Autumn snooker league for existing players in the following simple format:

• 16 players, split into 2 groups of 8 players.

• Everyone plays a group match every Wednesday over 7 weeks.

• Each match is given a 2hr slot, (7-9pm & 9-11pm), to complete 4 frames, (1 point per frame won).

• When group matches are complete each player enters a divisional semi-final, e.g. 1st & 2nd in Group A play 1st & 2nd in Group B in the Division 1 semi-finals.

• Losing semi-finalists play off in a 3rd/4th place playoff for that division.

Divisional semi-final format whenever the group stage has been completed.

Nett result for players

• Everyone is guaranteed 9 matches & 18 hours of snooker over 9 weeks.

• At the end of the 9 weeks a full 16 player league table is compiled, allowing players to see how they currently rank overall.

• After 9 visits to the club/venue they feel comfortable and more likely to return. They may even bring a friend!

Nett result for clubs/venues

• The venue has used 4 tables for just 4 hours a week for 9 weeks. If your venue has only 2 available tables the schedule can be easily adjusted to play it over 2 evenings.

• It's easy to scale this. If you want to include 32 players then just double the tables/time needed. No additional work is needed within the PackOfReds platform.

• For cash management you can either collect the full amount at the point of entry, (e.g. for Potters it was €100 entry), or collect on an ongoing basis. Either way it's €1,600, (or 16 x your rate), for a small amount of weekly table time, and with minimal admin because it's all handled within the PackOfReds platform.

• Because it's played off over a 9 week period it's an attractive proposition for a competition sponsor, adding to the prize fund.

• It can all be simply restarted again using the PackOfReds platform.

Why not trial it?

Get in touch and we can set up a league quickly within your club or venue. We can talk about the groups you'd like to encourage into your club/venue and how we can jointly do that.

You can contact us directly at +353 87 409 6752, or email contactus@packofreds.com. Let's start with a chat and see where that takes us, what is there to lose?