First of all decide what age groups and caliber of teams you want to participate in your ice hockey tournament. For youth hockey tournaments you will need to decide what teams are most likely to come to your tournament and send out invitations. It is a good idea to make sure you have made arrangements with some hotels so that you can offer discounts and suggest places to stay.
It is also a good idea to figure out ways in to entice teams to come to your tournament. It A good idea is to provide great weekend activities as many families go to the tournaments looking for things to entertain the whole family.Youth hockey teams tend to be led by parents, so think in terms of off-ice activities and arrange something fun that is family oriented. Adult hockey teams are looking for things like beer in the locker room after games and golf outings. The prizes tend to be less important becuase many of the players are just on vacation looking to have a good time. However youth hockey players think the world of prizes and it is extremely important to not overlook this fact.
Hockey tournaments also bring in quite a bit of money for the host city between hotels, restaurants, car rentals, and other activities. Because of this, many cities will contribute to the marketing of the tournament and may be willing to donate in some way.
Create hockey videos of your tournament as well that parents can buy to take home. Not only will they see it later, but they will show it to other people who will may have an interest in signing up the next year.
It is very important that the tournament has credibility as well. This means selecting good referees and having a format that is fair to each team. One bad experience and you will lose that team for good.
