 | The WinNAdvance tournament format can be used
after bracket play to displace the obsolete concepts of either the single or double
elimination formats. In other words, you can still guarantee five
total games by playing three bracket games for seeding, followed by the
WinNAdvance format. |
| To advance in the tournament, using
the WinNAdvance tournament format, you
must win. Generally speaking, every team requires exactly the same
number of wins in order to win the tournament. This is a far cry
from the abusive nature of double elimination |
|
For some team brackets, there is only
one opportunity to advance in both the semi-finals and finals. If you
lose, your out, so complaints typically should end there. |
| Normally, undefeated teams are pitted
against lesser teams (teams with losses) in both the quarter-finals and semi-final levels in-lieu of pitting
undefeated teams against each other. The price paid for facing a
lesser team is that an undefeated team may have the same or better won/loss
record, and will not advance to the championship round because of losing
"in-the-weighted" quarter/semi-final round game, but overall, this
game on paper should be easier than being pitted against another undefeated
team, which give your team a better chance of advancing. So again,
stop complaining .. your team did not advancing because your team lost to a
better team. |
|
From the first game, every games
counts equally "at-each- level". Obviously, semi-final and tournament
finals are more heavily weighted as they should be. There are no seeding
throw away games unless the tournament has a minimum game guarantee that
uses a round robin format for seeding. |
| All teams are guaranteed at least two
games using the WinNAdvance tournament format. Additional games can be created using a consolation
bracket. The bulk of the teams will have at least 3 opportunities to
advance to the tournament championship. I distinctly remembered a
travel coaches comment at a State College tournament in 2006. They
won their first two games on a Friday, and laid down some serious cash for
not only a Friday vacation day, but hotel rooms for the team, eats, etc., and were 1
and done on their first Saturday morning game. His statement, "if
we'd of lost our first two games, I'd have no problem packing it in, and
cutting our loses ... but we won our two first (round robin games) ... and
we got nothing but a hefty receipt!" In other words, those two
victories counted for absolutely nothing toward their decision in making that investment.
This is referred to as making a leap of faith. If your a tournament director ... you better heed these
words. |
| The format ensures that the two best
teams have the opportunity to meet in a one-game-final. If your a team
director, laying down the cash, this should be your #1 requirement.
Too often tournament directors have the two best teams knock each other off
in an initial round to ensure an outcome. To get to the finals, all you need to do
is win by defeating a lesser team. In a few brackets, you may have to win an additional game, but
in comparison, this is a small price to pay to guarantee that the two best
teams will have the opportunity of meeting in the championship game without
having to endure the suffrages imposed by double
elimination. |
|
The Win and Advance format ensures a greater opportunity
of competitive matches where lesser teams will get to face teams of similar
skill level. This by itself will ensure a more favorable experience for
a tournament directors team entrants. This is a key factor in helping team
directors to decide to join a tournament directors Win&Advance tournament. |
|
WinNAdvance rewards winning by having
fewer games to play to win the tournament. To be direct, this
advantage alone is enough. This format does not heap on penalty after
penalty of enduring suffrages as compared to a double elimination format,
just in case your team lost on an unfortunate mishap. A chance at
redemption is key. |
|
The only penalty for a losing teams is
to have to play additional games. If you lose your first game, to win
the championship you may also require an additional win. Although it can be argued that a
team that loses maybe given another undeserved chance, these extra games put
a very real burden, in the form of wear and tear on these players, which is
the only penalty that any team should have to endure. |
| The Win&Advance format allows a
coach and his or her players the opportunity to make adjustments, based upon
a prior loss, prior to playing in the championship game. In travel
ball, coaches don't necessarily know their competition ... maybe all they
have is an organizational history. Coaches take heat for making poor
decisions based upon these unknowns ... adjusting to a prior loss can only
enhance the bond between coaches and players ... and their
parents. |
|
Most importantly of all, WinNAdvance pushes
bye-games to the most inconsequential part of the losers bracket. It
is completely unfair to place a first round bye in the winners bracket, or
even in the later round of the losers bracket, as these bye-teams are given
an
overwhelming advantage. |
| Generally speaking the number of
total games required can be determined by multiplying the number of total
tournament teams time 2, less 1 game. In other words, 13 teams require
(2*13) less 1 game, or 25 to 26 games to be played. There is at least
one team bracket that requires up to 3 more additional games to complete the tournament.
This competes very favorably with both double elimination and pool play
formats. More games are required as compared to a single elimination
format, but single elimination has a major glaring disadvantage. |
| To save on costs (for tournament
directors), optional games are presented for third place, and in some
brackets, there are added games for quarter-final losers. To enhance
your entrant fees, these games can be eliminated. A guaranteed 3rd
consolation game can also be added for participants. |
| If forced to play the best teams,
coaches can't hold players, concepts and plays in reserve, which is a
particular sticking point attributable to a double elimination ...
especially in the 1st-game-final. Round robin seeding games also
allows to hold players in reserve. Since every game counts using
WinNAdvance, it gives teams for both the winners and losers brackets the opportunity to
observe and prepare and adjust to more representative games prior to the championship game. |
|
Third and fourth place finishers can
be determined using a Tie-Breaker progression, or an additional optional 3rd place
game can be played prior to the championship game. |
|
For some team bracket play, a Tie
Breakers progression can be found in the losers bracket, generally after
your second consecutive loss. Generally 1 of 2 teams will qualify for
the right to advance onto the championship game using the tie breaker
progression. Teams that lose the Tie Breaker progression are either
eliminated from the tournament or can move the optional consolation
rounds. |
| The most significant conceptual
advantage of WinNAdvance is that teams that play each other will have
confronted similar expenditures. In other words, a team that has to
win its second game of the day to win the championship game won't be facing
a team that has to win five games in one day to win the championship.
A softball team that has played its second game of the day is looks
absolutely nothing like a team that had to complete five or more games in
one day ... whomever came up with this concept needs to have his head
examined. |
