Best Hockey Tournament Software for Maximizing Tournament Efficiency

Hockey is a sport that combines speed, skill, strength, and strategy. Former NHL star and current president of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brendan Shanahan, once said: “Is hockey hard? I don’t know, you tell me. We need to have the strength and power of a football player, the stamina of a marathon runner, and the concentration of a brain surgeon.”

Tournaments showcase teams competing for glory on the ice and bringing this excitement to their audience. These events—whether local leagues or international tournaments—bring together communities and athletes. It’s no wonder tournament planners place extra care into getting these events to life. 

New technologies continue to change how producers plan and execute sports tournaments. As a result, hockey tournament planners are increasingly relying on sports tournament management solutions to streamline the event planning process. 

In this blog post, our mission is to guide you through the best hockey tournament software available on the market this year. Our goal was to collect data on various software solutions and pick the best based on customer support, features, customer reviews, and years of experience. The software platforms we selected ensure efficient event management, from registration and login to data analysis. 

Best Hockey Tournament Software

Discover the top hockey tournament software platforms of 2024, designed by experts to simplify your sports event planning. These tools offer a range of services, from creating an event website to tracking the event's success. 

1. EventPipe

Best for: Event housing management for small or big events

EventPipe helps hockey tournament event producers with managing accommodations for sports teams, coaches, and attendees. 

Hosted in the cloud, EventPipe’s event housing management platform offers a modern solution for event housing. With EventPipe, event producers can create, send, and manage RFPs and contracts, quickly launch customized booking websites, manage room blocks and sub-blocks, automate reporting and invoicing, and access additional revenue opportunities–all from one place. 

Managing your event housing has never been easier. 

Key Features: 

• Easy Event Housing Management: Choose from tens of thousands of hotels using filters like distance from venue, amenities and room type. 
• Customizable Event Websites: Easily upload logos and images on your event website to ensure they align with your brand identity. 
• Simple RFP Process: Have the freedom to choose which hotels you'd like to get a proposal from. Negotiate and accept proposals directly from your account. 
• Effortless Group Block Management: Select from numerous hotels and types of rooms, monitor inventory as rooms are booked and provide attendees with a unique booking link. 
• Straightforward Booking for Attendees: Attendees can manage multiple room reservations in one place. Provide them with the option to get waitlisted if the hotel they want is sold out. 
• Easy Tracking and Analysis of Results: With EventPipe's Report Center, easily track the confirmation status of your event's reservations and monitor hotel cut-off dates. Get insight into the financial performance of your events. 

Pros: 

• Easy event housing management
• Simplified hotel RFP process
• Customizable booking websites
• Easy-to-use interface
• Provides additional revenue opportunities
• In-depth analytics on event performance

Cons: 

• Not the right fit for tournaments that don’t require lodging or hotel stays

2. SportsEngine

Best for: Scheduling and assembling team rosters

SportsEngine partners with over 3,050 hockey organizations. Their tournament management platform, SportsEngine Tourney (formerly Tourney Machine), allows users to track tournament schedules, see standings and scores, follow brackets, and facilitate communication. The platform also features tools for online registration, secure payment processing, mobile messaging, and additional functionalities. 

Key Features: 

• Online Registration: Simplify the process of gathering signups, payments, and waivers. 
• Financials and Payments: Monitor financial transactions, offer various payment plans to attendees, and create detailed financial reports.
• Schedule: Create, share, and update event schedules
• Team Roster: Compile team rosters and add complete contact details.
• Team Mobile App: Maintain clear communication among coaches, athletes, and families with features like chat, schedule access, and score updates.
• Stats and Scores: Centralize game statistics and scores on both the website and mobile app.
• Background Checks and Training: Enhance team safety by conducting thorough background checks and equipping coaches with the latest safety training and information.
• Fundraising: Create sponsorship proposals and strategies to raise funds for the team or organization.

Pros: 

• Good customer support
• Includes background checks for safety
• Allows fundraising and sponsorships
• Provides payment plans to attendees

Cons: 

• Challenges with automatic payments
• Limited features
• No event housing management

3. SportsHeadz

Best for: Hockey league website & app management 

SportsHeadz is a Canadian-based hockey tournament software that provides solutions for website creation, scheduling, registration, sports team fundraising, tournament housing, and analytics. They also have a team management app that pulls data directly from your website into their app. 

Key Features: 

• Scheduling: Provides users with a scheduling dedicated to youth sports events and tournaments
• Tournament Hosting: Users can host tournaments using the platform’s tournament management software, Sportsheadz Brackets. 
• Registration: Users can make payments and register online, collect information using forms, view analytics, manage documents, waivers, and more. 
• Websites: Youth sports associations can create customized websites to differentiate themselves from competitors. 
• Fundraising: Offer users a tool called E-Raise that helps them target specific audiences with social media and analytics. 
• Sportsheadz App: Users can manage, communicate with, and schedule their team.

Pros: 

• Customer service is quick and helpful.
• Able to integrate registration options for various sports.
• The website platform is intuitive, making setup easy for users. 
• Offers streaming options for specific sports, allowing fans to watch their favorites from anywhere. 

Cons: 

• Users aren’t able to export schedules into their calendars using the mobile app. 
• Messages and chats in the mobile app can take some time to load. 
• The mobile app isn’t always as intuitive as the Sportsheadz online platform.
  

4. TeamSnap

Best for: Program management and player registration

Founded in 2009, TeamSnap is a platform renowned for its user-friendly features. This hockey tournament software solution simplifies communication, scheduling, payment collection, and registration. It also enables real-time game sharing and simplifies sports team management. 

Key Features: 

• Program Management: Streamlines the handling of multiple programs with tools for scheduling, communication, rostering, reporting, accounting, and competition
• Registration: Provides a setup wizard for complex forms, advanced logic, response-based fee add-ons, family-centric workflows, and fee flexibility with coupon codes and automated discounts
• Website Builder: Offers professionally designed, customizable website templates, with options for DIY or professional assistance
• Tournaments: Provides tools for tournament organization and execution, customized standings, game rules, official assignments, and built-in scheduling for pools and brackets
• Sponsorship: Connects sports organizations with regional and national brands to add financial support and credibility without additional costs
• Mobile App: Enables mass communications, schedule updates, and game day reminders
• Payments: Integrates financial reporting, offers various payment collection methods, competitive processing rates, and cross-program financial overview

Pros: 

• Provides convenient notifications and alerts
• Simplifies various aspects of sports team management
• Allows effortless communication
• Streamlines the process of scheduling practices and games

Cons: 

• High-tier accounts still have ads
• Inconsistent app performance
• Doesn’t provide event housing management

5. EZFacility

Best for: Membership and league management

EZFacility is a hockey tournament software that includes everything from league scheduling and management to marketing tools and membership management. It’s designed specifically for sports and fitness businesses. With this platform, you can create membership plans, manage member relationships, sell online services, track payments, and more. 

Key Features: 

• Facility Scheduling and Management: Schedule and manage resources, classes, clinics, and rentals with a color-coded schedule
• Membership Management: Customize membership plans, manage client relationships, sell services online, track payments, and use automated reminders to reduce late payments
• POS and Inventory Management: Manage point-of-sale operations and inventory, including product-level monitoring, reorder alerts, coupon management, and profitability reporting
• League Management: Create schedules for leagues and tournaments, manage referee assignments, and ensure player verification with photo ID cards
• Self-Service Client Portal: Clients can manage payments, view schedules, book sessions, and register for events online on their own
• Marketing Tools: Email marketing campaigns and automated text messaging
• Branded Mobile App: Provide clients with a mobile app for facility information, schedules, promotions, and digital member cards
• Self Check-In: Offer various check-in options, including mobile, RFID cards, biometric scans, and unique identifiers
• Outlook and Google Calendar Integration: Syncing staff schedules with personal calendars and sending automated reminders
• Payroll and Commission Tracking: Track and manage payroll and commissions for employees based on sessions, sales, and service completion

Pros: 

• Allows facility and membership management
• Has a large set of features
• Established in the industry
• Easily scalable

Cons: 

• Not very intuitive for new users
• Some reported problems with check-in
• The booking process is quite complicated
• Doesn’t offer event housing management

6. TorneoPal

Best for: League and referee management

TorneoPal is a user-friendly tool that helps organize hockey tournaments, primarily in Europe. You can register teams online, create group setups as needed, schedule games for your teams, and provide a calendar view for your tournaments. Live scores can be reported directly from mobile devices. 

Additionally, TorneoPal enables the tracking of player statistics, including top scorers, assists, and suspensions.

Key Features: 

• Team Registrations: Transition from paper to online registrations
• Group Setups: Customize group setups in any way you need
• Fixture Scheduling: Use a calendar view to create the ideal schedule for all participating teams
• Live Scores: Report and update scores and standings from your mobile device
• Player Stats: Track and display key player statistics like top scorers, assists, and suspensions
• Social Media Integration: Add Instagram and Facebook feeds directly to your tournament's site

Pros: 

• Allows referee management
• Allows sponsorships for increased revenue
• Works even on a slow internet connection
• Invaluable live online scores
• Easy printout of referee match cards, results, tables and more

Cons: 

• Based in the UK
• No event housing support
• Specializes in football tournaments 

Choose the Best Hockey Tournament Software

Selecting the ideal hockey tournament software that meets your specific needs is crucial for the success of your event. The perfect software should not only facilitate the management of statistics and schedules but also offer a user-friendly interface for team registration and updates. 

Of course, when it comes to event housing management for your hockey tournament, one software is by far the best option. EventPipe’s end-to-end housing platform will maximize your event housing revenue while saving you time and energy.

The platform makes it simple to manage accommodation logistics, create an event website that aligns with your brand, request proposals from your selected hotels, manage room blocks effectively, allow attendees to book easily, and much, much more.  

Ready to take your hockey tournament to the next level? 

Explore how EventPipe can transform your event experience.