How Top Court Events Runs Up to 50 Volleyball Tournaments a Year?! | Chris Hames – Ep. 4
6/7/202627 min
How do you run up to 50 volleyball tournaments a year across the country?
In this episode of the Coach Chijo Podcast, I sit down with Chris Hames from Top Court Events while we were in Las Vegas at the Emperor’s Cup Volleyball Tournament.
Top Court generously hosted me at the event so I could meet followers, sign autographs, and take photos with players and families throughout the weekend.
Chris shares what happens behind the scenes to organize major volleyball tournaments and the pressure that comes with managing events at such a high level. On the day we recorded this episode, Top Court was running THREE tournaments in THREE different cities at the same time.
We also talk about:
• Her volleyball career representing Australia
• Raising two daughters who played high-level volleyball
• The challenge of coaching your own kids
• Building positive tournament experiences for athletes and families
• What makes players actually enjoy the event experience
This was a really cool conversation about leadership, family, volleyball, and the people working behind the scenes to make these events happen.
🙌
JUST GO!
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsChijo· Host0:00
What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Coach Chijo Podcast, real conversations about volleyball, coaching, growth, and the journey behind it all. So let's get into it. Just go. Welcome to the podcast today.
Chris Hames· Guest0:15
Thank you.
Chijo· Host0:15
Yeah, we have an- Yeah ... amazing special guest today. [laughs] And high fives are my thing, right?
Chris Hames· Guest0:21
Mm-hmm. Yes. Yep.
Chijo· Host0:21
So we have Chris Haynes.
Chris Hames· Guest0:23
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Chijo· Host0:24
Yeah.
Chris Hames· Guest0:25
Yep.
Chijo· Host0:25
And what do you... We're in Vegas.
Chris Hames· Guest0:27
Yes. Not, not gambling. We're actually here for a volleyball event.
Chijo· Host0:30
Volleyball. Yep.
Chris Hames· Guest0:31
Yes.
Chijo· Host0:32
Yep.
Chris Hames· Guest0:32
Yep, volleyball. So, uh, this is a Top Court event, and, um, Coach Chijo is actually here being awesome and just, uh, experiencing for the kids, so we're excited to have you here.
Chijo· Host0:42
Yeah.
Chris Hames· Guest0:42
And excited for the tournament.
Chijo· Host0:44
Okay, so it's Emperors Cup.
Chris Hames· Guest0:46
Yep.
Chijo· Host0:46
And, uh, how many courts do you have?
Chris Hames· Guest0:48
So we have, I think, 52. 52 courts, which we have Emperors Cup, we have UA 18s, and then we also have the VLA, which is the kinda semi-pro mens and womens. So- Yeah. Yeah, and we have a really good mix, which is really cool, 'cause that's Vegas.
Chijo· Host1:03
Okay.
Chris Hames· Guest1:04
Uh, just a mix of, mix of stuff, so it's fun.
Chijo· Host1:06
Okay. Okay. So are you running all the courts by yourself?
Chris Hames· Guest1:10
No. So we have a really big staff that, uh, we have a tournament desk and there's a lot of prep that goes into, um... When you come to a tournament, you think everything's already organized, everything is, is thing, but it- it's about a year in advance that you're planning.
Chijo· Host1:25
Really?
Chris Hames· Guest1:26
Yep.
Chijo· Host1:26
So all these players that are coming in, coaches are just