The team being likely to have had limited preparation together and may consist of players that are all “starters” on their other teams;
Being played in a short time, no more than 2 weeks;
The team having relatively little rest between games (perhaps 24-48 hours) and in junior tournaments may play more than one game on one day;
Teams being grouped into “pools” and results in the initial 2-3 games may determine where the team are placed at the tournament. Regularly, a team may lose only one game (quarter final) and not gain a place in the Top 4;
Variable game times, with games in the morning, afternoons and at night;
Playing each opponent only once.

“Tournament Play” will often have many distractions for athletes, which are not present throughout a league, such as:

Living away from home;
The tournament may be a part of a “multi- sport” event with different sports finishing at different times (typically, basketball continues throughout the event);
Changes to diet, sleeping routines
(with different game times) and possible social interaction problems caused by “living together”.

In preparing a team, the main things that a coach must consider are: