Not trying to blow any trumpets here ... just explain in brief the system the PA utilises (so do me a favour and don't bite my head off).
The PA's system is relatively simple in that every player is required to register and they are then given a unique ID number which is their's for life. Registration doesn't cost annything other than the time and effort required to submit the details.
On arrival at an event as the player is booked in, they are given a wrist band with their number on it which they must in turn show to book in on the field before each game. Only players registered for that team can get on the field to play for that team.
When players transfer between teams, their number allows us to keep track of them especialy as transfers must be sanctioned by the managers of the teams the player is transferring from and to.
I'm not saying it's a perfect system but it has worked well so far and with plans to develop the ID card to incorporate player data in either bar code or swipe card format it should allow us to speed things up considerably and open up the registration system to further developments.
Unfortunaely the Millennium's have already told us that they don't think they could utilise such a system because they consider it too labour intensive.
We did enquire as to the possibility of integrating PA ID cards to give access to Millennium events but the idea was politely declined. Largely on the grounds of lost revenue from the sale of annual registration to Millennium events which is understandable if you've got an estimated 2,000+ players paying £20 a head every year.
Currently there are over 900 PA registered tournament players in the UK. Personally I would like to see the system expanded to incorporate all tournament players, certainly within the UK, preferably in Europe and possibly further afield. But that's probably just me being idealistic again.
