The Complete Taekwondo Event Day Checklist (Free Printable)

Every experienced tournament organiser carries a checklist in their head. New organisers don't, and that is exactly why their first event is stressful. Here is a complete day-by-day checklist for running a taekwondo competition — from 4 weeks out to the morning after.

4 weeks out — foundations

• Confirm venue, hall hire, insurance, first aider
• Open online registration. Use a real registration form — not email and spreadsheets
• Publish the rules pack and entry form on your website
• Send a 'save the date' to all clubs in your area
• Order trophies, medals and certificates with a 2-week buffer
• Recruit ring referees, table judges, first aid cover
• Decide your software stack: brackets, scoring, online entries, certificates

2 weeks out — content lockdown

• Hard close on entries (or move to late-entry £+5 fee)
• Print the running order and timetable
• Final medal / certificate counts to the supplier
• Confirm all officials by email AND text
• Build your CSV import file from registrations
• Run a brackets dry-run — does the software produce sane categories?
• Brief your volunteers — 30 min Zoom is fine

Week of the event

• Print spare entry forms, score sheets, fighter wristbands
• Charge every tablet, phone and battery pack the night before
• Pack the equipment box (tape, stopwatch, flags, scoreboards, mics, extension leads, gaffer tape)
• Test your venue Wi-Fi or pre-pair tablets to your hotspot
• Email final timetable and ring assignments to clubs
• Brief the head referee on your specific ruleset

Day before

• Visit the venue if possible — measure rings, check power outlets, test Wi-Fi
• Set up the trophy table
• Charge a final time
• Sleep. Seriously. Tired organisers make bad decisions.

Morning of the event

• Arrive 90 minutes before doors. Earlier if you have rings to mark out.
• Set up registration desk with printed registration list and marker pens
• Boot up the competition manager, log in on every tablet, verify connectivity
• Brief volunteers on their specific roles for the day
• Open registration 60 minutes before the first fight
• Generate brackets after registration cut-off, not before
• Print or display the running order at every ring

During the event

• Have one person whose only job is the running order and ring coordination
• Announce winners as you go — do not wait until the end
• Photograph medal ceremonies as they happen
• Update the live fixture board (or let the software do it)

After the event

• Export the results CSV and email to all clubs the same evening
• Post results and photos to social
• Send a thank-you email to all volunteers
• Reconcile finances and close out Stripe
• Write a 30-minute retro: what went well, what to fix next time

The shortcut

Most of the above gets dramatically simpler if your tool stack handles registration, brackets, scoring and exports in one place. TKD Competition Manager covers all of it — most clubs do their first event on the £149 Starter plan and never look back. Read the full setup walkthrough →