How RISE Events Scaled to New Cities Without Losing What Made Them Great

Carolina Courts is Charlotte’s premier basketball and volleyball facility, hosting year-round leagues, tournaments and training programs at its flagship complex in Indian Trail, North Carolina. Locally owned and family-operated, the organization was built on a mission to create a positive, inspiring environment where athletes can compete, grow and build character through sport.

RISE Events, the tournament and league division of Carolina Courts, has spent more than 14 years producing some of North Carolina’s most trusted youth basketball and volleyball competitions. From elite showcases to large weekend tournaments, RISE Events has built a reputation for delivering organized, high-energy events that keep teams coming back year after year.

As demand for those events continued to grow, bringing more teams, tournaments and expansion into new cities, the systems supporting RISE Events’ operations were no longer keeping pace. Managing registration, scheduling, ticketing and other event logistics across multiple tools and manual processes created increasing complexity behind the scenes. To scale their events without sacrificing the consistency teams expected, Ben Tomerlin, Chief Operating Officer, partnered with Fastbreak AI to unify those operations into a single platform.

Patchwork Systems Don’t Scale

Running a youth sports tournament requires far more coordination than most attendees realize. In the days leading up to an event, operators must manage registrations, build schedules, coordinate referees, prepare staff and ensure every operational detail is ready before the first game.

On tournament weekends, the pressure intensifies. Staff must keep games running on time, resolve conflicts between teams or coaches, enter scores quickly so brackets update correctly and manage hundreds of athletes and families moving through the venue. Even small delays can ripple through an entire schedule, affecting the experience for everyone involved.

As RISE Events continued to grow, the multiple systems they relied on were no longer able to support the scale of their operations. With goals to add more tournaments, support more teams and expand into new cities, they needed a platform capable of managing the full operational footprint of their events in one place.

One Platform to Run It All

RISE Events partnered with Fastbreak AI to consolidate the operational backbone of their tournaments into a single connected platform. Instead of relying on separate tools for registration, scheduling, ticketing and sponsorships, they now manage those workflows through a single system.

Registration and scheduling through Fastbreak AI for tournaments simplified the process for both operators and teams, making sign-ups easier while reducing the administrative burden on staff. Fastbreak Ticketing modernized the entry experience with digital ticket sales, mobile payments and tap-to-pay options at the door. Fastbreak Travel created a centralized lodging solution for visiting teams.

Sponsorship opportunities through Fastbreak Connect also introduced new ways for brands and vendors to enhance the on-site experience for athletes and families.

“With Fastbreak, we really needed all of our systems under one umbrella—whether that's registration, scheduling, ticketing, sponsorships. We needed everything, instead of having it all spread out.”

By bringing these capabilities together, RISE Events streamlined their operating system.

Growth Without Growing Pains

With Fastbreak powering their operations, RISE Events has grown confidently while maintaining the high standards teams expect. The organization was able to scale by adding 450 teams and 14 new tournaments to the calendar and expanding its events into three new cities.

The platform also made it possible to run one of the largest fall youth leagues in the country. Each fall, 220 teams compete out of the Carolina Courts complex, a milestone that wouldn't be manageable without the operational infrastructure Fastbreak provides.

For athletes and families, the improvements are immediately visible. Registration is faster and easier, ticket purchasing is seamless with digital and tap-to-pay options, and scheduling updates are clearer and more reliable. The addition of sponsorship partners and vendors has also enhanced the event’s atmosphere, providing new amenities and experiences for participants.

Behind the scenes, better data visibility and reporting have helped RISE track attendance, revenue and operational performance as their events continue to scale.

“Our motto is to experience event excellence, whether that's customer service the week of, fluidity and consistency the day of the events, keeping everything seamlessly running as smooth as possible. Fastbreak has improved our customer experience exponentially. The customer really knows what they're going to get with RISE events.”

Looking Ahead

As RISE Events expands into new cities and adds more tournaments each year, technology will play a critical role in sustaining that growth. With Fastbreak providing the infrastructure to manage registrations, scheduling, ticketing, sponsorships and data reporting in one place, the organization is positioned to continue growing its events without sacrificing quality or consistency.

For RISE Events, the goal remains the same: deliver organized, competitive tournaments that teams trust, and create an experience that keeps athletes and families coming back year after year.

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