We run an annual Clambake Bocce Tourney (and other similar events) and found a way to streamline the day. We often have guests who have seldom if ever played bocce before, so we even up the teams with "veterans" and "rookies". We print out stickers with the team member names and a colored square. As the guests enter the venue we slap the sticker on their shirt and tell them "You're on the blue team and these are your team members."

Here's what the Pink and Purple team stickers look like. We print out 4 copies of each (one for each team member). If you want the sticker to also identify the player, you could print 1 name on each sticker in boldface or in another color. Now, just by looking at your sticker I can see that you are on the Pink team and your name is Joanne Grella.

We arrive at our venue early (a baseball/softball school) to tidy up and set up our four temporary 80' by 12' courts on the Astroturf.

Behind the batting cages we set up tables and chairs for dining.

We set up coffee and pastry...and it always helps to have a Chocolatier on board (chocolate leaves for Fall, and white chocolate flavored popcorn).

Let the games begin! Note the stickers on players' shirts. We can call out "Blue Team vs. Red Team - Report to Court 1" and things tend to run smoothly and on schedule.

This last minute replacement for the Blue Team ended up the tournament MVP.

Time for the clambake. By using the color coding system and playing games to 12 points or 30 minutes (whichever comes first), we were able to finish all but the finals BEFORE lunch (from 9:30 AM to about 12:30 PM). This was an 8 team, double elimination format.

After the clambake we let spectators pull chairs up alongside the courts to watch the finals.

Here's what we embroidered on the winning team shirts.

The winners - the Blue Team lost the first game of the day, then went on to "run the table" in the Losers' Bracket to win the event.

The runners-up (Gray Team) got bocce towels embroidered with our logo. These are used to wipe off bocce balls before each roll on stone dust, limestone, clay, Har-Tru type courts.

Note how we just used colored stickers to indicate the advancement of teams thoughout the tourney. Note too that the Blue Team lost game one, dropped to the Losers' Bracket and won 6 straight including beating the Winners' Bracket champ twice.