March Madness is here!!  While I know a few of you, like me, are excited about it, I also know that many of you don’t care or have no idea what I’m talking about.  Just stick with me!    

A quick explanation, March Madness is the annual NCAA college basketball tournament that lasts throughout the month of March.

PLEASE DON’T STOP READING!

You don’t have to be a basketball fan to enjoy this idea.

I’m a big believer that a great way to engage the students is by bringing current events into our school. 

You start by having a bracket.  I’ve made one for you, just download it by clicking here.

Each week, students will compete against each other.  There are 5 rounds of play.  Your first task is to decide what the competition category will be for each week. You need 5, one for each round of the competition. 

Here are a few ideas:

• Most Hours Clocked
• Highest Theory Average
• Highest Ticket Average
• Most Service Sales
• Most Retail Sales
• Most Clients Served
• Most Haircuts
• Most Haircolors
• Most Referrals
• Most Specials Sold
• Most Upsells

Pick whatever category you feel needs the most improvement in your school.  This is a fun way to improve that area. 

Here is how the competition works. 

You will start with up to 32 students.  Have students draw numbers from 1 to 32 and put their names on the first round of the bracket in space that corresponds with their number.  Let’s say you only have 28 students.  In addition to the 28 students, you would also incorporate 4 byes.  You would place 4 byes on the bracket in random spots.  That means in the first round, 4 students, through the luck of the draw, wouldn’t have to compete because they would automatically move on to the next round. 

First Round

In this round the students that are bracketed together will compete head to head.  The competition will last from March 1^st to March 7^th.  At the end of the day on March 7^th, the winner between each pair will advance to the next round, the Sweet 16.  Again, if they had the bye, they automatically advance.  The losers are out of the competition.

Sweet 16

For the winners that advanced to the Sweet 16, they will now start a new competition.  They will compete against a new student and will have a new category.  The competition will last from March 8^th to March 14^th.  At the end of March 14^th, the winner between each pair will advance on to the next round, the Elite 8.  The losers are out of the competition.

Elite 8

Now you are down to only 8 students competing.  They will compete this week in a new category against a new student from March 15^th to March 21^st.  Winner advances on to the Final 4, losers are out.

Final 4

Only 4 students are remaining. Pick a new category and have them compete from March 22^nd to March 26^th.   Winner moves on to the Championship week.

Championship

The last 2 students standing are now competing against each other.  Pick your category and run the competition from March 27^th to March 30^th. The winner is considered the March Madness Champion!  

Winners of the NCAA March Madness tournament get a trophy, so be sure to give the winner some sort of prize, they have worked hard to win the tournament! 

One more thought…

For the students that lose out each week, encourage them to support the remaining players in the tournament.  Have them cheer their favorite student or pick the competition.

You might want to have a separate competition each week, for all the students that are no longer in the game, have them compete in the same category each week and then each week give a consolation prize to the winner for that week.  This will help keep all the students engaged.  March Madness is an opportunity to have a fun month-long competition in your student salons.  It will take very little work on your end and is easy to set up.