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Tournaments

Getting Started

This guide will walk you through setting up the Tournaments Extension for your organization. Follow these steps to configure your tournament system and create your first tournament.

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Prerequisites:

  • The Tournaments Extension must be activated in your system
  • You must be an organization admin (staff member with admin privileges)
  • Your organization must be active

Step 0: Activate the Tournaments Extension

Before you can create tournaments, the Tournaments Extension must be activated in your system.

  1. Contact your system administrator to activate the Tournaments Extension
  2. Once activated, the extension will set up the necessary database tables and configurations
  3. You'll then be able to access tournament management features

Note: If you're not sure whether the extension is activated, try accessing the tournament management interface. If you see an error or can't find tournament options, the extension may need to be activated.

Step 1: Access Tournament Management

Important: You must be an organization admin to create and manage tournaments. If you don't have admin access, contact your organization administrator to be added as a staff member with admin privileges.

  1. Log in to your organization's admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to the tournament management section (typically found in the admin menu)
  3. You should see the main tournaments dashboard with options to create and manage tournaments
  4. If you don't see tournament options, verify that you have organization admin privileges

Step 2: Create Your First Tournament

Required Tournament Information

Enter a descriptive name for your tournament (e.g., "Spring Volleyball Championship")

A URL-friendly version of your tournament name. The slug is automatically generated from the tournament name, but you can edit it if needed (e.g., "spring-volleyball-championship"). The slug must be unique within your organization.

Select from supported sports: Volleyball, Soccer, Basketball, Football, Field Hockey

Choose from: Male, Female, or Coed

Note: These are the only required fields for tournament creation. Dates and times are optional and can be set later.

Optional Tournament Configuration

Set the tournament start date if known

Set the tournament end date if known

Set the daily start time for tournament play

Set the daily end time for tournament play

If you have an active league season, you can link this tournament to it by selecting the league season. This allows you to import teams from the league and automatically sync contest results between the tournament and league systems.

Benefits: Teams from the league season will be available for tournament use, and tournament contests will automatically create corresponding league contests that appear on team schedules.

Step 3: Create Divisions

Important: Divisions are required before you can create rounds and groups. Think of divisions as different categories within your tournament (e.g., "Open Division", "Recreational Division").

Division Setup

  1. From your tournament dashboard, click "Create Division"
  2. Enter a division name (e.g., "Open Division", "Recreational Division")
  3. Set the division priority (lower numbers appear first)
  4. Configure division-specific settings if needed
  5. Save the division

Step 4: Create Rounds

Round Configuration

  1. Navigate to your division and click "Create Round"
  2. Enter a round name (e.g., "Pool Play", "Elimination Bracket")
  3. Enter a URL slug (e.g., "pool-play")
  4. Set the round priority (order of play) - lower numbers are played first. If not specified, defaults to 99.
  5. Save the round

Step 5: Create Groups

Group Types

Pool Play

Round-robin format where every team plays every other team in the group.

When creating a pool group, specify the number of teams. The system will create team slots that you can fill with actual teams.

Bracket

Single or double elimination bracket format.

When creating a bracket group, specify the number of teams. The system will automatically generate the bracket structure with proper seeding.

Note: When creating a group, you'll need to provide: group name, URL slug, group type (pool or bracket), and number of teams (required). The system will automatically create placeholder team slots equal to the number of teams you specify. Each slot will be assigned a group_seed number starting from 1. You can optionally set a priority to control display order (lower numbers appear first, defaults to 99 if not specified).

Step 6: Add Teams to Groups

Team Assignment

After creating groups, you need to assign teams to the group team slots:

  1. Navigate to your group management interface
  2. Assign teams to the group team slots created when you specified the number of teams
  3. If your tournament is linked to a league season, teams from that league will be available
  4. If not linked to a league, you can use teams from your organization or create tournament-specific teams
  5. Set team seeding (group_seed) to determine bracket positions or pool play matchups

Tip: Team seeding determines matchups in brackets and can affect pool play scheduling. Lower seed numbers typically play higher seed numbers in early rounds.

Step 7: Manage Contests

Contest Creation and Management

Contests (individual games) are automatically created when you view brackets or pools:

  1. Navigate to your bracket or pool view
  2. Contests are automatically created for each matchup
  3. Click on individual contests to edit them
  4. Set contest dates, times, and locations
  5. Assign teams to contests (if not already assigned)
  6. Assign work teams (officials/referees) to contests
  7. Review and adjust contest schedules as needed

Important: Contests are created automatically - you don't need to manually create each game. Simply view your bracket or pool, and the system will generate contests as needed.

Congratulations!

You've successfully set up your first tournament! Your tournament is created in draft status. You can continue to refine your tournament structure, add more divisions, or configure advanced settings. When ready, change the tournament status to active to make it live.

Next Steps