How to create a tournament (Tournament division, Pool Play and brackets)

A tournament is a division with the Division Type Tournament. Add the division on Leagues & Divisions, then work through its numbered pages: 1 Configuration (dates, Pool Play and brackets), 2 Teams (teams and pools), 3 Time Slots (when and where games are played) and 4 Create Schedule (the Pool Play and bracket games).

Applies to: Admins and schedulers · Organizations with the Tournament module · Tournament divisions

Where: Schedules > Leagues & Divisions > Add Division, then the tournament's 1 Configuration > Scheduling, 2 Teams, 3 Time Slots and 4 Create Schedule pages

Step 1: Add the tournament division

Go to Schedules > Leagues & Divisions and click Add Division.
For Division Type, choose Tournament.
Choose the League, enter the Division Name, choose the Gender, Age Group and Level Of Play, and click Add.

You'll see "The Division has been added." On Leagues & Divisions, the division has a bracket-shaped Tournament icon.

Step 2: Set up the tournament

Click the tournament's Edit Division icon (pencil). Its 1 Configuration > Scheduling page opens.
Under Tournament Schedule Types, check Pool Play, Bracket, or both. For more brackets, also check 2nd Bracket, 3rd Bracket and 4th Bracket; each needs the one before it.
Under General Schedule Configurations, enter the Tournament Start Date and End Date, and choose the Game Spacing: the time from the start of one game to the start of the next, from 5 to 240 minutes.
If you checked Pool Play, choose Pool Play Games/Team under Pool Play Configurations, from 1 to 10. Count pool games only, not bracket games.
Under Bracket Configurations, choose the Tournament Type, the Seed Method and the # of Teams, and a Playoff Version if that field appears. By Standings seeds the bracket from the Pool Play standings. Without Pool Play, choose Manual and pick the teams yourself.
Repeat step 8 for each other bracket you checked, and click Save and Next Step.

Step 3: Add the teams and pools

On 2 Teams, click Add Team and enter the Team Name.
In Pool, choose a pool or type a new pool name, such as A.
Add the team contact details you want, or pick a Returning Contact to fill them in, and click Add. Repeat for each team.
To move a team to another pool, click its Edit icon and change Pool, or drag the team onto a team in the other pool. Then click Next Step.

Step 4: Choose when and where games are played

On 3 Time Slots > Pool Play, choose one or more days in Day, a Start Time, and one or more fields in Location. To add several games in a row, move the slider to the number of games; each one starts a Game Spacing after the one before. Click Add.
Under Schedule Games, TeamSideline checks each new time slot on every tournament date that falls on that day. Uncheck any you won't use, and add time slots until Remaining Time Slots Needed is 0. Click Save and Next Step.
Do the same on 3 Time Slots > Bracket and each other bracket's page. A bracket needs one checked time slot for each of its games.

Step 5: Create the games

On 4 Create Schedule > Pool Play, click Create. Check the games, change any date, time, location or team, and click Calc & Save.
On 4 Create Schedule > Bracket, click Create. If the Tournament Type is Manual, click Manual instead and add each game with Add Game. Adjust the dates and times, and click Calc & Save.
Repeat step 18 for each other bracket.

What you'll see

Pool Play games are between teams in the same pool. Teams with no Pool play each other as one group.
After Calc & Save: "The Schedule has been calculated, saved, and is shown below. You can now view this schedule on the Standings & Results page."
After a bracket's Create: "Your playoff schedule has been created for you to review." A bracket diagram appears below the games, except for the Manual and Position Rounds types.
With pools and Seed Method By Standings, the first-round spots show pool places, such as 1st (A) and 2nd (B). Each game fills in with teams once every Pool Play game in its pools has a result. With Manual, choose a team in each first-round game's Home and Away lists; a spot you haven't filled shows TBD.

If it doesn't work

Tournament is grayed out in Division Type, with the note "Disabled options are part of an upgraded package." Your organization doesn't have the Tournament module. Contact TeamSideline to add it, then sign out and back in.
"You must select Pool Play and/or Bracket." Check at least one of them.
"You must select Bracket if a 2nd Bracket is selected." Each extra bracket needs the one before it; the same goes for the 3rd and 4th Bracket.
"Tournament End Date must be on or after Tournament Start Date." Correct the dates.
"The Bracket section has 3 configurations -- Seed Method, Number of Teams, and Tournament Type. To enable a Tournament Bracket for this Division you need to make a selection from all 3 configurations." or "Bracket Configurations selections required." Choose all three for each bracket you checked.
3 Time Slots says to "complete all required Division Configuration page items and create a minimum of 2 Teams on the Teams page." Save 1 Configuration with a Tournament Start Date, and add at least two teams.
"Your Time Slot schedule has been saved, but you have not checked the minimum number of check boxes to create a schedule." Check more boxes under Schedule Games until Remaining Time Slots Needed is 0. Pool Play needs half the number of teams times Pool Play Games/Team, rounded up: 8 teams playing 3 games each need 12.
There's no Create button. The page shows an "Important Note" about what's missing. Pool Play needs at least two teams and Remaining Time Slots Needed at 0. A bracket seeded By Standings needs at least as many teams as its # of Teams, and a checked time slot for every bracket game.
"Review Schedule: Feeder Game Conflict", with the game's date and time highlighted. A bracket game starts before a game that feeds it has ended (that game's start time plus the Game Spacing). Move the later game, then click Calc & Save. It's a warning, so Calc & Save still saves.
"Review the order of your Playoff Rounds. There are at least two Playoff Rounds that have the same Date/Time Slot combination." Two bracket games share a time slot, and Calc & Save won't save until you give one of them another date or time.
A bracket's settings are grayed out with "To change, delete playoff schedule first." On that bracket's 4 Create Schedule page, click Delete, change the settings, and create it again.

Good to know

Pool standings group teams by Pool, so set every team's Pool before you create Pool Play. A team with no Pool isn't in any pool's standings until you set it.
On 4 Create Schedule > Pool Play, typing a date or time that matches no time slot adds that time slot to 3 Time Slots. Each game's menu has Swap Teams and Delete Game. Red alerts block Calc & Save; yellow warnings don't, and on the Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans you can hide them.
Save As Template on the Pool Play page (Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans) saves the schedule. Use Template offers it in another tournament with the same number of teams, pool sizes, Pool Play Games/Team and time slots.
A new division's schedule starts hidden from your public site. After you create it, click the division's red eye icon on Leagues & Divisions to show it.
Once Pool Play or a bracket has a schedule, its box under Tournament Schedule Types can't be unchecked.
For a tournament that teams register and pay for, set up a Team Registration program first; its teams then come from enrollment, so Add Team is turned off on 2 Teams.
TeamSideline doesn't build ladder schedules. Build the games elsewhere and load them into a division with Administration > Import Data > Division Schedule Import.

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