Scheduling overview: which scheduling type to use (Standard, Custom, Auto Assign or Manual)

TeamSideline builds a division's schedule in one of four ways, and you choose each one in a different place: Standard by setting Games per Week/Team to 1 or 2 on the division's 1 Configuration > Scheduling page, Custom by setting it to Custom, Auto Assign by clicking Enable Auto Assign on 3 Time Slots (Advanced Scheduling module), and Manual by clicking Manual on 4 Create Schedule to enter a schedule you already have.

Applies to: Admins and schedulers · All plans (Auto Assign: sites with the Advanced Scheduling module; Auto Resolve: Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans) · League divisions (Single Games divisions add their games one at a time)

Where: Schedules > Leagues & Divisions > (division) > 1 Configuration > Scheduling, 3 Time Slots and 4 Create Schedule

The four scheduling types at a glance

Type	Where you choose it	How the games are placed	Best for
Standard	1 Configuration > Scheduling: Games per Week/Team 1 or 2	You add weekly time slots on 3 Time Slots. Create pairs the teams and spreads each team's games across the time slots.	Most leagues: 1 or 2 games a week on fields that are open at the same times every week
Custom	1 Configuration > Scheduling: Games per Week/Team Custom	You add time slots and tick the ones to use each week. Create places the pairings in them in order.	Many locations or game days, or fields open at different times each week
Auto Assign	3 Time Slots: Enable Auto Assign (Advanced Scheduling module)	No time slots. You choose the game days, and Create puts each home game at a field of the home team's organization, at a time it's open.	Leagues of several clubs or towns that each have home fields
Manual	4 Create Schedule: Manual	Nothing is generated. You enter each game's week, time slot and teams.	A schedule made outside TeamSideline that you want online, with scores and standings

Standard: 1 or 2 games per week

Standard suits leagues whose fields are open at the same times every week. Create pairs the teams and spreads each team's games across your time slots, so times and locations stay balanced.

On the division's 1 Configuration > Scheduling page, set Games per Week/Team to 1 or 2. With 2, also choose the 2 Game Configuration: Different Days, Double Header/Same Team or Double Header/Different Team.
Set Games Played/Team, the Day of First Game and the Game Spacing, and click Save and Next Step.
On 3 Time Slots, add at least the minimum number of time slots the page asks for.
On 4 Create Schedule, click Create.

With 1 game per week, Optimization Priority (tick Show All on 1 Configuration > Scheduling) sets whether Create balances locations or times first. The full walkthrough is in How to create a league schedule (step by step).

Custom: fields open at different times each week

Custom suits divisions that play on many days or at many locations, or whose fields aren't open at the same times every week. You add time slots, then choose week by week which ones are used. Create places the pairings in those time slots in order, filling every one you ticked with no weekly limit per team, so check that no team plays too often.

On 1 Configuration > Scheduling, set Games per Week/Team to Custom, set Games Played/Team, the Day of First Game and the Game Spacing, and click Save and Next Step.
On 3 Time Slots, add the time slots. Custom always uses Manual Entry: in the Time Slot Schedule grid, tick a box for every game until Remaining Time Slots Needed reaches 0 (Fill ticks the remaining available boxes for you), then click Save.
On 4 Create Schedule, click Create.

Auto Assign: home fields for each club or town (Advanced Scheduling)

Auto Assign suits larger leagues whose teams come from several clubs, towns or other organizations, each with its own fields. A division with Auto Assign has no time slots: you choose its game days, and Create puts each home game at a location that lists the home team's organization and the division's age group, in the priority order set on each location, at a time that location is open. It needs the Advanced Scheduling module and some setup first: your associated organizations, and each location's organizations, age groups, Game Spacing and availability.

On 1 Configuration > Scheduling, set Games per Week/Team to 1 or 2.
On 3 Time Slots, click Enable Auto Assign before you add any time slots.
On the Auto Assign page, choose the Game Day(s) and the Assign Type, and click Save and Next Step.
On 4 Create Schedule, click Create.

The full setup is in What is Advanced Scheduling and how to set it up (home fields, availability, Auto Assign).

Manual: a schedule you already have

Manual suits a schedule made outside TeamSideline, such as one a league office sends you, that you want online with scores and standings. TeamSideline adds blank game rows and you fill in each game.

Finish 1 Configuration, 2 Teams and 3 Time Slots, as for Standard.
On 4 Create Schedule, click Manual, choose the number of Weeks and the Games Per Week, and click Create.
In each game row, choose the Week, Time Slot, Home team and Away team, then click Calc & Save.

If the schedule is in a spreadsheet, importing it is quicker: see How to import a game schedule into a division (Division Schedule Import). For every step of Manual, see How do I create a schedule manually? (Manual button on 4 Create Schedule).

After you create a schedule: Auto Resolve

Once games are on the schedule, the division's 4 Create Schedule page shows alerts for conflicts: for example, a team booked at a time it can't play, or a game at a location that's closed. To fix them without rebuilding the schedule, use Auto Resolve (Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans). It moves only the games that need to move, and if no game has a result yet, you review and approve the changes before they go live. AI Auto Resolve (Elite and Enterprise plans, once TeamSideline turns it on) can also move games to other weeks and follows limits you set. See How to use Auto Resolve for Schedules.

If it doesn't work

There's no Create or Manual button on 4 Create Schedule. An Important Note on the page lists what's missing: the Day of First Game, at least 2 teams or enough time slots (with Custom, Remaining Time Slots Needed must reach 0). See Why can't I create my schedule? Time slot and team requirements for the Create button.
There's no Enable Auto Assign button. It shows only with Advanced Scheduling, on the Regular schedule's 3 Time Slots page, when Games per Week/Team is 1 or 2, and only until the division has a time slot. See Troubleshooting Advanced Scheduling (TBD games, missing Create button, start times).
Create says scheduling more than 20 teams needs an upgrade. Creating a schedule for a division of more than 20 teams needs the Enhanced plan or higher, or the Tournament module. On any plan you can use Manual or import the schedule instead.
A Custom schedule gives a team too many games in a week. Custom fills every time slot you ticked, with no weekly limit per team. Move those games on 4 Create Schedule, or delete the schedule, change which boxes are ticked on 3 Time Slots and click Create again.

Good to know

Manual on 4 Create Schedule and Manual Entry on 3 Time Slots are different. Manual Entry, always on for Custom and an option for 1 or 2 games per week (Change to Manual Entry), only chooses which time slots are used each week; Create still makes the pairings.
To add games one at a time, with no full schedule, make the division a Single Games division instead. It has no Create button.
Schedules can also be imported: one division's with the Division Schedule Import, or a whole league's with the League Schedules Import (Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans).
Smart Auto Assign isn't a scheduling type. It's an AI feature on a registration program's Assign To Roster page that proposes which players go on which team; see How to set up and run Smart Auto Assign. Advanced Scheduling's Auto Assign is the one that schedules games.

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