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Troubleshooting Advanced Scheduling (TBD games, missing Create button, start times)

Most Advanced Scheduling problems come from one setup detail that doesn't match: a location with no availability on the game days, a location Game Spacing shorter than the division's, an age group or organization missing from a location's lists, or a team with no organization. Find your symptom below. After you fix the setup, delete the schedule and click Create again, or move single games with Swap Game.

Applies to: Admins and schedulers · Sites with the Advanced Scheduling module (Multi-Org Scheduling on older sites) · Divisions with Auto Assign turned on

Where: Schedules > Leagues & Divisions > (division) > 3 Time Slots (the Auto Assign page) and 4 Create Schedule; Schedules > Locations > Manage Locations

Every game is TBD

As the Auto Assign page says, "The Auto Assign scheduler requires location availability to be configured." Check each location the division should use, on Schedules > Locations > Manage Locations, then the division itself:

  1. On the location's Availability tab, check that its availability covers the division's game days and the season's dates. Auto Assign treats a location with no availability as closed.
  2. On its Details tab, check that the Game Spacing is equal to or greater than the division's Game Spacing (1 Configuration > Scheduling). A new location starts at 0, which Auto Assign never uses.
  3. Check that its Age Groups list has the division's exact Age Group. 12U and U12 are different age groups, so use the same one for the division and its locations.
  4. Check that its Associated Organizations list has the teams' organizations.
  5. On the division's 2 Teams page, check that every team shows its organization in front of its name.
  6. On the Auto Assign page, check the Game Day(s) and the Start Window. If Enforce Preferred is checked, a team that has a preferred location gets TBD for every home game whose preferred location and time isn't open.
  7. On 4 Create Schedule, click Delete, then click Create again.

Some games are TBD

Auto Assign uses each open time once, so a week can run out of times. Look at which games are TBD:

  • Games in the busiest weeks. There weren't enough open times that week. Add availability or another location, add a 2nd choice game day, or widen the Start Window, then delete the schedule and click Create again.
  • Games from a certain week on. A location's availability ends before the season does: on its Availability tab, check the End Date of its Recurring Days. A Block Times closure, or games other divisions already have there, can also fill those weeks.
  • One team's or one organization's home games. The team has no organization, or no location lists both its organization and the division's age group.

To place a few TBD games yourself, click the game's Swap Game icon on 4 Create Schedule, choose a Date and Location, pick an Available time under Available Swaps At This Location (or another division's game to trade places with) and click Swap.

Games start later than the Start Window, or at odd times

Start times step from the start of the location's availability by the location's Game Spacing, and a time is used only when the whole Game Spacing fits before the availability ends. The Start Window only removes times; it never adds one. With availability from 3:00 PM and 60-minute spacing, a window that starts at 3:45 PM gives a first game at 4:00 PM. To start at 3:45 PM, start the location's availability at 3:45 PM too. The Auto Assign page says the same: "Actual game start time is based on location availability and game spacing."

Times also restart when anything already booked at the location ends, such as another division's game, a practice or a facility reservation: with a practice until 5:10 PM, the next game can start at 5:10 PM. To see what's booked, open the location's Calendar tab or the Multi Location Calendar.

There's no Enable Auto Assign button

3 Time Slots shows Enable Auto Assign only when all of these are true:

  • Your site has Advanced Scheduling, and your admin role includes it. If not, contact TeamSideline Support to ask about adding it.
  • You're on the Regular schedule's page. A 2nd Half schedule uses the same Auto Assign settings once they're on.
  • Games per Week/Team is 1 or 2, not Custom (1 Configuration > Scheduling).
  • The division has no time slots yet. If it has some, click Delete All on 3 Time Slots first. Delete All shows only while the division has no schedule, so delete the schedule first if there is one.
  • The division isn't a Single Games division, and its league isn't archived.

There's no Create button

With Auto Assign on, Create needs only a Day of First Game (for a 2nd Half schedule, its own date) on 1 Configuration > Scheduling and at least 2 teams on 2 Teams. It doesn't need time slots. If both are set:

  • A schedule already exists. Create shows only before there's one. Click Delete on 4 Create Schedule to start over; Delete is there until a game has been played.
  • The division is still in Manual Entry Mode from 3 Time Slots. On 1 Configuration > Scheduling, change Games per Week/Team, click Save, change it back and click Save again. That change can clear the division's blocked weeks, its 2 Game Configuration and its Odd Team Division Configuration, so check them afterward on 1 Configuration and the Auto Assign page.

For the other rules, such as archived leagues and divisions of more than 20 teams, see Why can't I create my schedule? Time slot and team requirements for the Create button.

Games are in a week you blocked

A week blocked on the Auto Assign page for a 2nd Half schedule, or for a division that uses a Template, may still get games when you click Create. After Create, check each blocked week on 4 Create Schedule. If one has games, block it after Create instead:

  1. On 4 Create Schedule, click Delete.
  2. On the Auto Assign page (3 Time Slots), delete the block with its Delete icon in the Block A Week table.
  3. On 4 Create Schedule, click Create.
  4. Click Block A Week, choose the Week (Week Of), type the Block Reason, choose Push All Games Out One Week and click Add.
  5. Click Calc & Save. The block isn't saved until you do.

Pushed games keep their day, time and location, so check for Availability Conflict (AC) warnings afterward.

If it still doesn't work

Contact TeamSideline Support with the league and division names and what you see, such as which weeks or teams have TBD games.

Good to know

  • Each TBD game has a Review Scheduling (RS) warning on 4 Create Schedule, such as "Week 3 | This game is TBD and has not been assigned a location." It's a warning, so Calc & Save still saves the schedule.
  • Deleting an Auto Assign schedule also deletes the time slots Auto Assign made; Create makes them again from your current setup.
  • A locked game can't be swapped or moved until you unlock it with its lock icon on 4 Create Schedule. When Multi-Team Coach is on, Auto Assign locks the games of coaches with more than one team.
  • Smart Auto Assign, the AI roster tool on a registration program's Assign To Roster page, doesn't schedule games. If players aren't on the right teams, see How to set up and run Smart Auto Assign.

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