Creating Internal Tournaments

MatchGrid’s tournament system lets you create and manage complete tournament events with brackets, pool play, and automatic scheduling.

[!INFO] Tournament creation is available on Silver tier and above. It includes bracket generation, seeding, and schedule integration.

Tournament Formats

MatchGrid supports multiple tournament formats:

Format	Description	Best For
Single Elimination	One loss and you’re out	Quick playoffs, championship brackets
Double Elimination	Must lose twice to be eliminated	Competitive tournaments, more games
Pool Play	Teams divided into pools, top advance	Large tournaments, qualification rounds
Round Robin	Everyone plays everyone	Small groups, league finals
Swiss System	Paired by similar records	Large fields, fewer rounds
Hybrid	Pool play + elimination bracket	Major tournaments, tiered competition

Creating a Tournament

Step 1: Basic Information

1. Navigate to Tournaments in the sidebar
2. Click Create Tournament
3. Enter tournament details:
   • Name: Tournament title
   • Dates: Start and end dates
   • Location: Primary venue
   • Description: Details for participants

Step 2: Choose Format

Select your tournament format and configure options:

For Single/Double Elimination:

• Bracket size (auto-calculated from teams)
• Bye handling (top seeds or random)

For Pool Play:

• Number of pools
• Teams per pool
• Teams advancing per pool

[!TIP] For hybrid tournaments, configure both pool play settings AND the playoff bracket that follows.

Step 3: Select Teams

Choose which teams participate:

• All Teams: Include all teams in division
• Qualified Teams: Based on season record
• Manual Selection: Hand-pick participants
• Open Registration: Teams sign up themselves

Step 4: Configure Seeding

Determine initial bracket positions:

Seeding Method	How It Works
By Record	Use season win/loss record
By Points	Use league standings points
Manual	Admin sets all seeds
Random	Random assignment

Step 5: Schedule Configuration

Set up the tournament schedule:

• Daily start/end times: Operating hours
• Match duration: Time per match
• Warmup time: Pre-match preparation
• Court turnover: Time between matches

Bracket Management

Viewing the Bracket

The bracket view shows:

• All matches with team assignments
• Scheduled times and courts
• Results (when entered)
• Advancement paths

Entering Results

1. Click on a completed match
2. Enter scores for each set/game
3. Save results
4. Winners automatically advance

[!WARNING] Once results are entered and saved, changing them affects all downstream bracket matches. Use caution when editing.

Pool Play Management

For pool play tournaments:

Pool Standings

Each pool shows:

• Win/loss records
• Points (if applicable)
• Head-to-head tiebreakers
• Advancement status

Completing Pool Play

After all pool games are complete:

1. System calculates final standings
2. Advancing teams populate the bracket
3. Playoff schedule becomes available

Publishing Tournament Schedules

When ready to share:

1. Review all match assignments
2. Click Publish Schedule
3. Teams receive notifications
4. Public schedule link is generated

Best Practices

1. Lock teams early: Finalize participants before creating bracket
2. Allow buffer time: Don’t schedule matches too tightly
3. Plan for delays: Build in contingency time
4. Enter results promptly: Keep bracket current for spectators
5. Communicate changes: Notify teams of any schedule adjustments