> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.podplay.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.podplay.app/pro-system/tournaments.md). # Tournaments ### Overview PodPlay Tournaments turns any Event at your Club into a Tournament or League, from a casual Open Play to a multi-division bracket or a season-long ladder. It adds structure to everyday Open Play: run a Challenge Court, a Paddle Rack queue, or randomly assigned MLP teams without leaving PodPlay. Customers see court assignments, standings, and brackets in the App, scores can be entered by Customers, admins, or on iPad kiosks, and results can be submitted to DUPR. #### Access Once the Tournament feature is turned on for your environment, you will see a `TOURNAMENTS` drawer at the bottom of every Event type. {% hint style="info" %} The Tournament feature is included for every Club on the Pro tier. Clubs on Basic or Basic+ can add the Tournament feature for $100 per month. {% endhint %} 1. **Open the drawer** and click on the button `Create Tournament`
2. **Use the same email address** for your Profile in the Dashboard to login 1. If someone on your team doesn't have access, reach out to the PodPlay CS team () and request access for the Club employee who cannot reach the Tournament feature
3. **Take the 6-digit code** sent to your email and validate access
4. **Create your managed Open Play, Tournament, or League!**
### Choosing a format The right format depends on one question: is your player list fixed, or will people come and go? #### Open Play Ad hoc, open-ended sessions. Customers can arrive late, leave early, and you can keep generating rounds (or let a queue run continuously). Byes are distributed fairly, and partners and opponents are varied automatically. Open Play is usually the best format for private and corporate Events and parties, since many players drop out after a few games. #### Fixed Tournament Round Robin, Elimination Bracket, or Round Robin + Bracket (Hybrid). The player list is set at the start and everyone plays through to the end, with exceptions such as injury retirements. Use these for competitive Events with a winner and runners-up. #### League A group of connected sessions with cumulative standings across the season. Most Leagues are built from an Event Series, and you can also build one from stand-alone Events. Leagues usually run as rotating doubles or fixed-partner doubles ladders, with other options available. | You want | Use this | | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | | Casual drop-in play with randomized matches | Open Play → Shuffle Play | | One court where winners defend their spot | Open Play → Challenge Court | | Players climbing up and down between courts | Open Play → Challenge Ladder | | A self-running queue with no rounds to manage | Open Play → Paddle Rack | | Everyone plays everyone, with fair standings | Round Robin | | A knockout with a single champion | Elimination Bracket | | Group play that seeds a playoff bracket | Round Robin + Bracket (Hybrid) | | A multi-week season with one standings table | League | ### Open Play formats * **Shuffle Play:** randomized rounds with balanced court time and variety in partners and opponents. Customers can freeze themselves in the standings to take a break. * **Challenge Court:** one court is the challenge court. Winners stay on, either always or for a set number of wins, and challenge-court wins decide the overall winner. * **Challenge Ladder:** every court is a rung. Winners move up a court, losers move down, and players sort themselves by level over the session. * **Paddle Rack:** a live queue instead of rounds. Matches generate automatically as courts open. * **Timed Play:** a per-round timer for Shuffle Play, Challenge Court, and Challenge Ladder. When the timer expires, players finish the current point and any winning margin of 1 counts. Rounds can also run hands-free with a countdown between rounds. ### Fixed Tournament formats * **Round Robin:** every team plays every other team in its group. Single or Double. A Double Round Robin lets you re-seed groups for Round 2 based on Round 1 results. * **Elimination Bracket:** Single or Double Elimination. Double Elimination uses a Winners bracket and a Consolation bracket, so everyone plays at least two matches. Both include a Bronze Match for 3rd place, which you can remove if you are short on time. * **Hybrid (Round Robin + Bracket):** group play first, then the top finishers advance to a single or double elimination playoff with Finals and a Bronze Match. * **Mexicano:** each round is built from every result in the previous round. Rounds can run on the round timer and in hands-free mode. Like Challenge Court and Challenge Ladder, Mexicano has no score window, so PodPlay waits for the last score before it generates the next round. ### League formats * **Single-Group League:** everyone plays one round robin group each session. Best for smaller Leagues and one-court Clubs. * **Ladder League:** a round robin League with 2 or more groups. Top finishers move up a group and bottom finishers move down (1 Up / 1 Down or 2 Up / 2 Down). * **Hybrid League:** round robin sessions all season, with a championship bracket in the final session seeded from the season standings. * **Weekly Schedule League:** each team plays one scheduled matchup per week, with playoffs at the end. Available for Doubles and MLP only. Each League has a public page that shows cumulative standings across all sessions. ### Event types The Event Type controls who is on the court and how teams form. You choose it when you create the Tournament. * **Singles:** one player per side. * **Doubles:** two players per team, with fixed partners for the whole Event. * **Rotating Doubles:** partners change every round and players are ranked individually. Available for Round Robin and Open Play. * **MLP 4 Players:** squads of 4 play four games per team match (Women's Doubles, Men's Doubles, and two Mixed Doubles). A DreamBreaker game settles a 2-2 split. * **MLP 3 Players:** squads of 3 play three games (Men's Doubles and two Mixed Doubles) with no DreamBreaker. Available for Hybrid only. ### How every Tournament starts 1. Open the Tournaments tab and click `+ New Tournament`. 2. Select your location, then pick an Event scheduled in the next 35 days. Private and unlisted Events appear in the list. Private Reservations do not. 3. Choose the format, Games in Match (1 game, best of 3, or best of 5), Scoring (11, 15, or 21 points, win by 1 or 2), and Event Type. PodPlay imports the courts and registered players from the Event and opens the setup screen for your format. {% hint style="warning" %} Finalize the player list right before the Event starts. Use `Refresh` to sync the latest lineup from PodPlay. Right before the Event, `Refresh` also shows a green checkmark next to each Customer who has checked in. {% endhint %} ### Key features #### App Turn on `Show Tournament In App` in Tournament Settings to put a **Match Info** link on the Event Card under "My Bookings". Customers then see court assignments, standings, and brackets on their phones. They can also enter scores when `Player Score Entry` is on. #### Court Monitors and iPad kiosks Customers find their court by looking for their name on the Court Monitors. They submit scores with the buttons or manual entry on the iPad kiosk at the end of the match. Standings show on the monitors after every match. Brackets on the monitors are coming soon. {% hint style="info" %} Turn on `Show on App / Monitors` in Tournament Settings before the Event starts. This setting makes the Tournament visible in the App and puts matchups and standings on the Court Monitors. {% endhint %} #### DUPR Pro tier Clubs submit results to DUPR from the iPad kiosks. Clubs on Basic or Basic+ with the Tournament feature submit results after all matches are complete, from the `DUPR` tab in Tournament Settings. {% hint style="warning" %} All four players in a match must be connected to DUPR for the result to be eligible. Matches that include a walk-on player are never eligible. {% endhint %} #### Public Event pages Every Tournament has a public link for brackets, standings, and match results. No login is required. ### Roadmap * **Push notifications (coming soon):** Customers opt in to receive their next match details and court assignment. * **Brackets on Court Monitors (coming soon).** ### Where to learn more * Running an Open Play covers ad hoc, drop-in Events. * Running a Tournament or League covers fixed-roster Events and recurring League play. After you log in to the Tournaments feature, you can also open: * **What's New:** a changelog of new releases. * **Knowledge Base:** use cases with graphics. * **Tutorials:** educational videos.
### FAQs
Why don't I see my Tournament on the monitors or in the App? Turn on `Show on App / Monitors` in Tournament Settings.
Why can't I change the scoring? Default scoring locks once play begins. You can still set scoring for stages that have not started, such as later bracket rounds in `Bracket Scoring`, as long as no score has been submitted in that round.
I disabled a court but matches are still on it. Court changes apply only to rounds generated after the change. Matches that already exist keep their court. Reassign them manually if needed.
Customers signed up after I created the Tournament. Where are they? Click `Refresh` on the setup screen. In a running Open Play, use `Add Late Arrivals` in Open Play settings.
Why didn't a match generate for a Customer? The Customer is probably frozen. Customers freeze and unfreeze themselves by clicking their name in the standings, and frozen players are skipped when rounds generate.
Why can't this match be submitted to DUPR? All four players must have connected DUPR Profiles, and matches with walk-on players are never eligible.
The round timer went off mid-game. What is a valid score? After the timer expires, players finish the current point and any winning margin of 1 counts. A score of 9-8 is valid even at "11 win by 2".
One group is running behind the others. Use `Group Scoring` in Tournament Settings to set different game lengths per group. For example, run the smaller groups to 15 and keep the slow group at 11.
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