Playoffs / Tournaments - Set up (Enhanced version)

Overview: A Tournament or Playoff competition can be created by "cloning" or copying an existing season or competition, or by creating one from scratch.

Cloning an existing competition is most common and effective, as it allows you to automatically copy over all existing teams and their associated divisions and players eligible for playoffs. 

(Note that the current bracket configuration, uses a pooled Round Robin-style format, based on Division size. Additional bracket-format options coming soon! early March '23)

There are currently 2 ways to execute a Playoff/Tournament within SportNinja.

1) Simple - Run playoffs just like the regular season, but using Placeholder Teams for TBD game slots. 

2) Enhanced Tournament Functionality (with Brackets, Player Eligibility, Managed Advancements, etc) - outlined below.

*Please be aware the enhanced version may require assistance with configuration. Please contact us directly for support in setting this up for you - [e-mail].

Steps:  (High-level Summary)

1) Clone a Competition (eg. regular season).

2) Populate the Game Slots  (admin tab) with your schedule of dates and surfaces/facilities to generate a tournament bracket and placeholder schedules.

3) Sync Game Slots with your actual teams, team reps and eligible players (when ready).

4) Re-Seed Teams and edit divisions via the Setup tab - as needed

5) Approve Team Advancements via the Game Slots tab (web-only):  As games are played, League Admins must review finalized games and "Approve" each game and the team's advancement (by clicking the "Approve" button in the Game Slots tab)

Visual Steps:  (Detailed)

1) Clone Competition:  From the Set-up tab of a Competition, click the "Clone Competition" button in the top right corner.

Fill in the Competition details (select "Playoff Competition").

2) Populate Game Slots:  After cloning, you will automatically be re-directed to the "Game Slots" admin tab for your new playoffs set-up. Fill in the Date, Time, Venue and Facility for all Divisions. Then, click the "Save Changes" button.

This will be used to establish an initial playoff schedule with placeholders. And a placeholder bracket.

After hitting the "Save Changes" button, your Schedule and Playoff brackets will be populated in their respective tabs on the left-hand side. Both will then be publicly available on Web and Mobile.

At this point, your schedule does not include any specific Team names or Players/Rosters.

3) Sync Game Slots:  To bring over Teams and Eligible Players from the prior Season/Competition (which this competition has been cloned from), select the "Sync Game Slots" button.

A window will pop-up for you to review and Confirm you are ready to proceed.

NOTE: At this point it is important to verify that you are satisfied with the seed placements from the prior competition (as the Tournament/Playoff will inherit that seed order for each division).

In the "Minimum Games Played by Player" field, enter the number of games that must be attended in the prior Competition, in order to be eligible for Playoffs. Only players that have attended this number of games will be brought over into their Playoff/Tournament Roster. If there is no minimum, enter 0.

FYI - It is possible to perform this sync multiple times, periodically, to bring over additional players who have obtained eligibility. As needed. 

Once you have Sync'd Game Slots, you will see Team Names populated on the Schedule and Playoff tabs for scheduled games and within the Game Slots admin tab for those games.

Schedule:

Playoffs:

Game Slots (admin view):

4) Re-Seed on Setup Tab (as needed):  At this point, you can do any last minute re-seeding or adjustments within the "Setup" tab. 

NOTE: Following any adjustments, go to the "Game Slots" tab and hit the "Refresh Game Slots" button to update the schedule and slots with your division updates or seeding adjustments.

*** You are now ready to begin the Tournament! ***

5) Approve Team Advancements via the Game Slots tab (web-only):  As games are played, League Admins are currently required to review any finalized games and "Approve" each game (by clicking the "Approve" button in the Game Slots tab) in order to advance teams. After you hit approve, schedules and playoff brackets will reflect the advancements.