Feature Summary: With Player Matchmaker, players can create matches or reservations and open them up for others to join.
Use Cases: A player books a court and can choose to mark it as an "open reservation," setting specific parameters for who is eligible to join.
The Player Match-Maker is a free additional feature in CourtReserve. System users can set specific criteria and parameters for how these open matches are created and managed.
This feature is especially useful when a player reserves a court and wants to invite others to join for social play. While it can be used for all sports, it’s most commonly utilized for tennis and pickleball. This guide walks you through setting up the key components for a smooth matchmaking experience.
SET UP REQUIREMENTS
First, enable Player Match-Maker on the Manage Additional Features screen.
From the admin panel, navigate to SETTINGS > ADDITIONAL FEATURES > Additional Features. Note: for some organizations, this may be labeled Add-Ons.
Scroll to the Essential Features section and check the box next to Player Matchmaker. Then, click the Setup button to begin configuring the feature.
Moving forward, you can access this feature anytime by navigating to SETTINGS > ADDITIONAL FEATURES > Player Match-Maker.
The Player Match-Maker Setup screen has four sections:
1. SET UP YOUR MATCH-MAKER CRITERIA
Customize who can create or join open reservations by setting the following options.
Public Reservation Type(s) Eligible for Match-Making: Define which Reservation Types are eligible for open reservations.
Restrict Open Reservations to Specific Court(s): Enable to limit open reservations to certain courts within your facility.
Court Type(s): Select the Court Types eligible for open reservations.
Court(s): Select the Courts eligible for open reservations.
Allow Gender Restriction: Allow gender-based filtering for open reservation participation.
Allow Age Restriction: Allow age-based restrictions for who can join an open reservation.
Allowed Rating Categories for Match Maker: Allow rating category restrictions for who can join an open reservation. This will display any static Custom Ratings set up in CourtReserve. Dynamic rating categories are not eligible for player match-maker rating restrictions (i.e. integrated rating, like DUPR ratings).
Allow Member Group Restriction: Allow member group restrictions to control who can join an open reservation—only players belonging to the selected group will be allowed to join and the person creating the open reservation must be part of the member group. For example, if a player is part of a DUPR 3.0+ group in CourtReserve, they can limit their reservation so that only members of that group are eligible to join. This will display the Member Groups you have created in CourtReserve.
Allow Private Matches: Enable players to create private open reservations and can only be joined via a password they're given.
Max Open Reservations per Day: Set the maximum number of open reservations a player can create daily. This is an organization-wide setting, you can define restrictions based on membership type under Player Restrictions below.
Allow Open Reservations to be Editable: Give players the ability to edit their open reservations after creation.
Member Portal Settings:
Include an Open Reservations menu option in the Member Portal. Checking this will show an Open Reservations filtered list on your Book a Court menu on your Member Portal and mobile app.
Customize the navigation label if desired (e.g., Open Reservations).
Example when the menu option is enabled in the Member Portal:
2. SET UP YOUR MATCH TYPES
Enhance the matchmaking experience by defining Match Types to help players understand the match style (e.g., Social, Competitive). These are optional.
Enable Match Types: Choose whether to activate this feature.
Require Match Type Selection: Decide if players must select a match type when creating open reservations.
Match Type Options: Edit or delete the default options or create a new type. The defaults are as follows:
Practice
Social Match
Competitive
Rotational
Drilling
3. SET UP YOUR SPORTS TYPES
If your organization offers multiple sports (e.g., Tennis and Pickleball), configure Sport Types to ensure matches are associated with the correct sport.
Enable/Disable Sport Types based on your facility’s offerings.
Create Sport Types and save.
4. PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
Control who can create or join open reservations and fine-tune settings based on Membership Types. For each of your Membership Types, configure the following settings:
Can Create Open Reservation: Determines if members within a specific membership type are allowed to create open reservations. For example, perhaps you want Player Match-Maker / Open Reservation functionality only for your paid memberships.
Max Open Reservations per Player: Sets the maximum number of open reservations a player in this membership type can have active at any given time.
Can Join Open Reservation: Controls whether members of this type are eligible to join open reservations created by other players.
Cancel if Not Filled (hours before start): Automatically cancels an open reservation if it hasn’t been filled by other players within a set number of hours before the start time. For example, if another player hasn't joined a singles match 8 hours before the start time, cancel the reservation and open the court.
Cancel if Not Filled (hours after creation): Automatically cancels an open reservation if no one joins within a specific number of hours after the reservation is created. For example, give your members a total of 24 hours after creating an open reservation to fill it, otherwise cancel the reservation and open the court.
USER PERSPECTIVE
If a member meets the Player Matchmaker criteria to create an open reservation, and their booking selections qualify, they will see a checkbox labeled Is Open Reservation when booking a court.
In the example below, this member’s Membership Type allows them to create open reservations, and the club permits it for Doubles - Pickleball on the selected court. As a result, the Is Open Reservation checkbox is visible to them.
If the Player clicks Is Open Reservation, a new section appears. On Open Reservation Criteria, the following options will appear based on your Player Match-Maker settings (only those enabled will show):
Match Type: The type of match (e.g., Practice, Competitive).
Gender Restriction: Gender-based restrictions.
Eligible Rating(s): Rating ranges for eligible players.
Group Restriction(s): Limits participation to specific member groups.
Min Players / Max Players: Sets the minimum and maximum number of players required for the reservation.
Min Age / Max Age: Defines the allowed age range for participants.
What to Expect in This Match: Players can add a description to provide context or expectations for the reservation. For example, "Looking for three more DUPR 3.0+ players to join me for social play."
Private Match: If checked, the member will choose a four character Join Code to share with their peers in order to join the Open Reservation.
The Player will see their booking on their Member Portal under My Bookings.
Other players who meet the criteria can view available Open Reservations through the Open Reservations portal link (if enabled) or directly on the relevant court schedule. Examples are as follows:
ADMIN PERSPECTIVE
In the above example, the admin can see the reservation as follows:
Navigate to RESERVATIONS > OPEN:
Or directly on the relevant Scheduler, where an OPEN label will appear along with an indicator showing how many additional players are needed to fill the reservation.
VIDEO TRAINING
Click here to view a video tutorial on Player Match-Making.