INTRODUCTION
Feature Summary: Organized Play is a dynamic and competitive format where players are matched using system-generated pairings based on their ratings. With customizable admin settings, the system determines the number of matches by factoring in player sign-ups, available courts, and court allocation preferences. This ensures evenly matched games, a fair playing environment, and a fun way for players to challenge themselves against opponents of similar skill levels.
Use Cases:
Skill-Based Competition: Players can test their abilities in fair, rating-based matchups.
Social Interaction: Great for meeting and playing with new opponents in the community.
Efficient Event Management: Admins can easily organize matches across multiple courts without manual scheduling.
Player Retention: Keeps players engaged by ensuring balanced, competitive experiences that encourage return participation.
Jump to the video tutorial for a visual walkthrough of Organized Play in CourtReserve, including setup, and both the admin and player perspectives.
SETUP REQUIREMENTS
How to Enable Organized Play:
Log in to the admin dashboard.
Click SETTINGS on the side menu.
Scroll down to the ADDITIONAL FEATURES row.
Click the Additional Features icon.
Scroll to the Enhanced Play section.
Click the checkbox need to Organized Play to enable.
Moving forward, there will be an Organized Play stand alone icon in the ADDITIONAL FEATURES row in your Settings menu.
Click the orange Setup button to get started.
Configure the Settings
The Organized Play settings page defines your default settings for Organized Play events. These defaults can be customized at the individual event level when creating an event with Organized Play functionality.
Enable Organized Play for the following Event Category(s): Select which Event Types you would like to enable the Organized Play option for.
Allocation Order Preference: This is the order you would like the system to select your players:
Random: Players will be selected at random based on their skill level.
Sign-up Order: Players will be selected to play based on their skill level in the order that they signed up for the event.
For example:
Player A signs up first with a 3.0 Rating.
Player B signs up second with a 4.0 Rating.
Player C signs up third with a 3.0 Rating.
Players C will be signed up before Player B because an additional player is needed on Player A’s court of 3.0 players.
Rating Category: Select the Custom Rating you would like to use to pair your players and and allocate your courts by.
Allow Player Pairing: If enabled, players will be able to select a partner to pair with after registration if their skill levels match based on skill level restrictions for the event.
Allow Mixed-Skill Match-ups: If enabled, players will be matched based on a +/- scale of your choosing.
Note: If a player does not have a Custom Rating for your event, they will automatically be assigned the LOWEST rating of that category for pairing purposes.Skill Level Deviation: Select how many skill levels ahead of or beyond the player's Custom Rating you would like to match together.
Skill Level Deviation looks at the Custom Rating in the Rating Category selected for the event (above).
Skill Level Deviation looks at the order of the Custom Rating as they are set by the Admin. If your number scale is not set in the correct number order, the pairings could be skewed. Make sure your Custom Ratings are set in the correct order top-down.
Example:
If 1 is selected as the Skill Level Deviation, a 3.0 player could be paired with a 2.5 player or a 3.5 player.
If 2 is selected as the Skill Level Deviation, a 3.5 player could be paired with a 3.0, 2.5, 4.0, or 4.5 player.
Max Players Per Court: Set the number of players per court.
Allocate Gender Equally: The same number of males and females will be assigned to the event.
Show Allocated Member Names on Scheduler(s) in Member Portal: Display player names on their allocated event court in the Member Portal schedulers.
Organized Play Event Setup
Create your Organized Play event by creating an event as usual by navigating to EVENTS > CREATE EVENT.
Category: Choose the Event Type for your event. If the selected Event Type is designated for Organized Play, an "Is Organized Play Event" checkbox will appear. When enabled, Organized Play settings will be applied. If not enabled, the event will follow the standard event setup and Organized Play options will not be displayed.
Set the remaining regular rules for your event (Event Date, Time, Recurrence Rules, etc.). Pay special attention to the fields listed below.
Prevent Member from Withdrawing from event within X Hours: It is recommended this hours field is set to prevent players from withdrawing from your event after the court/pairing allocation is completed.
At the bottom of the Create Event screen, there are two important tabs to understand for an Organized Play event:
Event Setup:
Drop-in Price: For Organized Play, only the drop-in event price is available, even for recurring events. Players cannot register for the full series — Organized Play is exclusively a drop-in format.
Registration Ends Before Event: Regardless of this setting, players cannot register once court and pairing allocations have been completed.
Registration / Organized Play Restrictions:
The section of fields under Organized Play Setup allows you to adjust the default Organized Play settings for this event as needed.
Note: Organized Play events can restrict registration by DUPR ratings using the Rating Restrictions field if needed. However, in the Organized Play Setup, only Custom Ratings are used for player pairing and court allocation. DUPR ratings are not supported in the pairing and court allocation logic for Organized Play matchups.
Set Up the Allocation
When you are ready to set up your event’s allocation, visit the Organized Play tab of the event date.
A list of players is displayed in registration order, along with their paired partner (if this step was completed and allowed), rating category, and gender.
Click the blue Allocate Court(s) and Player(s) button at the top of your list.
IMPORTANT: Allocation can only be done once! Once you allocate your players this can only be undone by manually swapping out players.
In the Allocate Court(s) and Player(s) screen you can swap out players and matches as desired.
In the bottom right, click the dark blue Finalize button to finish your allocation
Click the blue "Bulk Email" button to notify players that court allocations and matches are ready.
Email Players Allocated to Courts: Sends a message only to players assigned to a court.
Email Alternate List: Sends a message only to players on the alternate list.
You can include a custom message (optional) along with the match details. Some organizations may choose not to send emails if pairings are posted online.
Emails can be sent at any time, allowing you to re-send updated matches if player assignments change.
Registering on the Member Portal
Players register for Organized Play just like any other event. The example below shows that the registration process appears the same as for non–Organized Play events.
Once registered, players can pair with another player (if this option is enabled for the event). Pairing is only allowed when both players’ ratings meet the event’s pairing criteria. Players may pair, unpair, or re-pair with others at any time until the allocation process is complete.
Note: Once allocation is complete, players can no longer register for the event.
Display Allocation on Member Portal
To display Allocation in the Member Portal to participating players, “Show Registrants” must be enabled from the registration Event Setup settings tab.
After allocation is complete, players will see an additional table beneath the event date information showing their allocation results.
If Allocated:
Box displays: Allocation is complete
Status: You’re in!
Details include partner, assigned court, and opponents.
If Not Allocated:
Box displays: Allocation is complete
Status: Alternate
VIDEO TRAINING
Watch this video to learn about Organized Play.