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Getting Started

• Gather all the information mentioned under Setup.
• If you had a tournament last year and this tournament is similar (basically the same events, waiver, and format); consider sending us an email and requesting us to 'clone' the tournament with the new date. For testing and teaching purposes, we can also create a complete copy of a tournament (it must be one you own).
• Click this button to create your tournament and user authorization.

  ---

  Click here to only advertise your tournament Click here to setup/access your tournament

  No buttons. You are already signed in

  ---

  This will go thru a step-by-step basic tournament setup. It does not setup all the features, only for a basic tournament. All features are available thru the Tournament parameters once the tournament is created.

  IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS OR WANT US TO DO THE SETUP. WE WILL! JUST EMAIL A DRAFT REGISTRATION FORM AND FLYER AND WE'LL DO THE SETUP TO GET YOU STARTED.

  THE EMAIL ADDRESS IS: info@pickleballtournaments.com FOR HELP.

• After creating the tournament, sign-in and click Public Pages then (-->) Welcome Page (RegOpen) to view the tournament information page. Verify all the information. If anything needs to be corrected, use the Tournament --> EZsetup to change the information. You may also use the other Tournament selections to add/change the information.
• On your tournament information page, click the registration button and register for your tournament to verify the setup is correct.
• Read the steps under Documentation-->Player Registration to learn about manual registration procedures.
• When your tournament is open for registrations:
  • Monitor your registrations daily:
  • Use Log Files-->Player to view regisrtation activity
  • When payments/registration received view and update players
• When registrations are closed, follow the steps under Documentation-->Event Management to create your brackets and charts
• It is your responsibility for posting links about your tournament on other pickleball websites. This site is independent from all pickleball organizations. We do not automatically post any information on their sites. For posting you may use the following:
  • http://www.pickleballtournaments.com - the general address for this site
  • http://www.pickleballtournaments.com/welcome.pl?tid=n - your tournament specific information page where "n" is your tournament id.
  • http://www.pickleballtournaments.com/welcome.pl?name=short - same as above but "short" is the abbreviation name for your tournament.

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History

Since there have been computer systems, there has been software for tournaments, but usually at too high a price. Tournament directors resorted to manually keeping registration records, drawing charts, and compiling results.

Prior to the day of play, a chart would have to be redrawn by hand if a serious problem was found. If it was the day of the tournament, the pencil was pulled out and additional matches were sketched into the chart or teams scratched off. All this lead to tournament directors spending hours if not days drawing charts, redrawing, and verifying information.

With the advent of the internet, player lists and play brackets can be posted prior to the tournament. With current software, they can be adjusted within minutes. This leads to the best charted event possible. If you pencil in teams or simply scratch teams the day of play, teams end up playing others out of order or getting unnecessary byes.

This system started back in 2004 to eliminate drawing charts by hand. This is also different from just filling in names on pre-prepared charts. The system actually “knows” the relationship between matches, seeding, and where winners and losers play next. If teams or seeding is changed, the bracket can be redrawn easily. When results were entered, the chart was then updated and available on the web. Most tournaments do not post their complete charts or results. This makes it virtually impossible to rate players. It’s not just the medal winners but how the teams compared to one another.

In 2006-2007, tournament operations were added to allow entry of results in real-time and the system would automatically print the next scoresheets with the team names. This eliminated the errors caused by the desk incorrectly posting results and where the teams proceed in the tournament. It also provided almost immediate access to the information online.

In 2009, online registration and central player database was added. Most tournaments choose the online registration and mailing of the printed registration form with signed waiver and payment. This is their option. With the central player database, past tournament results of players are at one’s fingertips.

In 2010, more features were added to enable tournament officials to verify membership, ratings, and posting results.

This system is currently used by the largest pickleball tournaments in the world. It wasn’t developed for profit but to support these tournaments. For small tournaments, under 100 players, it, like any computer system, may be more work than the obvious benefits. You be the judge.

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Advantages

• Single Integrated Solution (Registration thru Result posting)
• Players manage their own information and partners. They have access to their information at anytime to confirm registration.
• Online Payments  (via PayPal).
• Online Waiver signing.
• Player checks: Membership, rating
• Automatic bracket placement based on age(s), skill(s), or both.
• Public access to player lists, brackets, and results.
• Integrated and secure email to players.
• Tournament/Event Estimates and Daily Schedule Planning.
• Web hosting of tournament information.
• Use what fits you. Registration can be done manually or online. You can use the tournament desk to print and enter results, or print the charts, run the tournament manually, and enter the results later.
• Web based. Always have the latest software and fixes. No local software installed except for printing scoresheets. There is actually a way to print a mini-scoresheet and not install the printer software spooler.
• Multi-user access. Functions may be distributed to multiple people/locations.
• Granular security. Each administrative user can have separate authorizations per tournament.
• Real-time support for tournaments with multiple venues
• Player history. Tournament results are merged into central player database. No other place on the web is available to view a player's history.

Disadvantages

• PC/Internet comfort level.
• THIS IS A LARGE SYSTEM WITH MANY FEATURES. It can be over-whelming, but once configured, most operations are simply and hopefully straight-forward.
• Requires PC(s) w/Internet Access. This is not a stand-alone system.
• Requires PC w/Windows for tournament desk to print scoresheets. Only the PC with the printer is required to be a Windows PC. Others may be any platform.
• For tournaments, need equipment(PCs/printers), electricity. and 'good - dependable' internet access.
• Limited support.

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System Requirements

1. Internet Access: This is NOT a stand-alone application. It is a web-based service which requires an internet connection whether thru a land-line (DSL or cable) or wireless.

2. Web Browsers: We test for compatibility against Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.

• We do use and require browser "cookies". The best solution is to enable this site as a trusted site, so that cookies and pop-windows are allowed.
• Some anti-virus software may cause problems or inhibit some features by blocking pop-ups.

2. A "Windows" based computer is required for tournament desk operations on the computer that will print "full" scoresheets.

• For printing scoresheets, a windows application is installed to poll the internet for pending scoresheets from any computers at this venue.
• Multiple computers may be used for player check-in and score entry, but they do not require their own printers for printing scoresheets. All scoresheets from all computers for the venue are printed on the single printer.
• For non-windows situations or where you cannot install the scoresheet spooler, an option is available at the desk to print mini-scoresheets with match information and places for the results. These could be printed on the back of pre-printed scoresheets for identification and result entry.

3. Printers

• The printer is your choice whether laser, dor matrix, or color.
• "Large Format" printers are now available at reasonable costs for printing on paper larger than 8 1/2 x 11.

Recommendations:

1. Computer mouse: This system is designed to work with a mouse for selections. Other equivalient devices are sufficient, but the keyboard alone would be clumsy.
2. Laptop computers: Either laptop computers and/or battery backup for tournament operations in case of power outages. Remember, if network hubs, printers, or other hardware is used, it must have battery backup since they do not have a battery. Beware of power consumption on some laser printers.
3. Computer size: At least a 15 inch screen and equivalent keyboard. Although there are small notebook computers under $300, from experience, the keyboards and screens are too small.

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What Can I Use? All or part..

As mentioned in previous topics, this is a very large system with many portions.

Do you have to use it all?

No. Use what fits you. We do not recommend using the system just to enter names and create charts. There are many other alternatives on the web for doing this task.

Here are typically scenarios?

A) Manually enter registrations, create brackets, and print charts.

Although tedious for entering registration information, you don't have to enter everything but at least their name, birthdate or age, email address, and events. This at least allows you to send confirmations, run reports, verify rating information, and dynamically create brackets based on skills or age groups.

We do not recommend having events that are skill or age specific, the system was designed to fill brackets based skill and the doubles partner's information. Instead of events such as Men's Doubles 3.5 and Men's Doubles 4.0, you simply have Men's Doubles and create brackets for 3.5 and 4.0 based on the players skill levels. The same apply to age groups. In fact, you do not need separate registration items for groups such as juniors UNLESS they have different fees.

B) Online registration, create brackets, and print charts.

This is the recommended minimum. Same as A but with online registrations. The players still mail in registration form, signed waiver, and fees, but the administrative tasks shifts to problem solving rather than bulk entry. Even using our printed registration form, I haven't had any problem with any existing tournaments not taking the form with their waiver text and the monies to them.

Online registrations can also automatically add discounts, add fees, apply deadlines, and other features.

C) A/B and entering results at the end of the day.

This is a common scenario if internet isn't available at the tournament site. This also reduces the complications of learning the desk portion. On the day of the tournament, you run things the same as before. The primary complication is if you change the charts on the fly. The system doesn't adjust to this. The charts are not simple documents that can be edited. If postings are incorrect for the loser's matches, some adjustments can be made.

D) A/B with EVENT DESK

In this scendario, you have internet at the tournament. Scoresheets are printed and results entered. This provides live web updates and when the day is complete, everything is already in the system. Since the system is printing scoresheets for new matches, there are no charting errors. Of course incorrectly marked sheets or entry can result in problems, but they can be fixed.

E) A/B/D with CHECK-IN DESK

The check-in desk is optional. The Event Desk portion will run regardless of whether the players are checked in or not. The Check-In Desk allows you to keep of record each day or who has checked in, whether the registrants have received their items, and whether a waiver or fees need to be collected from the player(s). From the Event Desk, you can check if all players have checked in for an event.

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS

-) COURT DESK

This is an addition to (D) above. The 'Court Desk' is a separate window similar to the Event Desk and is used to monitor court usage and easily assign courts to matches. Courts may be assigned via the Event Desk, but the Court Desk uses the SYSID. The display from the court desk may also be used to directly drive an external monitor for display of the courts.

-) BILLBOARD SYSTEM

This is a independent display system for showing tournament information which can include current court assignments, match results, advertising, and more. It requires a separate computer and the computer display is used to drive one or more displays.

-) BARCODES

Barcodes are now provided as an option on the scoresheets. This provides an easy method of entering the SYSIDs for matches rather than typing or clicking to enter the id. Simple USB barcode scanners provide input as an additinal keyboard and are available on the web for less than $30. The simplied barcode is "Code  3 of 9" or "Code39" and is a standard code.

-) VOLUNTEER SYSTEM

There is a separate portion of the system for keeping a record of volunteers and maintaining schedules. Players can be added to this database based on their volunteer options and non-players can register online. This is typically used for large larger tournament and requires an additional authorization not normally enabled for first time users.

-) DOWNLOAD and IMPORT

The system does provide features to download player information and also the ability to import player information. The authorizations are available upon request.

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Setup

Setup requires all the information you should have if you've created a registration form and flyer for the tournament.

Here's a list of the common items:

• Tournament Title
• Tournament Dates
• Hosting organization website
• Tournament Location (address, city)
• Contact Person (name, phone, email)
• Minimum entry age
• Liability waiver
• Registration dates (opening date, early registration date, final registration date, cancellation deadline)
• Registration fess (early fee, total fee)
• Does registration include anything free (t-shirt?)?
• Default skill level for players entering w/o
• Date used for calculating player's age (tournament date or last day of year)
• Events (which events, play dates, event fee, by skill or age group)
• How events are played (double elimination, round robin, drop-flight)
• Event Information
  • General tournament paragraph
  • Email confirmation message
  • Cancellation policy
  • Mailing address

For first time users, we recommend you work up a draft flyer and registration form with all the necessary info. By doing the flyer and form, you come up with the basic information for us to use to create the tournament. Given the two, we can usually setup the tournament for you and create a userid for access. We might also come up with some questions about things you may have missed on the forms.

With the initial setup, you can then sign-in, try things out, including online registration, and verify operation before going live for registrations. This is by far the quickest way to get started.

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Registration

You have the following choices for registration.

1. Manual: Players use paper registration forms and you manually enter the information into the system. br> 
2. Partial: Players register online, print out their registration form, sign the waiver, and mail with payment. This is the most common and eliminates the entry of most of the registration information.
    
3. Total: Players register, sign their waiver online, and make payment via PayPal.

The manual registration process is always available for entry and correction of previous registrations. The manual process also allows additional features and options not provided to online registrant.

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Online Payments

PayPal

Based on your PayPal account, this may require the player to use a PayPal account or additionally allow credit card payments without a PayPal account. This is controlled via PayPal and your account. Your PayPal account is identified with registered via an email address.

When the tournament is configured with PayPal for payments, you have the following options:

• Receive an email for every PayPal notification message. This can be sent to any email address, independent of the PayPal account email address.
• Have 'Completed' payments automatically posted to the player's information. Other payment notifications  must be handled manually.
• Optionally indicate that payments are allowed via credit cards without a PayPal account. This changes the buttons and information displayed so the player better understands their options.
• Currency used by PayPal.
• Online handling fee (fixed amount or percentage). PayPal may restrict whether this is allowed.
• Use of the PayPal sandbox for testing. Via PayPal you can create a test account and run transactions against this test server.
• With PayPal there were some integration issues and returning to pickleballtournaments.com. For this reason, PayPal is opened in a separate window for the user to complete their payment.

Bluepay

Bluepay is a credit card processing service. Compared to PayPal, you pay a monthly service fee to Bluepay with a very small transaction fee.

When the tournament is configured with BluePay for payments, you have the following options:

• Receive an email for every Bluepay notification message. This can be sent to any email address, independent of the Bluepay email address.
• Have 'Completed' payments automatically posted to the player's information. Other payment notifications  must be handled manually.
• Online handling fee (fixed amount or percentage). This is added to the amount due when passed to BluePay but recorded as a transaction fee cost in pickleballtournaments.com.
• Ability to mark transactions as 'TEST' transactions and run through the real account prior to going live.
• BluePay can be configured to send the customer a receipt and/or you a receipt for a tranaction independent of the notification email in pickelballtournaments.com
• The integration is tighter with BluePay. The online user is kept in the same window and when complete, they return to pickleballtournaments.com summary page where they started.

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Online Waivers

In your tournament configuration, you may provide your own specific 'Waiver' text; otherwise, a default waiver clause is used. "Waiver" must be set to Yes in the operating parameters, for this text to appear on the registration form.

When a player completes their registration, an online waiver option is also available. This is a tournament option.

The player must "sign" the waiver to check out. Once done, the player is not required to "sign" again if future changes are made to their registration.

NOTICE: ONLINE WAIVERS ARE NOT UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO VERIFY IF THEY ARE LEGAL IN YOUR AREA.

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Brackets

Throughout the registration period, you can monitor the events and event groupings. This can be done without actually creating what we'll refer to as "player brackets" or simply "brackets".

Maybe some terminology may be helpful:

• Event: A basic play item for the tournament, ie Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles, Mixed Doubles, etc.
• Play Bracket: A play group within a particular event, such as Men's Doubles 50-54 or Women's Doubles 3.0. Play brackets consist of the group of players/teams that will compete against each other to determine a winner.

When registration is closed, the following are the normal steps:

1. Final registration changes (matching partners, posting player lists)
2. Ratings verification
3. Initial Bracket creation: This places teams/players into the expected groupings for seeding purposes.
4. Seeding: placing teams in order according to their expected finish.
5. Bracket spliting: Some large tournaments split large groups to award a second set of medals.
6. First round checks so players don't immediately play players from their own club, state, or partner in another event.
7. Final Bracket drawing

Charts Supported

We currently support the following chart types:

• Single Elimination - up to 16 teams
• Double Elimination - up to 64 teams (top seed vs bottom seed)
• Double Elimination - up to 64 teams (top seed vs middle seed)
• Double Elimination w/drop-down and consolation for more than 14 teams
• Round Robin - up to 16 teams

Custom charts are available: Basically any chart where the winner and loser proceed to following matches can be configured. Currently not programmed to handle matches where a player is possible from two different preceeding matches.

Bracket Splitting

All bracket splitting is done after the initial seeding. The seed numbers determine which teams go into which brackets. Two options are cupported:

• Split into two smaller brackets - This divides an existing bracket into two smaller brackets for play. These brackets DO NOT merge back together for a single set of medals.
• Pool Brackets - This divides an existing bracket into multiple smaller brackets and optionally a winners bracket for the winners. You specify the number of pools, charts, and teams in the optional winners bracket. The seedings are spread across the pools evenly. Example: seed 1 in pool 1, seed 2 in pool 2, seed 3 in pool 3, etc... After playing the pools, a final seeding is done on the winners bracket to specify which teams play and in which position. The system DOES NOT automatically decide who flows from the pools to the winners bracket.

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Tournament Scheduling

For any tournament director, the largest challenges are:

1. For each day, will we get everything scheduled completed
2. How much time will each bracket take
3. When should each bracket start
4. Schedule so that once a bracket it starts, it has a good flow and players don't wait inordinate amounts of time between matches.

In the early days, many tournaments were run starting the oldest or youngest age groups and then proceeding through the day in the order of the age groups. This is fine if you have plenty of courts and the groups are relatively small. In today's larger tournaments, the middle age groups are typically your largest and if they aren't started first, they may never complete.

THIS SYSTEM DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY CREATE THE SCHEDULE.

WHAT IT DOES DO:

• During registration, you can continuously run reports of the teams in all events.
• During registration, you can get time estimates for each event and proposed brackets with daily court time totals. This gives you an estimate of the time required and potential schedule.
• After creating the brackets:
  • Event estimates based on the actual brackets. In many cases, brackets are merged or split for the tournament and estimates can now be made on the actual numbers in each bracket. In some cases round robin is played instead of double elimination, or other changes. These estimates are made using the actual play brackets and bracket layout.
  • Graphical representation of the day's play and estimates when each match will start given the event start times and and priority of events. Given parameters (match estimates times, start times, venue, number of courts), the system shows when each match will play, sometimes waiting for previous match results and reveals when each bracket will complete and eventually the day. You can experiment with different start times and court restrictions and view the results. At the end, you can apply the selected start times to the system tables for posting with the tournament schedule report.

AGAIN, THESE ARE ESTIMATES. IN ACTUAL TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE, OTHER ITEMS AFFECT HOW A TOURNAMENT FLOWS:

• Desk operations: scheduling and announcing of the next matches
• Length of match play: as play continues in a bracket, it typically gets more competitive and matches last longer.
• Rest breaks.

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Tournament Operation

If you have computers with internet and printers available at the actual play location, the following can be done:

• Player Check-In: Upon arrival each day, players check-in. Benefits:
  • Verification of player identity and birthdate
  • Collection of outstanding payments and waiver
  • Players are given tournament check-in items
  • Optionally told the court to report to if they are playing in a first round match.
  • Reports of players who did or did not check-in
• Event Desk: Event and match result entry
  • With Check-In desk, whether all players have checked-in.
  • Printing of match score sheets. The default score sheet format is with boxes rather than the USAPA format, but format files for the USAPA score sheets are provided and you can customize your score sheets if desired.
  • Recording of match scores and winners
• Court Desk: Court management
  • With Event desk, maintains current court assignments
• Displays
  • With the Event and Court Desks, this provides tournament information, including:
    • Current Court Assignments
    • Match Results
    • Upcoming matches
  • The displays are displayed using a PC connected to one or more monitors or TVs with the correct connections for the PC (VGA, HDMI, Video). Multiple displays may be used with the same or different information.

What equipment is required for a tournament?

• All PCs require web access. The system does not run standalone. Only the computer with the scoresheet printer is required to run Windows.
• A minimum of one PC with a printer for each venue event desk. This computer is required to be a Windows PC since it will run software to print the scoresheets. This is the only software installed. All other computers and operations only require a web browser. The printer prints all scoresheets for the tournament desk regardless of the computer used for entering the results. For a simple tournament with 4-6 courts, this computer and printer may be all that is required to enter results and print new scoresheets. This computer may be used for check-in prior to any match results, but the user could switch between windows to handle results and check-ins. Check-ins are not required to run the brackets. A player not checking-in will hold up match play.
• Optional: Additional PCs may be used for check-in so that it is independent of the computer entering results. After check-in's are completed, this may be used to enter results in addition to the first computer. The results will print on the same printer as the primary PC. For large tournaments with 16-20 courts, it may be adviseable to have 2 check-in computers to handle the busy first check-ins of the tournament.
• Optional: A PC for court assignments (Court Desk).
• Optional: A minimum of one PC for each set of displays (a set of displays is one or more monitors displaying the same information via a signal splitter).
• Optional equipment:
  • Barcode scanner for event desk and court desk computers.
  • Large format printer for 11x17 tabloid size paper for larger charts.
  • Battery backup in case of power failuer.
  • Wireless hot-spot for sharing wireless connection.

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Results

If not entered at the tournament, match results can be entered manually after the tournament.

For each play bracket, the system will automatically proceed through the bracket soliciting the following information:

• Match Winner
• How won: actual play, forfeit, or withdrawal
  • Actual play: the players play the match with a final score. The score(s) is entered from the viewpoint of the winner.
  • Forfeit: for whatever reason, one team failed to show or complete the match, possibily due to injury. Partial scores may be entered or nothing at all.
  • Withdrawal: if a team withdraws from the tournament, this marks a possible loser's match as a (bye).

Regardless of how the results are entered, the charts are redrawn to reflect the winners and scores and available on the web.

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Reports

A comprehensive set of reports are available and always being added to:

• Player reports
• General Player list
• Extended Player list with address, phone, events, payments
• Players paid in full
• Players by skill
• Players with membership info
• Players withdrawn from tournament
• Volunteer list

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Security

• Each tournament is separate from all other tournaments. Information is not shared between tournaments. (Separate locations on the server)
• Each user has a separate authorization for particular tournaments. For each user, they may have different authorizations for each tournament.
• Master Player Database where players maintain their personal information is separate from all tournaments. Their information is available to tournaments, if and only if, they have selected to have their information public.
• On tournament reports, only the necessary player information is displayed.
• Once a player has updated their profile with a password, this password must be supplied to view the information.

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Getting Started

• Gather all the information mentioned under Setup.
• If you had a tournament last year and this tournament is similar (basically the same events, waiver, and format); consider sending us an email and requesting us to 'clone' the tournament with the new date. For testing and teaching purposes, we can also create a complete copy of a tournament (it must be one you own).
• Click this button to create your tournament and user authorization.

  ---

  Click here to only advertise your tournament Click here to setup/access your tournament

  ---

  This will go thru a step-by-step basic tournament setup. It does not setup all the features, only for a basic tournament. All features are available thru the Tournament parameters once the tournament is created.

  IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS OR WANT US TO DO THE SETUP. WE WILL! JUST EMAIL A DRAFT REGISTRATION FORM AND FLYER AND WE'LL DO THE SETUP TO GET YOU STARTED.

  THE EMAIL ADDRESS IS: info@pickleballtournaments.com FOR HELP.

• After creating the tournament, sign-in and click Public Pages then (-->) Welcome Page (RegOpen) to view the tournament information page. Verify all the information. If anything needs to be corrected, use the Tournament --> EZsetup to change the information. You may also use the other Tournament selections to add/change the information.
• On your tournament information page, click the registration button and register for your tournament to verify the setup is correct.
• Read the steps under Documentation-->Player Registration to learn about manual registration procedures.
• When your tournament is open for registrations:
  • Monitor your registrations daily:
  • Use Log Files-->Player to view regisrtation activity
  • When payments/registration received view and update players
• When registrations are closed, follow the steps under Documentation-->Event Management to create your brackets and charts
• It is your responsibility for posting links about your tournament on other pickleball websites. This site is independent from all pickleball organizations. We do not automatically post any information on their sites. For posting you may use the following:
  • http://www.pickleballtournaments.com - the general address for this site
  • http://www.pickleballtournaments.com/welcome.pl?tid=n - your tournament specific information page where "n" is your tournament id.
  • http://www.pickleballtournaments.com/welcome.pl?name=short - same as above but "short" is the abbreviation name for your tournament.

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Importing Data

For large tournaments that have their own registration and payment system, we can do a data transfer of information. This allows them to handle registrations and then PickleballTournaments.com can be used for management of the tournament. After the registration deadline and the information has been corrected as much as possible, the information is loaded into the tournament on this website and control proceeds from there (seeding, partner changes, creating brackets, and running the tournament). There is no transfer back, but all results are available via this website and the user's main website may link to the result pages in this website. Any changes to the player's information or events on the PickleballTournaments.com website have to be reported manually back to the source system.

Transferring the information is via two Excel spreadsheets: 1) player personal information, and 2) event information.

For the player information, we can accept the following basic information as one row per player:

External ID - identification id (your player id)
Last Name - last name
First Name - first name (Nick name may be included in this field if encompassed by parenthesis, ie "Michael (Mike)".
Middle - middle name
Nickname - nick name
Birthdate - birthdate as mm/dd/yyyy
Sex - Either M,F,Male,Female
Age - Player's age (normally recalc’d from birthdate and tournament age date)
Club - Player's club name
Email - players email address
Address1 - primary address l line 1
Address2
City - primary city
State - primary state abbreviation
Country - country name
Zipcode - postal code
Phone - phone number
Alt.Phone - alternate phone
Emergency Contact - contact name
Emergency Phone - contact phone
Skill - skill level:

Alt Addr - alternate address line 1
Alt Addr2
Addl City - alternate city
Addl State - alternate address state code
Addl Country - alternate address city
Addl Zip - alternate address postal code
Member Number - USAPA member number

For the event information (1 row per player event entry):

External ID #1 - ID of player or first player in a doubles event
External ID #2 - ID of second player in a doubles event

Event identified by one of the following:
    Event ID  - tournament event id number
    Event Code - event code abbr
    Event Name - A specified name which is mapped to a tournament event.

Skill Level - specific skill level for the entry
Age Group - specific age group (must be a valid age group for the event)

For the player information, the system needs at least the name, birthdate, sex, member number, phone, and email address. We do not need the full address, but the city, state, and/or club is helpful for identification to better identify players.

We request a test of the transfer before the actual deadline using actual sample files. You email the files to us, we setup the import file specifications, and then will actually do the import for you. When the final data is ready, we will also help you do it. For management purposes, it's usually easier to do a single import with all the information. Partial updates are problematic if updates apply to an existing player.

For more information, please contact us at info@pickleballtournaments.com

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Usage Hints

• Use the buttons on the page, not your browser buttons. The Back button may be used if no changes were made, but to avoid confusion, use the buttons provieded.
• To save any changes, you must use the buttons on the page ("Save", "Make Changes", etc)
• When printing, it is best to preview items first. The portions of the screen are "frames" and must of the time you do not wish to print the banner and table of contents. Use your "Print Preview" option and selected the correct frame, or right-click on the main window and use the options to print only the frame.
• To work with a selection outside the main window, right click on the selection and select "View in a New Window". This is sometimes helpful to view two things at once.
• Although you can open selections in new windows, saving the internal page addresses will not work in favorites/bookmarks. For security purposes, you must be signed into the system and they must be displayed by clicking from the table of contents
• When emails are sent to players via the system, they are not via your personal internet provider and will not appear in your personal "Outbox" or "Sent Items", but they will have your email address as the "From" address. For security, all emails are sent separately to each player. The system does not support sending attachments. If email logging is enabled, a log of every email is maintained for future reference.

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Wireless Usage

Since this is an internet based system, there are many questions regarding performance and costs over wireless connections. Here are hopefully some answers to the common questions:

Q) How is the performance over a wireless connection such as AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc...?

A) There is no definite answer to this. Every location is different based on the service and location of local towers. You must do your own tests to verify performance.  This system was developed as a light weight service with minimal graphics and overhead. We've actually been critized for this but when you're busy checking players in or entering results, you want performance, not glitz. The realtime court displays have added to this, if used.

Q) Do I need a wireless connection for every computer?

A) Every computer must have a web connection, BUT, there are options available such as Verizon's MIFI , Cradlepoint routers that allow you to share a single wireless connection, smart phones that provide a hotspot, and more. Now, just as there are pay-as-you-go phones, there are pay-as-you-go internet hot spots. You can buy a WIFI hotspot for under $100 with 'x' amount of data and no monthly contract. If you need more data, you pay for it, but again no monthly contract.

Q) Are the computers restricted to their functions?

A) No. Any computer can be used for check-in or even desk management. If you have two computers, both can be used for check-in during the busy early rush and when matches complete, one can be used for result entry. If there is a rush in matches completing, both computers can be used to enter results. The printer is connected to only the computer with the print spooler and prints results and new sheets from all computers at the venue, not just the computer it is connected to. Results are entered on the web; the spooler program runs behind the scenes on the one computer checking for new results and prints the information posted regardless of it's source.

Q) How much is the data usage?

A) Tournament Info below:

At the 2012 4 day Grand Canyon State Games, here's the daily data usage (this was four computers using a single wireless connection for check-in and event desk operations):

From 2014 Happy Trails Classic (check-in, event desk, court desk, 2 displays, plus support computer:

From 2014 Grand Canyon State Games (2-check-in, 1-event desk, 1-court desk, 2 displays driven by 1 computer:

A) At the 2013 Happy Trails Classic, with four laptops (event desk, court desk, 2 check-in desks), plus a computer handling the tournament display, the average daily usage was 400MB. This is expected since the tournament display is constanting updating  about every 30 seconds during the day with the current court assignments and information. This refresh rate can be controlled by you. This is not a required feature. The new court desk also refreshes every minute, this can also be controlled.

A) At the recent 2013 Grand Canyon State Games, with four computers (check-in, event desk, court desk, and court display), the four days used less than 400MB of data. This included printing charts for the next day. We did slow down the refresh time on the court display to about 60 seconds, but included the court waiting list.

Q) Were there any problems with the wireless connection?

A) Everyday we had a few wireless drop-outs and the router automatically re-established the connection. This resulted in about a 30 second delay but no lost information. Even for the event desk printing new scoresheets, if we patiently waited the information would be updated and new score sheets printed. We carefully verified that every result entered produced a posting sheet and the correct new scoresheets. Nothing was lost.

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Hardware Recommendations

Computer

• Relatively new laptops. With old donated computers, it simply becomes a horsepower issue dealing with the latest browsers. Also there are compatibility issues with WIFI and wireless connections. I've used a 15 year old computer for running TV displays and it works fine; except, it takes about 5 minutes to boot up and get running.
• Laptops
  • Pros
    • Have battery and stay up during a power failure, but remember your printers and other equipment might go down.
    • Small and more portable
  • Cons
    • Expandability
    • Repairs
• Desktops
  • More options and expandable in the future
  • Bulky and require a separate keyboard and monitor
• Tablets
  • Usable but cost
  • Outdoor usage limited due to glare and heat
• At least a 15 inch display. This rules our small notebooks.
• Mouse.
• Enough USB ports for: mouse, scanner, printer, etc. You can purchase USB hubs to add connections.
• VGA or HDMI monitor output for connection to TV for display. Other connection options are possible.

Internet Browser

• We test first with Mozilla Firefox, then check compatibility with Internet Explorer, Safari, and Chrome.

Printer

• Something simple and reliable.
  • Ease to load paper and view status.  On some printers it may be better to print landscape rather than portrait for loading paper.
  • Ease to retrieve 1/2 sheets after printed.
• Speed is not the critical issue, it's simplicity.
• Laser vs Inkjet
  • Laser
    • The ink won't smear
    • Cartridges last longer and don't dry out
    • Cartridge is more expensive
    • Usually have a paper tray for letter size paper and more difficult to load and monitor
    • Require more power
  • Inkjet
    • Slower
    • Cheaper
    • Ink can smear especially when wet
• Historical usage:
  • HP 1000.
    •  Cost around $30,
    • but cartridges run almost as much a new printer. You may use a XL cartridge a day and should always have an extra on hand.
    • Easy to load paper and monitor.
  • Other HP inkjets
    • Some have paper loading issues with 1/2 sheets.
    • Some you almost have to reach down into the printer to retrieve a printed scoresheet (1/2 page)

Internet Connection

• In all cases, realiability is the main factor.
  • You MUST test any option for it's performance and realibility. More than a few minutes and at the location.
  • Setup and test before the day of the tournament.
  • Don't assume anything. Test the exact equipment and connection.
• Local LAN or DSL
  • Pros
    • Usually more reliable and faster
    • If available, no cost (hopefully)
    • Cables to computers with fewer connectivity issues
  • Cons
    • Computers require LAN connection
    • Usually not available at the courts
    • Cabling to desk location
    • Might be behind a router with Internet restrictions
• Local WIFI
  • Pros
    • No cables
  • Cons
    • Distance and signal strength
    • Interference between source and computer. This can be caused by people, equipment, cars, buildings, etc.
    • WIFI setup on computers
• Wireless - which provider depends on which carriers are availble at your location.
  • Pros
    • Usable almost anywhere you have cell phone connections
    • With the right equipment, it can provide a WIFI hotspot
  • Cons
    • Cost; but coming down. You can buy a hotspot for under $100 and buy usage by the day or month.
    • With most providers, you may lose your connection over a long period. You must be familiar enough to reset the connection.
  • Historical Usage
    • Verizon MIFI
      • Generally works
      • Limited range
      • Sensitive to interference (people, etc)
    • Virgin Mobile hotspot
      • Initial setup not quite clear for a first time user.
      • Worked well
      • Paid by the 24 hour period ($5/24 hours and data limit).
      • They do have a monthly period
    • Cradlepoint
      • Cradlepoint routers with ATT/Verizon USB connection Flexible and reliable.
      • Can be used with different providers and independent of computer
      • Can get a router that can use WIFI, LAN, or Wireless as the internet source and then provide LAN and WIFI hotspot.
      • With multiple wireless connections, it can provide automatic fail-over More expensive
    • 3G/4G/4G-LTE
      • This depends on your coverage area. 4G/4G-LTE may be faster but if you're in a fringe area, 3G may be more realiable. Set your hotspot to use 3G if in a fringe area to prevent 4G searching and dropping connections.

Barcode Scanner

• USB connection - work as alternate keyboard on Windows
• Code 3 or 9 capability (usually standard) - this is the barcode font provided for the print spooler
• Autoscan capability for not having to press the trigger
• Most wands come with a setup book for configuring the functions. DON'T LOSE THE BOOK.
• History:
  • From Amazon: search for USB Barcode scanners.
    • I've been happy with the ESKY handheld models.
      
    • Not quite so happy with some CCD models. They seem to require a larger barcode which can be adjusted via the font size in the print spooler.
    • Some come with flexible stands
    • Some have autoscan capability
    • Cheap: around $30.
    • Generally work out of the box. (note: check the exact equipment configuration and use the latest USB keyboard drivers. We've had some scanners work great on Windows 7 but the same scanner on "some" Windows 8 machines not work consistently)

TV Monitor

• At least 36 inch display
• LED for visibility outdoors.
• Even with LED, some shade for the screen to reduce glare.
• PC connection: Must match PC being used for billboard display.

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