Help/ Tournaments & Brackets

Tournaments & Brackets

How are tournaments structured?

A tournament event contains one or more divisions(e.g., Men's 4.0, Women's 3.5, Mixed Open). Each division has its own format, participants, and bracket. The typical flow is: registration → pool play → elimination bracket → finals.

What tournament formats are supported?

• Round Robin — Everyone plays everyone in their pool. Final standings based on wins, point differential, and head-to-head.
• Single Elimination — Lose once and you are out. Bracket seeded from pool standings.
• Round Robin to Elimination — Pool play first, then top finishers advance to a single elimination bracket. This is the most common format.
• Double Elimination — Winners and losers brackets (coming soon).

What is pool play?

Pools are small groups (typically 3-6 teams) that play round-robin within their group. Admins generate pools after registration closes. Participants are distributed via snake-draft seeding so pools are as balanced as possible. Each pool plays a full round-robin schedule.

How are pool standings calculated?

Teams are ranked within their pool by:

1. Total wins (most wins first)
2. Point differential (total points scored minus total points allowed)
3. Head-to-head record between tied teams

How does the elimination bracket work?

After pool play, the top finishers from each pool (configurable: top 1, 2, or more) advance to the bracket. The bracket is seeded by cross-pool ranking (1st place finishers seeded highest, then 2nd place, etc.) and padded to the next power of 2 with byes.

Winners automatically advance to the next round. A bronze medal match is created for the two semifinal losers when the bracket has 4+ teams.

How do I submit a score?

After your match, go to the match page and enter your game scores (e.g., 11-9, 11-7). The system validates scores against the tournament's scoring rules (best of 3, rally scoring, win by 2, etc.). Your opponent or an admin then confirms the score.

What if there is a score dispute?

If the opponent disputes the score, a club admin can use Admin Completeto override the score and set the correct winner. Only admins/owners of the club can force-complete a match.

What scoring formats are supported?

Scoring is flexible and configured per division. Common setups include:

• Pickleball Standard — Best of 3 games to 11, win by 2, rally scoring.
• Single game — One game to 15 or 21.
• Custom — Configure points to win, best-of count, rally scoring, and point cap.

Can courts be assigned to matches?

Yes. Admins assign courts (resources) to a division with time windows. The system rotates court assignments across pool matches. Scores can only be submitted for matches that have a court assigned.

What is a forfeit?

If a team does not show up, the admin or opponent can submit a forfeit score (any negative game score indicates a forfeit). The present team wins automatically.

Can spectators view brackets and scores?

Yes. The bracket view, pool standings, and match scores are all publicly accessible without signing in. Share the event link for live bracket updates.

What is DUPR integration?

For pickleball tournaments, divisions can be flagged as DUPR-recorded. When enabled, completed matches are automatically submitted to DUPR so they count toward players' official ratings.

Singles vs Doubles vs MLP

Each division sets a team size:

• 1 — Singles (individual players).
• 2 — Doubles (two-person teams registered with a team code).
• 4 — MLP / quad format (four-person teams).