MY TOURNAMENTS | How to setup and manage tournaments

Tenniscall gives you the ability to setup a tennis group and add a tennis tournament to it (see MY TOURNAMENTS).

The main features of tenniscall group/tournaments are:

invite tenniscall users to join the competition (friends or new people);
manage group/tournaments from min. 4 to max. 64 players;
the tournament has a shoot-out format (the winner moves on to the next round, the loser is out, same as in a regular tennis tournament in the ATP circuit);
every group/tournament gets a page on tenniscall where users can view the draw and matches online in real time;
match updates feeds (the system automatically sends push notification or emails to all players when a match is completed);
the group founder can give admin access to selected users and work together with admins to manage the group;
founder / admin users can fully manage the group: edit the group's info, photos and contact details, add/remove users, configure tournament settings, etc.
founder / admin users can input the score of tournament matches (without score validation from players);
founder / admin users can opt out from active play (in this case, just act as event organizers);
all group users get access to a the tournament group-chat (similar to WhatsApp group chat: post messages, use mentions, upload photos/videos, use emojis, etc.). Group chat is used to quickly broadcast announcements addressed to all group players (ie. info regarding the tournament, etc.).

Tennicall groups don't entail any obligation whatsoever (players can leave the group any time; founder can terminate the group any time).

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

SCHEDULING A TOURNAMENT

Founder / admin can add a tournament to the group by switching ON the tournament_status toggle. When the tournament is turned ON, founder/admin can define the tournament-settings:

you_play_the_league (admin choses whether to play matches or not; in this latter case, user will just act as event organizer);
allow_users_post_score (admin choses whether to let players post the score of their matches or restrict this function to admins only);
match_type (at this time, only Singles matches are supported);
score_type (Timed Game, 1 set per match, 3 sets per match with a 3rd set long tie-break, etc.);
draw_type (at this time, only Automatic draw is supported);
NOTE: this means that seeds are chosen automatically by the system based on the players' tenniscall global ranking. The participant with the highest ranking will get the seed_1, the second highest will get seed_2 and so on.
draw_date (when the draw gets generated);
tournament_start_date (when tournament gets started);
tournament_end_date (when the tournament ends);
membership_fee (either free or paid with admission fee);
NOTE: if you are a professional event organizer, you may want to charge something. In this case, you've got to turn on membership_fee toggle and set the amount to be paid for playing your competition (and currency). Please mind that tenniscall does not offer payment system integration yet, so you'll have to collect admission fee through other channels (cash, paypal, etc.);
players_requirement (this is the min/max number of players required for the tournament to get started; for example, some organizers may want to run a tournament only if a minimum number of players is reached. When the max number is reached, founder/admin cannot add new users to the group).

When the tournament_status toggle is turned ON, your tournament status will appear as SCHEDULED so that other users in your city may see it and request to join, if interested.

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

DRAW GETTING PUBLISHED

On the draw_date, one of these events occurs:

tournament draw gets automatically created (automatic draw system) and then published in the tennis group's webpage. The tournament status gets changed from SCHEDULED to DRAW PUBLISHED. The draw is visible to any internet user if group_type is public, or visible only to group members if group_type is private. At this stage, tennis challenges are not yet created in the system so that players aren't able to challenge each other yet;
tournament gets cancelled if the group has NOT reached the minimum players requirement (group members will receive a notification).

When a tournament draw is published, founder/admin users cannot add nor remove players from the group any longer (the group gets locked).

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

TOURNAMENT GETTING STARTED

On the start_date, the tournament gets started, group members receive a notification, tennis challenges are automatically generated and added to the players' user accounts in the SCHEDULED CHALLENGES page. The tournament status changes from DRAW PUBLISHED to IN PROGRESS.

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

ENTERING MATCH SCORE IN THE SYSTEM

When a tournament is IN PROGRESS, players can send a challenge request to their opponent, meet on court and input the score of the match in the app after play. They can do this independently through the app (send challenge, accept challenge, enter match score, validate match score). Players should play their pending matches before the tournament_end_date.

IMPORTANT: the founder/admin user can enter the match score on behalf of players at any time. This turns out to be useful when players are not familiar with smartphones and are not able to use the tenniscall app properly.

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

POINTS, DRAW AND TOURNAMENT WINNER

Players get points for every tournament match played. Match winners get more points than losers and move on to the next round in the tournament draw. Points are adjusted based on the actual score so that a player losing a match 6-7 will get more points than a player losing a match 0-6. This is calculated automatically by the tenniscall algorithm.

The winner of the tournament is the player who wins the Final match.

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

PLAYER WITHDRAWING, CANCELLING, DECLINING A MATCH

The player who cancels, declines or withdraws from a tournament match automatically loses the match and gets 0 "tenniscall" points. The opponent player wins the match by walk-over (score: W.O.) and automatically moves on to the next round (but won't get any "tenniscall" points either since the match wasn't played).

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

PLAYER LEAVING THE GROUP

If any player abandons the group after the tournament draw is published (status = DRAW PUBLISHED), then the player automatically loses the match not yet played and gets 0 "tenniscall" points. The opponent player wins the match by walk-over (score: W.O.) and automatically moves on to the next round (but won't get any "tenniscall" points either since the match wasn't played).

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

PAUSING / RESTARTING THE TOURNAMENT

Founder/admin users can pause and restart the tournament at any time by switching the tournament_status toggle to ON or OFF after the tournament_start_date. This is useful in case players need to take a break due to holidays, health emergencies, etc.

When a tournament is paused, pending challenges will be temporarily removed from the players' user account (they won't be able to take any actions like sending challenges, entering match score, etc.). Pending challenges will reappear in the user's dashboard when the tournament is restarted.

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

POSTPONING THE END DATE

While the tournament is IN PROGRESS, founder/admin users can still change the tournament's end_date. This is useful in case players need more time to complete their matches and finish the competition.

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

TERMINATING GROUP WHILE TOURNAMENT IS IN PROGRESS

If the group founder terminates the group while a tournament is IN PROGRESS, all pending matches will be terminated as well and players won't be able to finish the competition. The incomplete draw becomes final at the moment the group is terminated. Group termination is permanent and cannot be reversed.

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.

TOURNAMENT COMPLETED

A tennis tournament ends when one of these two events occur:

all matches are played and score is validated (by user or group admin) before the tournament_end_date;
when a tournament expires upon tournament_end_date (some matches are still pending);
NOTE: in this case, pending matches will be automatically closed, players of closed challenges get no "tenniscall" points and the tournament ends as incomplete.

When a tournament is completed, the draw becomes final and the winner of the competition is the player who won the Final match (tournament finished) or the player(s) who reached the furthest round (tournament incomplete). Test. The group/tournament status changes to ENDED and a new red color ENDED label is displayed on the group/tournament page.

Click here to setup a tennis tournament.