Create a tournament in a few simple steps

Learn how you create a tournament complete with brackets, fields, teams or players, and how you report and share results. Here’s a quick rundown of how to get started.

Get the tournament creator app

First, you need the app to create your own tournament.  Get it for Android or iOS and for phones or tablets.
You can start using the app right away - and it's free.

If you're scheduling a big event with many teams, consider connecting a keyboard to your android tablet or your iPad.

Create a tournament

1. Open the menu, and tap Create Event.  An event can contain one or many tournaments such as junior or senior tournaments.
2. Type the name of the event, and specify the date and time. If you don’t have the exact time or date yet, that’s OK. You can always change it later.
3. Add information about the event organizer. That’s actually just an email address. It's probably your own address, unless you want somebody else to organize the event.
4. Tap Create. 

An event with one tournament and one field is created as standard, and a password is sent to the event organizer. You need the password to be able to make changes to the event. So save the email. Also, if you don't receive the email, remember to check your spam filter.

Note: We use the email to send you a unique event ID and PIN code.  Important system information or changes can also be sent to you.  We do not share your email with anyone and we will not send you newsletters.

Login to a sports event

1. On the Admin login page  tap Log in, and then type the password and the event ID. Now you're ready to plan the rest of the event or tournament.

• Tap the right arrow > next to the name of your event.
• Your event always starts in Plan status. When the first result is reported it will change to Live, which disables automatic re-scheduling. If you resent the status to Plan all reported results will be deleted. 
• If you enable Visibility, the event is visible to everyone. If you don't make is visible, you can always share the event id using the Share function.
• You can also change the PIN for reporting results.

Add fields, pitches, or courts

A field in the instantLIGA app corresponds to an arena, a console, a board, a table and so on. Same thing – different names.

1. From the tournament home screen tap Fields. One field was added automatically when you created the event, but you probably want to change the name.
2. Tap the plus + icon and add a new field. 
3. Type the name of the field. You can also add a description of where the field is located.
4. Tap more to enter the minimum number of minutes between games on this field.
5. Add as many fields as you need.

When you generate the match schedule, a field is added automatically to each match, so that’s not something you have to worry about.

You can always come back and add more fields or change the names later.

Create a tournament

An event can consist of one or more tournaments.

One tournament is added by default. You probably want to rename it and change the settings.

You need to select the type of tournament you are going to create. The following types are currently supported.

• Round Robin tournament:
  

  All teams play against all other teams 1 or more times. When relevant, home and away matches are distributed evenly to the extent that it's possible. As standard a win gives 3 points and a draw 1 point, but you can adjust the points.

• Knockout tournament:

  The winner of each match continues in the tournament. Just like the FA cup, the DFB-Pokal  or Wimbledon. The loser is out – or continues in a consolation tournament. (In kids’ events, this is often a good solution).  You can also add a bronze match, but, again, it's optional.

• Multi-stage or combined league tournament:
  

  Also known as a multi-stage tournament. This is a combination of groups playing round robin followed by a play-off tournament. Here, you also have the option of creating a consolation tournament called B Play-off.

Multi-select the fields which a given tournament can be played on.  The matches will be distributed on the fields for you.

When scheduling all the matches, the total length of a match is used.  This is the total time including breaks and all periods.  If your sport does not have  a fixed match length you can make an estimated guess.

Add tournament teams or players

Add the names of all the teams to each tournament. If it's a single player tournament such as a chess or tennis tournament, add the names of the players instead.  Consider changing the tournament details if there are too many matches per team - or too few. 

Generate and view match schedule or plan

Tap Matches to see the match plan. Tap Overview at the bottom of the screem to get a graphical overview of the tournament plan.

You can see the progress in the planning of the tournament and event as each team is added.