Tournament Robin Robin Scheduler

The following is for Brackets FULL-VERSION tournaments.

Once you have your tournament groups, venue/slots and divisions added, our Tournament Round Robin Scheduler is a convenient way to create your game matchups. Simply knowing the number of teams you anticipate in each group will allow you to generate a tentative schedule months in advance of your tournament start date. The scheduler does not need teams in Brackets to build a tentative schedule.

Not only will our scheduler create the round robin games, it can add 1/4 final, semi-final and championship games.

Our round robin builder does not schedule all of the groups at the same time - you must schedule one group at a time.

To get started, in Brackets, navigate to Schedules—>Manage Games

Choose your first group
Important! Confirm you have the correct number of Pools. In the example above, only 1 pool is being used (Pool A)
Click the Bulk Options button at the top-right of the page - then click Round Robin Builder. A window will open.

# of Teams & Divisions. Choose the format of your group.

The drop-down item you choose must match the number of Pools you have setup. For this group U11A we have setup only one Pool A. This means our options are for 4, 5, 6 or 7 teams.

(if you need to add more Pools for the group, return to the Divisions & Settings page and add additional pools. Then return here and continue)

Some will have multiple options. For example, 13 teams..

13 teams, 2 pools (6 teams in Pool A, 7 teams in Pool B) 4 round robin games for each team. OR

13 teams, 3 pools (4 teams in Pool A, 4 teams in Pool B, 5 teams in Pool C) 4 round robin games for each team

Another example, 20 teams

20 teams, 4 pools (5 teams in Pool A, B, C & D) 4 round robin games for each team. OR

20 teams, 5 pools (4 teams in Pool A, B, C, D & E) 3 or 4 round robin games for each team (you choose)

# of Round Robin Games. This is determined by the format you chose in #1. Sometimes you may have the option to choose 3, 4 or 5 games.
Will there be quarter-final games? Yes/No. If yes, the scheduler will create 4 games, QF1, QF2, QF3 and QF4.
Will there be semi-final games? Yes/No. If yes, the scheduler will create 2 games, SF1, SF2
Will there be a final games? Yes/No. If yes, the scheduler will create 1 game, F
Date of Final Game. Enter the date of the championship game for this group.

In most cases, if you are running semi-finals and a final, the scheduler will place the 3 games on the date you just entered in step 6. The semi-finals in the morning and the final in the afternoon.

If you are running a 3-game guarantee for your round robin, the scheduler will place 1 game for each team on Friday and two games for each team on Saturday. If you are running a 4-game guarantee for your round robin, the scheduler will place 2 games for each team on Friday and two games for each team on Saturday.

Game Slot Duration. How much ice/field/floor time do you require to play the game+ice resurfacing/field change over? The default time is set on the divisions & settings page.
Venue #1. Select your first venue where the games will be scheduled.
Venue #2. Select your second venue where the games will be scheduled.

The scheduler will only place the tentative games on a maximum of two venues (even though you will be using more venues). Once the scheduler creates the matchups, you will be able to adjust the date/time/venue to match your requirements.

Tip. Create two extra venues called Temp 1 and Temp 2. Select these venues in your drop-downs. After the games are created, move the games to the correct venues. Delete Temp 1 and Temp 2 when you are done scheduling.

Offset Venue #2 Start Times By. If you have two venues and you want the start times staggered, you can offset the start time by 15 or 30 minutes.
Max Daily Round Robin Games Per Team. How many games (round-robin) can a team play in one day? 2 or 3? If two, the scheduler will place them at 10am and 4pm. If 3, the scheduler will place them at 9am 1pm and 5pm. Once the matchups are created, you can move the games to specific times.
Start Hour Offset From Standard Times. You can add or subtract 1 or two hours from the start time used in Step 11. For example, -2 will schedule the start times two hours earlier, 8am and 2pm. Or +1 will schedule the start time as 9am and 5pm.
Insert and Close, repeat for next group.

Tip: For most tournaments...younger teams will play early in the morning, while older teams will play in the later games of the day. Use the Round Robin builder for the group starting first, then use the venue utilization tool to move all of the games to the exact start time and venue. Repeat the process for your next older group until all of your groups are scheduled.

Example:

Below is an example schedule for 6 teams playing in one Pool (Pool A) with 4 round-robin games for each team.

The tentative schedule will look like below.

6 games round robin games scheduled for Friday, 6 games round robin games scheduled for Saturday and 3 games on Sunday for the semi-final and championship game.

The example below is the same scheduled games but using the Venue Utilization tool. Schedules—>Manage Games—> Venue Utilization

The 6 games visible are schedule for the Friday and have been placed on the Temp 1 and Temp 2 venues. Clicking the date tab at the top of the page will advance to Saturday or Sunday.

Click and hold your mouse on a game will allow you to drag a game to a different venue and or time. Release the mouse Click and hold to drop the game to the correct slot.

Adding your scheduling slots is a tremendous visual aid (not shown in this example)

To move a game from one day to another, drag the game over the date tab and release. The game will be moved to the same venue and scheduled at 6am. (you will need to adjust the start time)

Below is an example of the games added moved from the TEMP venues to the actual venues

Below is completed schedule on the venue utilization page. Each colour represents a different group. The green vertical bars represent the schedule slot booked at the venue(s).