How to Manage Courts for Your Tournament Schedule

Court management can make or break your tournament’s success. Whether you're working around maintenance, planning for accessibility, or assigning brackets to specific courts, having a smart strategy ensures smooth scheduling and a better experience for players and staff alike.

Here’s how to effectively manage courts using tournament software.

1. Set Up Your Courts

Start by going to Manage Location Courts in your tournament dashboard. Enter the total number of courts available and click Add Courts.

You can:

• Reorder courts to match your facility layout.

• Rename them for clarity (e.g., “Court A” or “Center Court”).

This helps everyone — staff, players, and referees — stay oriented throughout the event.

2. Temporarily Exclude Courts

Got maintenance, weather delays, or other issues? Instead of deleting courts, exclude them temporarily:

• Select the court.

• Choose the date/time it’s unavailable.

• The court will appear grayed out with a blue indicator.

You can re-enable these courts at any time — perfect for last-minute adjustments.

3. Designate Wheelchair-Accessible Courts

If your event includes wheelchair brackets, mark which courts are accessible. This ensures proper scheduling and supports inclusivity.

4. Assign Brackets to Specific Courts

To keep certain brackets on specific courts (due to skill level, stream quality, etc.):

• Go to Manage Location Court Counts and Start Times.

• Uncheck all courts, then select only the courts you'd like a bracket to use.

For example: You may want a 4.0 Women’s Doubles bracket to only use Courts 14, 16, and 17.

This level of control is ideal for organizing round robins, limiting play to high-quality courts, or managing court wear.

5. Exclude Courts from Specific Brackets

If a court is in poor condition but still usable, you can exclude it from high-level brackets only, keeping it available for less competitive divisions. This improves fairness and protects your schedule from potential delays or complaints.

6. Simulate and Fine-Tune the Schedule

Once courts and brackets are assigned, use the simulator to preview how your settings affect the schedule:

• Click Save This Day to lock in your settings.

• View the proposed schedule and look for:

  • Bottlenecks (too many matches at once)

  • Gaps (underused courts)

  • Start time tweaks (e.g., delay a bracket until courts are freed up)

Adjust court usage and start times as needed to maximize efficiency.

7. Best Practices

• ✅ Save every change.

• ✅ Use exclusion instead of deletion for flexibility.

• ✅ Communicate court assignments clearly to staff and players.

• ✅ Review training materials if you're new to the simulator.

Final Thoughts

Managing courts effectively keeps your tournament on track, players happy, and staff informed. With the right setup, clear bracket-to-court assignments, and strategic use of the simulator, you’ll be able to deliver a smooth, professional event experience.

Need a visual walkthrough or in-depth demo? Check out the court management training video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onrm838UXGA