Running a Tournament on VBallScore

Before you begin

1. Go to vballscore.com on a phone, tablet, or computer. A tablet or laptop is easiest for setup; your phone is fine on game day.
2. Sign in. Tap the circle in the top-right corner and choose Sign in. The simplest method is email — you'll get a link in your inbox; tapping it signs you in. No password to remember.
3. You need director permission to create a tournament. If you don't have it yet, the app will show you a short request form — someone at VBallScore approves it, usually the same day.

1 Open the Director Dashboard

1. From the home screen, tap the Tournaments tile ("New or Existing").
2. Tap + Start a new tournament at the top-left.
3. You land on your new tournament's Manage tab, on step Info. This is the Director Dashboard.

Two rows of navigation sit at the top, and it's worth understanding them before you go further:

• The tab row (Manage · Map · Pool · Active Match · Playoff Bracket · People) — Manage is yours; the rest are what players and spectators see. They stay greyed out and say "Unlocks after you publish" until you publish. That's normal.
• The step row (Info → Teams → Pools → Courts → Layout → Schedule → Publish) — your setup checklist. A step turns green with a ✓ when it's complete. You can jump between steps freely; you don't have to go in order, though the order below is the path of least resistance.

Courts shows a ✓ once you've set your real courts — the two placeholders ("1" and "2") don't count.

2 Info — name it and set the rules

Fill this in top to bottom. Nothing saves to a separate button — each field saves as you leave it.

Staff & Roster (same screen, below the form)

Assistants are co-directors. Add them by email or @handle and they get the same Manage powers you have — use this for your desk staff. Add them now if you have them.

3 Teams — upload people, then pair them up

You upload players, not teams. Every row in your file becomes a person in the tournament; teams are formed afterwards, in the app, with your approval. Nothing in a file is ever rejected — problems become flagged to-dos you can fix on screen.

The fast way — one file

1. Tap Import (the gold button at the top of the Teams step) and choose your registration spreadsheet, saved as CSV. There's a template to download right on the sheet.
2. The app shows a review table of every row — what's new, what updates, and anything it needs you to look at. Nothing is saved until you apply.
3. Everyone lands in the Unpaired players pool, grouped by their team label — "Alvarez / Nakamura (2)", "Wave 16 (12)".
4. Tap "Create teams from all matched groups" — one tap turns every complete pair into a team, named from its label. Groups with too many or too few players are skipped and listed so you can sort them out.

Your file needs a header row, one row per player:

• Email is who the player is — it links their account so they can check themselves in and get your messages. A junior with no email uses their Parent Email instead.
• Partner Email is who they want to play with. When two players name each other, the app proposes the team and you approve it — per pair, or Approve all in one tap. One-sided or conflicting requests are flagged, never guessed.
• Team is just a label that groups people in the pool. It never creates a team by itself.
• Division is optional — unmatched names get a mapping dropdown at review, never silently dropped.
• Extra columns (phone, birth year, CBVA #) are ignored, not an error.
• Re-uploading the same file is safe — it updates people in place and never breaks up a team you've made.

Fixing things afterwards

Every player has a ✎ edit — name, email, parent emails, division, label, partner request — whether they're in the pool or on a team. Check-in and waiver records follow the player through any edit. Removing a team returns its players to the pool; nothing is lost.

4 Pools — split the teams up

1. Tap the Pools step. If you have multiple divisions, pick the division you're working on first.
2. Either drag teams into pools by hand, or use auto-assign to spread them evenly.
3. Every team must land in a pool, and each pool needs at least 2 teams, or the step won't go green.

5 Courts — name what you actually have

1. Tap the Courts step. You'll find two placeholder courts named 1 and 2.
2. Rename them to match your venue signage — Court 1…Court 20, or names players will hear over the PA, like North 3.
3. Add or remove courts until the list matches reality. The schedule generator uses this list, so getting it right here saves you a reprint.
4. Optionally mark a championship court with the star — the bracket final gets assigned there.

6 Layout — show players where to go (optional)

This step is a convenience, not a requirement. It never blocks publishing, and there's a Skip if you don't want it.

Two ways to do it:

• Upload a court map — if your venue already has a site map or you can photograph the sign, upload the image and it becomes the layout players see. Easiest option, and it carries anything already drawn on it (restrooms, the tournament desk, parking).
• Place courts on the satellite map — position each court on the aerial view of your venue so players can see which patch of sand is Court 7.

7 Schedule — let the app build it

1. Tap the Schedule step.
2. First match — the time play starts.
3. Minutes / match — how long you're allotting each match, including changeover. 30 is a typical beach slot.
4. Rotate courts between rounds — see below.
5. Tap Regenerate schedule. The app builds every pool match across your courts and time slots, and shows you the grid.
6. Tap Print schedule for a clean printable page to post at the desk. It contains no private links — safe to hand out or pin to a board.

What "Rotate courts between rounds" does

Either way the matchups and the times are identical — this only decides which court each match lands on. The generator also tries to avoid making a team play two slots back to back.

8 Publish — go live

1. Tap the Publish step (or the Publish button in the top bar).
2. If anything's incomplete, the app tells you which step and takes you there. Fix it and come back.
3. The $49 setup fee is collected here — the same tap takes you to checkout. Once paid, your tournament goes live.

You're now on the Hub (the same seventh step, renamed once you're live). This is your game-day home screen:

• QR code and link — the two things players need. Print the QR for the desk and your tent; text or email the link. Scanning it opens your tournament: schedule, live scores, check-in.
• Check-in open — the toggle that lets players check in. Turn it on when you open the desk.
• Email the field — builds a complete email to every player and parent on your rosters and opens it in your own mail app, so it comes from you. Nothing is sent behind your back.
• Announce to everyone — a short message that appears as a banner on the tournament page and pushes to followers. "Wind delay, 20 minutes." Tick also email it for anything important.
• Unpublish — hides the event from players again. Rarely needed.

9 Game day

Check-in

Players scan your QR, open the tournament, and tap Check In next to their team. Rules the app enforces:

• A player can check in their own team only, and a parent can check in their child's team — that's what the email columns in your roster file were for.
• You and your assistants can check anyone in from the roster list, for the family whose phone is dead.
• A player can undo their own check-in while check-in is open. Only you can undo someone else's.

The People tab

Everyone involved — you, your assistants, and the players. Search by name, and message anyone individually. Use it to reach one team without emailing the whole field.

Scoring matches

• Open the Active Match tab and start a match from the schedule — teams, division, court and rules come pre-filled.
• Whoever keeps score opens the match's scoring link on their phone and taps the big + buttons. No login needed to keep score, so you can hand it to a parent.
• Scores appear live on the tournament page as they're tapped, and results feed pool standings automatically.
• The scorekeeper can also film and stream the match from the same screen — optional, and free for standard quality.

Playoffs

When pool play finishes, open Playoff Bracket and generate it. Seeding comes from the pool standings the app has been keeping (wins, then set differential, then points). Winners advance as results come in.

10 Closing it down

1. Close check-in — turn the toggle off once everyone's arrived.
2. End Tournament — on the Manage tab. Archives the event; the schedule and results stay viewable.
3. To remove a tournament you never ran: Unpublish first, then Delete at the bottom of the Info step. Deleting is permanent.

Quick answers