DEVICES

Pickleball Brackets works on all devices (phone, tablet, desktop/laptop), operating systems, and browsers.

Coming Soon - a player app from the Apple and Google App Stores

GENERAL SECURITY

PickleballBrackets.com runs completely on an SSL certificate to ensure all data being transferred from and to its application is secure.

PLAYER SECURITY

• Pickleball Brackets LLC does not sell any information gathered on the site.
• Login is ONLY done using 2 stage authentication to prevent automated hacking.
• Passwords are stored as a ONE WAY encrypted hash using a one-time randomly generated value, thus preventing password theft by an unauthorized user or hack. This complies to federal law.
• NO password is ever sent as plain text to a person’s email account. This would violate federal law.
• A forgot password email option is given and a verification is sent to the email address with a link to change the password.
  • The only person that gets this option is the person who owns the email account.
• No player's contact or private information is ever displayed on the site.

MANAGER SECURITY

Each manager can have their own security profile.

Each profile allows that manager to do and see certain things in the administration area.

UTPR UPLOAD

Match results packaged for export to the USAPA for UPTR ratings

1. After tournament is completed go to reports module
2. Download packaged results in the USAPA specified format for FREE from PickleballBrackets.com.
3. Go to USAPA UTPR partner upload page
4. Upload files packaged by PickleballBrackets.com

ONLY tournament directors have access to packaged files from the reporting module. Tournaments flagged for USAPA UTPRs prior to registration opening will have acces to the files. This order of operation is in place due to the requirement of player acknowledging a waiver that their results and information will be sent to USAPA and USAPA partners for UTPR calculations.

Click here for more info on the USAPA UTPR upload process.

PickleballBrackets.com ELO RATINGS

A better, more advanced, and accurate rating system developed to benefit the sport.

Just like the NHL, NBA, and NFL PickleballBrackets.com uses the ELO formula as its basis to an accurate player rating. We start with the base ELO formula but enhance it for pickleball needs.

Here at PickleballBrackets.com we don't feel a rating calculated from results of a game should be adjusted based what country the tournament is played or if a player pays for a membership to an association. We feel every game in a tournament or league should be calculated equally.

1. For all games played in a tournament or league played using PickleballBrackets.com
2. Ratings, Ranking, Skill Levels for Doubles, Mix Doubles, and Singles.
3. All data is visible all the time. It's your data, don't you think you should be able to see it? We do!
   • Go here and search for a player name. From the results click on a players name. Click on the "PB Rating" to see even more detailed information along with a graph to see performance.
4. Ratings are 8 digits after the decimal for better accuracy.
5. LIVE rating is updated on the 1st day of every odd month. (Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Aug, Nov)
6. FUTURE ratings are ALWAYS visible and updated every night at 2AM EST. This allows players to see how they rank up on a daily basis.
7. Some of the many calculations to generate this rating
   • Number of games played
     • This helps move a player up or down faster and seed them into the rating they should be in if they haven't played many games.
   • Point Differential
     • This will adjust a game rating outcome differently based on the points from both teams
     • Example:
       • 15-2 win will calculate a different rating outcome than a 15-13 result.
   • Team Rating
     • Team rating is NOT calculated as 50 / 50. This is because we all know the weaker player will get 80% of the balls.
     • PickleballBrackets.com moves the team rating to 65 / 35.
     • This allows higher skilled players to play with lower skilled players and not have such a negative impact their rating on losses.
     • Team_Rating = (((Higher_Rating - Lower_Rating) * .35) + Lower_Rating)
     • Example:
       • Jim is a 4.07003723
       • Larry is a 4.61648851
       • Their team rating would be: 4.26129517
   • Many other calculations to ensure an accurate rating output.
8. Categories include
   • Overall
     • This rating is calculated for all games played not matter the age.
   • Senior
     • Games where all players on the court are 50 years of age or older
     • This rating can be used when signing up for events where all players must be 50 years of age and older.
     • Tournament directors can specify event signup to use this rating or not when the event is limited to players 50 years of age and above.
   • U-50
     • For senior age 50 and above
     • This rating is based on games where at least one player on the court is under 50 years of age
     • Seniors 50 years of age and older can use this rating when signing up for events requiring players can be under 50 years of age.
     • Tournament directors can specify event signup to use this rating or not when the event allows players under 50 years of age.
   • Junior (Coming Soon)
9. (Coming soon) External pickup games can be uploaded. Each player must have an account in PickleballBrackets.com. All players in the uploaded game will get an email with the ability to reject the results of that game from counting toward their rating. If anyone rejects an uploaded game, no player from that game will gain ratings from said game.

Simple Account Profile Setup

• Name
• Address
• Alternate Address
• Cell Phone Number
• In Game Text message Opt In/Out
• Player Image Upload
• Gender
• Birth Date
• Time Zone
• Club
• Separate Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles Skill Levels
• Emergency Contact
• USAPA, Pickleball Canada, Pickleball Association of Ontario Membership Numbers

Tournament Search

• Keyword
• Country/State/Province
• Player Group: Mens, Womens, Mixed, Coed
• Format: Doubles, Singles, Blind Draw

Tournament Information

Clear Display of all Tournament Basic Information

• Dates
• Registration Period
• Costs
• Location with interactive map directions
• Tournament Contact Link
• Facebook Tournament Share Link
• Start Time Link

Detailed Description of the Tournament

Additional Tournament Information Specified by the Tournament

Clear Display of all Tournament Basic Details

• Playing Surface
• Indoor/Outdoor
• Officiated Type
• Number of Events Included in the Registration Fee
• Maximum Events per Registration
• Number of Guaranteed Games
• Sanctioning
• Venue Rules and/or Limitations: Pets, Food, Alcohol, etc.

Event Details

• Dates
• Bracket Format and Age/Skill Limitations
• Maximum Number of Teams if Specified by the Tournament Director
• Waiting List: Y/N
• Time Limits for Partner Registration if Specified by the Tournament Director
• Scoring Description
• Scoring Hierarchy Factors for Round Robin Events

Results

• Displayed Live as Games and Scores are Entered
• Detailed Results for Each Game
• Clear Display of Medal Winners When an Event is Finished

USAPA UTPR Upload

Tournament Registration

Initial Registration

• Limits choices to only eligible events based on age and/or skill level
• Allows waiting list registration for events that are full
• Search ability to find a partner eligible to play in the event
• Need Partner Indicator - when turned on will create a contact button on the event listing
• Ability to add a partner who does not have an account
• Automatic reminder email sent to the selected partner
• Registration and payment for extra tournament items. Examples: lunches, t-shirts, donations, etc.
• Automatic confirmation email sent upon completion of a registration
• Payment by credit card, PayPal, mail in form or on site as specified by the Tournament Director
• Select referee or volunteer, Y/N

Registration Editing - Full edit ability by the player including:

• Adding or withdrawing from events
• Adding or deleting partners
• Withdrawing from the tournament
• Adding or editing extra tournament items.
• Automatic confirmation email sent upon completion of an edit
• Automatic confirmation email sent to a partner affected by an edit

Tournament Setup

Basic Information

• Copy another tournament to use as a template.
• Title
• Website Link
• Sanctioning
• Public or Private Event
• Time zone
• Start Date for public display
• Officiated Type: Yes, No, Medal Matches Only, etc.
• Number of guaranteed games
• Ball to be used and link to ball vendor information

Venue Details

• Multiple venues can be setup. Each venue can access the system and enter results for the tournament.
• Complete address and map link with directions
• Playing surface type
• Play area type: Indoor, Outdoor, Air Conditioned, etc.

Registration Details

• Registration date range
• Date for age calculation
• Online registration ability: Y/N
• Maximum number of events per registration
• Ability to restrict registrations to no more than one of the same type of event: i.e. Only one doubles event per registrant
• Contact details for two tournament contacts
• Ability to select which player emails the Tournament Director is copied in on: New registration, updated registration, withdrawn, to waiting list, from waiting list

Additional Details

• Description - unlimited space for a full tournament description
• Additional Information - unlimited space for extra tournament details
• Yes/No switches for common venue limitations, food, pets, etc. Parking Instructions

Waiting List Service (on/off)

• Ability to turn on or off your waiting list service for the entire tournament or just an individual events. This allows you to run this service for only certain events within the tournament.

Notifications (on/off)

• Ability to turn on or off all notifications in the system. So as you are merging events, and moving player around they are not getting email notification about all the random activity. Once you are ready you can turn notification back on and the system will send emails out from that point on

Registration Fees

• Variable fees by state, registration date or both
• Tiered Pricing
  • You can enter up to 5 different costs. Each cost can be associate with a date that cost goes into effect.
  • For Example:
    • Early Bird $30 1/1/2020
    • Pre-Deadline $35 3/1/2020
    • Final Deadline $45 4/1/2020
• Currency
• Collect sales tax: Y/N
• Spectator fee
• Number of events included in the basic fee Software service fee
• Pay method: Absorb by the tournament or pass to registrant

Checkout Options

• On-site payment with automatic reminders
• Mail in payment with automatic reminders
• Credit Card/PayPal
• One or all of the options can be enabled.
• Coming Soon - Square and Authorize.net

Downloads and Logos

• Tournament logo upload for display on the registration website
• Tournament flyer upload for players to print
• Tournament waiver upload with required agreement at checkout

Discount Codes

• This module has a few features that allow you to offer discount codes for use during checkout.
• You can specify the number issued, date active and expired, and much much more.
• Built in ability to give discounts for member of USAPA, Pickleball Canada, and Pickleball Association of Ontario

Sponsors

• Upload sponsor logos
• Specify level of sponsorship: Gold, silver, bronze, partner
• Specify link to sponsor websites
• Track player clicks on the sponsor links
• Sponsor logos display on the tournament pages and within all player emails

Featured Tournament Designation

• Extra cost option for additional focused promotion of a tournament

User Defined Fields

• Inforomation can be collected from players or non players. You have the ability to specify both in the setup of each questions asked.
• Fully customizable including all types and the ability to associated fees to each type. Can be used for any extra item or question to be included at the time of registration.
• This feature can also set monetary value to the options such as (Box Lunch $10 or day prior court time practice fee) and then collect that fee at checkout.
• There are many options within this feature that can be used such as max number of items in stock, date to hide the question, can they change their answers later on, what to do with the information if the person withdraws from the tournament and even more…

Managers

• Add an unlimited number of managers in addition to the Primary Tournament manager
• Assign the following editing rights to additional managers:
  • Tournament
  • Events
  • Scores
  • Attendees
  • Check in
  • Payments
  • Referees
  • Volunteers

Linked Tournaments

• Tournaments can be linked together so they have a relationship. For example, if the same tournament is played each year then you can link them together forming the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, annual of this tournament. The software will recognize this and show an option on the details page to the public to view each tournament from the past.

Pre-Registration

• This module allows you to give certain players the ability to register prior to registration opening.
• For Example: You may want to give the previous years medal winner the option to pre-register.

Event Setup

Control Features

• Specify if the event is active
• Active events show on the public display
• Non-Active events do not show
• Lock the event
• Locked events show on the public display with a lock symbol
• No changes or new registrations are permitted to locked events
• Turn the event waiting list service on or off
• Export a complete event list to an Excel spreadsheet.

Default Bracket Format - can be changed during final setup

• All bracket formats allow for unlimited matches to be managed and played at the same time.
• Single Elimination
• Double Elimination
• Round Robin - including unlimited repeats to create double round robin, triple round robin, etc.
• Round Robin with Pool Play
  • Automated pool play setup and configuration.
  • Each pool within an event can have its own custom setting to give you the flexibility you need.
  • Medal within each pool or bubble up the medal to the event.
  • Ability to move players to a single OR double elimination medal round after round robin or pool play.
  • Automatically calculates each pool and moves teams to the medal round for the event based on their stats.
• Everything is automated in Pickleball Brackets.
  • You don’t waste your time figuring out what’s next because the system does it for you.
  • Round robin with a medal round automatically figures out who moves on and seeds them for you based on the data
  • Calculating medal winners
  • You have the ability to override absolutely everything each step of the way in case you want something unique.

Player Groups

• Men's
• Women's
• Mixed
• Coed

Event Types

• Doubles
• Singles
• Blind Draw - with automatic random matchups
• Coming Soon - Team Play

Event Parameters

• Skill level ranges
• Age level ranges
• Allow "Need a Partner" this will create a contact button next to the player name for that event
• Allow an unlimited number of teams or set a maximum
• Set a maximum number of waiting list teams
• Allow an unlimited amount of time for partners to register or set a limit before the team is moved to the waiting list
• Set a date and estimated start time
• Set a default format for the start time display, including no display exact time, morning, late morning, afternoon, etc.
• Custom name and description
• Show event on registration screen? Y/N allows a private event to be hidden
• Include in registration cost? Y/N
• Event cost - This is the extra fee if the event is not included in the tournament registration fee or if the player registers for more events than the number included in the registration fee
• Is required? Y/N - Does every player have to register for this event?

Default Score Format - can be changed during final setup

• Points per game
• Estimated time per game
• Show seed? Y/N

Default Round Robin Additional Features - can be changed during final setup

• Straight round robin scoring or round robin with a playoff
• Amount of bonus points to award to the bracket winner - if any
• Hierarchical order for deciding the winner, i.e. wins, head to head, point differential, points or another order

Round Robin Head to Head Tie Breaker Logic

This setting specifies how the standings are calculated for round robin head to head ties.

Pickleball Brackets allows the director to pick from two different ways to calculate head to head ties.

The first two factors are used in both options

• 1st Factor
  • For a Two Way Tie - The team that beat the other gets the higher placement.
• 2nd Factor
  • For a Three or More Way Tie - Teams are ranked by the most wins within that GROUP. Any team with more wins gets the higher placement.

Pickleball Brackets Head to Head
Pickleball Brackets recommends this method as being most accurate.

• 3rd Factor
  • If ties remain within that group, head to head wins calculate, in a continual loop, until no 2 teams have a number of wins over 0 or 1. This could leave a tie with teams having 0 or 1 win each.
• 4th Factor
  • Teams are ranked from highest to lowest by the point differential in games played against other teams within the remaining tied GROUP.
• 5th Factor
  • Teams are ranked from highest to lowest by the points earned in games played within the remaining tied GROUP.

USAPA Head to Head
Although Pickleball Brackets DOES NOT recommend this method as being the most accurate it's offered due to USAPA standards for head to head ties.

• 3rd Factor
  • If head to head ties remain within that group, teams are ranked from highest to lowest by the point differential in games played within the entire POOL.
• 4th Factor
  • Teams are ranked from highest to lowest by the points earned in games played within the tied GROUP.
• 5th Factor
  • Teams are ranked from highest to lowest by the point differential in games played against the next-highest team (in the standings) within the entire POOL.

Registration Management

Add new attendees manually

View and edit attendee registration details

• Events, partners, payments, refunds, withdrawal, receipts, discounts, and refunds through PayPal, Square or Authorize.net are automatically credited to the player account. Refund service fees are also tracked and shown on the Tournament summary dashboard

Refunds

• Refunds can be recorded manually in the system for any registration by a director or manager.
• If a refund is give through merchant account such as Pay Pal, Square, or Authorized.net then the system will automatically get the refund information sent to them from the merchant and record not only the refund to the registration but the fees the merchant changed for the refund transaction.

Search and filter the attendee list by:

• Event, keyword, payment status, partner status, registration status, payment
• Export the whole list or the filtered list to an excel spreadsheet
• Export the formatted registration overview to a pdf report

Preregistration

• Tournament directors can preregister players. Their registrations will not show on the public site until registration opens

Waiting List Service

• This is a powerful, feature that maintains event waiting lists and updates event lists automatically when openings occur. A complete description of how it operates is at the end of this document.

Volunteers and Referees

• Complete volunteer and referee management section.
• Specify time slots, areas, and days. Then assign volunteers and referees to those slots.
• Ability to have players or non players sign up for time slots.
• A kiosk screen to display all referees, who is on duty, who is off duty, what match are they on, how many matches have the officiated.
• This screen refreshes in real time.

Tournament Dashboard

• A graphic representation of the tournament details summarizing:
  • All financial data from PayPal, Stripe, payments, refunds, reversals, and discounts.
  • PickleballBrackets.com balances and payments
  • Registrations including waiting lists and withdrawn players
  • Geographical location stats
  • Gender breakdown for doubles, mixed, singles, and overall
  • Clubs and Organization stats
  • Stats oin all messages sent from the system
  • Page views and their source (country, state/province, device, browser)

Game Day Tournament Management

General Features

• Everything is automated in Pickleball Brackets. You don’t waste your time figuring out what’s next because the system does it for you.
  • Round robin to medal round automatically figures out who moves on and seeds them for you based on the data
  • Calculates all medal winners
  • Includes the ability to award separate sets of medals for sub groups of combined groups.
  • The ability to override everything at any step of the way in case you want something unique.

Kiosks

• There are several kiosk screens in the system to accommodate game day needs.
  • Court Assignments
  • Court Assignment - On Deck
  • Referee Dashboards
  • Volunteer Dashboard
  • Scores and Standings
  • Check-in
• Check-in
  • Check-in Desk
    • Unlimited check-in stations can be used at the same time.
    • The traditional kiosk mode check-in feature for someone to work a desk and check-in players
    • You can choose to check-in a player for all their events for the entire tournament or only events for that day.
    • Payments can be recorded from this page
  • Check-in Self
    • Players step up to a tablet kiosk and check themselves in with 2 simple steps. Search and then click on Check-in button next to their name.

Text Messaging

• The system fully supports text messaging for game day communications.
  • Start time notification letting players know their start time prior to tournament day.
  • Check-in notification that you partner checked into the event.
  • Courts assignment for the players and the referee
  • Real time score confirmation. Letting players know the score of the matches played.
  • Start time announcements when an event is about to begin.

Preparing the Tournament

• Enter and label courts
• Establish a display order
• Designate times when specific courts are not available
• Event courts and start times shows the following:
  • Number of players registered
  • Number of teams registered
  • Number of pools in the event
  • Number of matches
  • Number of excluded courts
  • Allows designation of:
    • Number of courts needed
    • Event start time
    • Defaults to the time on the event description or the time on the daily planner (if run)
    • Option for sending start time emails to players
    • Option to print a start time list

Daily Planner

• A robust daily planner that automatically formulates the days’ matches based on the setup of each bracket and pool
  • Ignores blocked out time periods and courts
  • Uses only the number of courts designated as needed for the event (if specified during setup)
  • Can be regenerated at any time
  • Can be used to communicate start times and projected end times to players
  • Displays actual matches including team names.
  • If regenerated during the tournament, it will keep all played matches and regenerate the schedule for only the unplayed matches.

Snapshot Planner

• The same features as the Daily Planner although you can do test runs on as many tournament configurations as you want and see what configuration best works for your tournament needs and limitations.

Running the Tournament

• Verifying Each Event - defaults are based on the initial event setup and registrations. All details about the event may be changed during verification
  • Swap players
  • Remove teams
  • Confirm team list
  • Confirm bracket format and pools
  • Confirm hierarchy of scoring for round robin events
  • Confirm scoring to use and estimated times. They can be different for each pool if necessary
  • Confirm or change seeding
  • Confirm or change first round matchups
  • Ability to change formats for medal rounds after round robin if necessary
  • Ability to forfeit OR withdraw a team from a match.
  • Ability to cancel a match and not have it go against or for another team.
  • All stats are calculated and displayed in real time.
• Manage Waiting Events
  • Start matches
  • Review verification
  • Send text message to selected bracket
  • Start over
  • Print score sheets
  • Score sheet options
    • Official or simplified sheet
    • First round only or all unplayed matches
    • Page break after each sheet
• Manage Running Events
  • Start over
  • Zero all scores
  • Enter scores - select matches on the screen or scan a QR code
  • Print individual score sheets if needed
  • Verify and advance teams to the medal round if specified
• Manage Completed Events
  • Start over
  • Unlock all scores
  • Zero all scores
  • Assign medals to player for other events. A player can play in one event although be assigned a medal for the original event they signed up for.
• Score Entry, Score Card Types, and QR Code
  • Unlimited score entry stations can be run at the same time.
  • Round Robin can have match scores entered in any order. The matches do not have to be entered in sequential order.
  • Scores are entered from the same page the matches are displayed.
  • There are 2 types of printed score cards.
    • Official style with all the options on the score card for referees
    • Pickleball Brackets simplified version so player not playing a referee match can easily fill out the card.
  • Entering score is extremely easy in the system although there is also a QR code on each score card that takes the score keeper to the actual match to enter the score.

Global Tournament Management Features

Swapping Players and Teams - There are 3 areas where teams can be changed.

• A player can edit their registration and remove themselves to allow another player to take their place.
• The director or manager can remove a player at any time from the Attendees list in the admin area and then add the new player.
• The director or manager can swap a player on the fly from the tournament GO LIVE page.

Remove Teams - There are 3 areas where teams can be removed.

• A player can edit and remove their team prior to the registration being locked.
• The director or manager can remove a team at any time from the Attendees list in the admin area
• The director or manager can remove a team on the fly from the tournament GO LIVE page.

Real Time Stats and Scores

• All stats are available to the public in real time. As soon as data is entered it's also displayed to the public.
• Each event, bracket, pool, and match is displayed with stats for the public to view at any time and forever.
• For round robin and pool play all stats are given for the entire event and you can drill down into each pool to see more data.

Tournaments can be linked together so they have a relationship.

• For example, if the same tournament is played each year then you can link them together forming the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, annual of this tournament. The software will recognize this and show an option on the details page for the public to view each tournament from the past.

The Waiting List Service

This is a service that constantly runs and looks for registration to automatically move to and from the waiting list.

There are three factors this service can work from:

• The maximum number of teams an event can have in it. (doubles or singles)
  • You specify the max teams in an event and teams that register after this number is reached are automatically placed on the waiting list.
• The maximum number of teams to be on the waiting list per event.
  • If this number has been reached and the event is full the system will not place anyone else on the waiting list AND there will be no more registrations collected
• A time limit within which the teammate must register (doubles)
  • Along with #1 and #2 above you can add the following or not have a max number of teams on the waiting list and still use the following option:
  • You can give a specified number of minutes, hours, and/or days a partner must register within. If a player registers for an event and their partner does not register within that given timeframe, then the original registered player is moved to the waiting list. If their teammate then registers and there is still room in the event, then both are moved from the waiting list and into the event.

If a spot opens in an event OR the event expands their max team count, then the service will automatically select the team(s) to move into the open spots. Teams are selected based on when the first partner registered and if they have paid or not.

If a registration is being completed and players are ONLY registering for events that are placing them on a waiting list, then their balance at checkout will be $0 (zero dollars) unless they have added extra cost items to their registration.

The tournament director has the ability to turn the waiting list service on or off for the entire tournament or individual events. This allows you to run this service for only certain events within the tournament.

Waiting List Emails

• If a player is moved FROM the waiting list, they will receive an email, along with their partner if the event is doubles, telling them they have been moved into the event from the waiting list and they need to log into Pickleball Brackets and pay any balance due.
• If a player is moved TO the waiting list, the player will receive an email telling them they have been moved to the waiting list and why they were moved.

Reports

There are many reports that can be run to export your data.

Reports are exported in excel, csv, or pdf

Custom reports are developed upon request.

USAPA UTPR Upload

Emailing & Notifications

• Emails and Text Messages are two of the ways players and managers are notified from PickleballBrackets.com
• Campaigns can be created and schedule emails to go out at any time.
• There are multiple filters available to ensure targeted players are emailed.
• Campaign stats are collected and displayed for the following:
  • Queued count emails to be sent
  • Sent count
  • Read count
    • With details on what player read the email
  • Click count
    • Click count for each link in the email
    • With details on what player clicked on what link
• Managers can choose to get copied on emails sent to players for the following actions:
  • New Registration
  • Updated Registration
  • Withdrawn
  • Moved to the Waiting List
  • Moved from the Waiting List