Run your first tournament

Role requiredTournament organizer

What you’ll achieve: by the end you’ll have run a tournament from sign-up to final ranking — teams registered, groups and courts drawn, matches created and released to players, live scores entered, and results published.

Before you start: all you need is a club and access to Club Manager (the event is created there). Stripe is recommended but not required — connect it only if you want teams to pay online; you can also collect entry fees outside the app. To use the platform’s full potential, connect Stripe first.

Watch it

See the whole flow end to end — 48 teams into 12 groups, a court map, 72 matches and courts assigned — in under three minutes.

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From 48 sign-ups to a finished schedule, start to finish · Watch on YouTube

The tournament journey runs in five stages. Each stage has its own overview with the detailed steps beneath it.

Stage 1 · Tournament Configuration

Set the event up in the right order — build the form and price first, so you can attach them as you upload the event:

1. Attach a custom inscription form — this is the most important choice here. Design exactly what each team fills in at sign-up (team details, players, merchandise and your own custom questions) so you collect everything you need up front. Optional — skip it and a basic name form is used instead — but a custom form is what makes registrations clean. See Build an inscription form →.
2. Set the inscription price — charge online (Stripe), collect out-of-app (manual), or make it free.
3. Create the tournament — upload the event and attach the form and price. Running a series the same day? Use Copy as new to clone it.
4. Pick a rulebook (optional) — use a standard FIVB rulebook for your country or attach your own custom rulebook (details in Rulebooks →). You can also link a league or ranking.
5. Share the sign-up link — open registrations and send teams the public page.

You choose the format later — per phase

You don’t set the tournament format when you create it. A tournament runs in up to 4 phases, and you pick each phase’s format as you build it — a group phase (round-robin pools) or an elimination phase (knockout bracket). A small event might be just group phase → elimination phase; a bigger one group phase → group phase → elimination phase. You build the first phase in Stage 3 and add each further phase as the tournament progresses.

Full stage: Stage 1 · Tournament Configuration →

Once created, the tournament's event page in Club Manager is your control panel — Enter opens Competition Manager; Copy as new clones it for the same day.

Stage 2 · Tournament Preparations

While sign-ups are open, work the incoming registrations:

• Manage registrations — every team’s status and payment state.
• Register referees — add your officials pool (if you use one).
• Form answers & reports — read what teams submitted and export CSV/ZIP reports.

Full stage: Stage 2 · Tournament Preparations →

Stage 3 · Close Inscriptions

When registration closes, build the first playable stage:

1. Close inscriptions & confirm seeds — stop sign-ups, fix entry points, and mark non-playing teams Deleted or Disqualified.
2. Generate groups, then create or load a court map.
3. Create matches and assign them to courts.
4. Advance to Phase 1 — this releases the matches to players and referees.

Full stage: Stage 3 · Close Inscriptions →

Stage 4 · On-site Management

On the day, run the play:

• Brackets — build the elimination stage once groups have results.
• Live scoring & spectator link — enter set scores and share live results with spectators.

Full stage: Stage 4 · On-site Management →

Stage 5 · Close Tournament

Finish and publish:

• Close the tournament — review the final ranking and points, then publish results.
• Rankings — carry results into a season-long ladder.

Full stage: Stage 5 · Close Tournament →

What’s next

• Share the participant guides with your players.
• Not sure which format fits your event? Plan your format with our team.
• Set up your club end-to-end with Club Manager.