📋 How do I make a tournament schedule?

Making a tournament schedule comes down to four decisions: how many teams, which format, how many pitches and how long a match lasts. Once those four are settled, the rest follows.

Step 1: choose your format

The format determines how many matches are played and whether everyone stays equally long.

• Groups only — everyone plays everyone within their group. Fair and predictable in time.
• Groups + knockout — the best teams go through to a final stage. An exciting finish, but whoever goes out early finishes early.
• Groups + placement matches — every group position plays the same position from the other groups. Everyone keeps playing and every team gets a final ranking.
• Knockout only — cup format, straight elimination. The shortest, but half the field is done after one match.

Step 2: work out the number of matches

In a group where everyone plays everyone once, the number of matches is n × (n − 1) ÷ 2, where n is the number of teams in that group. Four teams therefore give 6 matches, five teams 10.

Split 12 teams over 3 groups of 4 and that is 3 × 6 = 18 group matches. Put them in one group of 12 and it becomes 66. More groups means fewer matches — and so a shorter tournament.

Step 3: estimate the running time

Add the change-over time to the match length, divide the total number of matches by the number of pitches, then multiply:

duration ≈ (number of matches ÷ number of pitches) × (match length + change-over)

18 group matches on 3 pitches, 12 minutes of play and 3 minutes change-over: (18 ÷ 3) × 15 = 90 minutes. Add a final stage of 4 matches and count on another 20 to 30 minutes.

Step 4: let the schedule be generated

In UwTornooi you enter teams, pitches, match length and start time, then click Generate. The schedule takes the change-over time, break windows and a team's minimum rest between two matches into account. Afterwards you can still drag cards around the schedule — every move is saved immediately.

Frequently asked questions

How many teams should I put in one group?

Four or five works best in practice. With four, each team plays 3 matches; with five, 4 matches. Larger groups add up quickly: a group of 8 is already 28 matches, which makes the wait between your own matches long.

Do I have to redo the schedule if a team drops out?

Yes, and it is one click: adjust the teams and generate again. If you only want to reshuffle one group, you can choose at generation time which category or group to recalculate, so the rest stays put.

Can I decide myself when a particular team plays?

Yes. After generating, drag the match cards to another time or pitch. Conflicts — two matches at once on one pitch, or a team with too little rest — are flagged in colour straight away.