Putting on a youth or club tournament is mostly a matter of settling the right things in time. This checklist runs from the first decision to the prize-giving.
Weeks ahead: the framework
- Date and times — work backwards from the prize-giving.
- Number of teams and age categories — every category gets its own draw, schedule and standings.
- Pitches — how many are playable at once determines the duration.
- Match length — for youth often 1 × 12 or 1 × 15 minutes, plus change-over.
- Registrations — open an online registration page with a maximum per category, so you do not get more teams than fit.
The week before: the schedule
- Finalise the teams and divide them per category.
- Choose the format. For youth tournaments placement matches work well: everyone keeps playing and every team gets a final ranking.
- Generate the schedule and put the lunch break and prize-giving in as break windows.
- Assign referees and send them their score link.
- Share the live link with the participating clubs.
On the day
- Set up the TV presentation in the clubhouse.
- Let referees enter results through their own link — the standings then appear live straight away.
- Running late? Shift things in the schedule; all affected followers can be notified in one go.
- Lock the schedule once everything is settled, so nothing moves by accident.
Frequently asked questions
How many teams can I host in one morning?
With 3 pitches and 12 minutes of play, 12 teams in 3 groups of 4 comes to about an hour and a half of group matches, plus a final stage. For 16 teams in 4 groups of 4 count on 24 group matches — that fills a whole morning.
How do I stop the youngest teams waiting too long?
Give every age category its own draw and, where possible, its own pitch, and set a minimum rest between two matches. The schedule turns matches orange when a team gets too little recovery.
What if a team does not turn up?
Remove them from the participants and regenerate that category's schedule. To leave the rest of the tournament untouched, pick only that category when recalculating.