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Seasonal Standings Playbook

Sign up, post scores, and view results — Club Rankings™

Product

Club Rankings™ (included in Club Court Manager or standalone)

Audience

Members, seasonal standings captains, and tenant admins

Operator

StoufferAI

Version

October 16, 2026

PDF

/docs/mini-league-playbook.pdf

Table of contents

1. Overview — three layers
2. Prerequisites
3. Sign up for play
4. Post scores
5. 4.4 Club Play formats
6. 4.5 Session scoring & placement
7. View results
8. Role cheat sheet
9. Worked example — Men's Doubles
10. Scoring weights & age handicap
11. Practice first (Training)

1. Overview — a Group, its standings, and the club total

Club Rankings uses these related pieces:

Intent: A Group holds the courts and the captains. Club Play runs one date. The captain opens the leaderboard when scores should add up for that Group, and leaves it closed when the night is just play. A closed night still finishes and shows under Sessions.

Members do not enroll for the whole season. They must be on the sport roster, then sign up for each Club Play.

When a Club Play is completed with the leaderboard open, game scores become a session. That Group's standings update, and the same night adds to the club Leaderboard. A closed leaderboard finishes the night with no scores.

Admin → captain → member handoff

1. Admin finishes the Group on Court Groups (courts, dates, time, captains) and can email the captains that it is ready.
2. Captain opens Club Play. Their group is already selected. They add members, open or close the leaderboard, and run the night.
3. Members add their name until live play starts, play, then check Sessions and that Group's standings when scores were recorded.

One-page summary: Club Play & seasonal standings — who does what.

2. Prerequisites

Before anyone can participate in a rated seasonal standings:

1. Sign in to your community site — email magic link, SMS code, or password.
2. Sport roster — an admin must have you on the sport (e.g. Pickleball) under Admin → Members.
3. Complete profile — your admin sets Member profile rules (email, home address, skill rating, photo ID, etc.). Finish any required fields on My Profile before booking, requesting another sport, or signing up for rated play.
4. Rating & gender — stored on your roster profile; used to enforce seasonal standings eligibility (e.g. 3.25+ women's doubles).

Admins finish a Group on Admin → Court Groups. They add it with a new name, or start from a saved group so its captains copy into the new one. The saved schedule stays, and its courts stay on that group. A court can stay on more than one group. Save shows Save confirmed. Edit on the list changes a saved group's dates. They can email the captains when it is ready. That link opens Club Play with the group already selected. The captain adds members and opens the leaderboard if scores should count. The captain can email all, some, or one person on the list.

3. Sign up for play

There is no separate "join this seasonal standings for the season" button for members. Participation happens per session:

3.1 Club Play (most common for weekly or daytime leagues)

1. Captain or admin opens Club Play and the Group. Members and captains can add a name until live play starts. The captain can also click Run this week after turning on a format.
2. The captain emails all, some, or one person on that list.
3. While the session status is registration, names can still be added (if a max player cap is set, the list closes when full).
4. At the courts, captain or admin taps Start live play — registered players are checked in automatically. Optionally set Number of rounds (see §4.4).

During live play, members can follow courts and scores on the same page (scores refresh about every 20 seconds). If a player has to leave, the captain or admin clicks Replace, searches the sport roster, and picks who takes the spot. Games already scored stay with the player who left. Unscored games, including later rounds, use the new member. Someone already in the session cannot take the spot. Ending the session records both.

When creating a session, choose the format (King of the court, Round robin, Ladder, or Swiss), number of courts (1–20), and an optional max players cap. Planned round count is set later at Start live, not at create. See §4.4 for how each format pairs players.

3.1a Guests and entry fees (mini-tournaments)

• Captains can enable Allow guests so non-members can be added by name (walk-ups) or via a shared guest register link (/club-play-guest?token=…).
• Guests play the night only — they do not receive seasonal standings or club leaderboard points. Member results from games that included guests still count for those members.
• Optional entry fee: captains track unpaid / paid / waived (cash or check), or enable card payments when the club has Stripe Connect set up (same bank connection as membership dues).
• With card pay on, unpaid players are not checked in for pairing until paid or waived. Guests paying online go through Stripe Checkout after entering their name.

3.2 Event registration (optional — tournaments)

If admin links an Admin → Events page to seasonal standings:

1. Members open /event?code=… (shared link or QR).
2. Click Register. Eligibility (gender, rating, format) is checked automatically.
3. After the event, admin can score from the registration roster.

3.3 Show up without pre-signup

Captains can enter results manually after play from the Captain tab — signup is optional when using manual entry or walk-ups checked in at the courts.

4. Post scores

4.1 Club Play flow (recommended)

1. Registration — members sign up at /club-play.
2. Start live play — courts and pairings generated (king of the court, round robin, ladder, or Swiss).
3. Per-game scores — captain enters score on each court after each game.
4. Replace (if someone must leave) — click Replace on that checked-in player and search the sport roster. Scored games stay with the player who left. The new member takes unscored courts, including later rounds. Someone already in the session cannot take the spot.
5. Advance round (king of the court, ladder, or Swiss) — when every court in the round is scored; round robin uses a pre-built schedule instead. Later rounds use the replacement.
6. Complete session & update standings — aggregates each player's own games, so both the player who left and the new member are recorded, then publishes the session and recalculates standings.

See §4.4 Club Play formats for format-specific pairing behavior.

4.2 Captain manual entry (backup)

Rankings → Captain → select seasonal standings → enter event name, date, type → add each player from roster search → wins/losses/points → Save & update leaderboard.

4.3 Member submit + confirm

Rankings → Submit results → other players confirm via Confirm tab, wallet QR, or 4-digit code at /rankings-wallet. Use this for casual play when there was no live Club Play. It is not how scores are entered during a Club Play night — on a live session the captain (or admin) enters court scores and members only watch.

4.4 Club Play formats

When you create a session at /club-play, you choose the format, courts (1–20), and an optional max players cap. At Start live play, registered players are checked in and pairings are generated automatically. Format controls who plays whom; scoring weights still apply only after Complete session (see pairing vs scoring).

Choosing a format

How much everyone plays

Round robin and Swiss keep games played the same, or within one game, even when you have more players than courts. King of the Court and ladder still get every player onto a court, then give extra games to players who keep winning.

Rotation flow

1. King of the Court — save every court → winners stay on that court → losers go to the back of the bench → the next challengers come off the front → random mix splits the winners onto those challengers (man + woman on a mixed roster).
2. Round robin — Start live builds the full circle → each wave fills the courts with no team twice in that wave → no pair repeats → sit-outs stay within one game.
3. Ladder — court 1 is #1 vs #2, court 2 is #3 vs #4 → an upset swaps those two places → a loss on the lowest court moves that team to the end of the order and the first waiting team takes the open spot.
4. Swiss — count games played → the bye goes to players with more games → pair the group that plays by tonight's wins, then point differential → mixed random mix stays one man and one woman.

Shared settings

Doubles — partner mode (Start live)

For doubles seasonal standings, captains choose how partners are assigned at Start live play:

Mixed doubles seasonal standings (no gender restriction on the series): random mix pairs one man + one woman on each team. Requires equal men and women checked in, with gender on every roster profile.

King of the court

• How matchups work (fixed partners / singles): winners stay on their court. Losers join the back of the bench and challengers come off the front, so a player who has been waiting gets on before someone who just lost. When the only challengers are the teams that just lost, they rotate to another court instead of an immediate rematch. With more players than courts, later signups still reach the court.
• How matchups work (random mix doubles): the winning two players stay on that court and split. The two who lost join the back of the bench, and the next two come in as the new partners. On a mixed roster (equal men and women, gender on every player) each team stays one man and one woman. Round 1 is a fresh draw; sit-outs are shared, not the same players all night.
• Round 1 (fixed / singles): players paired in signup order — team 1 vs 2, 3 vs 4, etc. — filling up to your court count. Anyone beyond courts × 2 teams (or singles pairs) waits for later rounds.
• Later rounds: when all court scores are entered, the next round starts automatically from the bench rules above. The Next round (if needed) button remains as a fallback.
• Scores: enter a clear winner — tied scores (e.g. 11–11) are not allowed.
• Number of rounds: optional at Start live; stops auto-advancing after that many (blank = play until End session).
• Best for: weekly open play with rotating challengers (fixed teams) or social doubles mixers (random mix).

Round robin

• How matchups work: the full schedule is generated at Start live — all rounds appear on the session page. Fixed teams follow a circle so each pair meets at most once. When there are more games than courts, rounds are waves that fill the courts, and byes stay within one game of each other. Random mix doubles picks the players with fewer games first, then new partners (man + woman on a mixed roster).
• Round 1 and later: follow the pre-built schedule in order. There is no Next round button — enter scores court by court across the list.
• Scores: tied game scores are allowed; both sides get a tie for that game.
• Number of rounds: optional at Start live sets how many rounds are scheduled (blank uses the default length from team/player count).
• Best for: nights where everyone should know their full schedule up front; random mix when you want social doubles without fixed partners.

Ladder (adjacent-rank swap)

• How matchups work: a live ladder order drives courts — court 1 = #1 vs #2, court 2 = #3 vs #4, and so on (up to your court count). Singles or fixed/manual doubles teams only (random mix is not supported).
• Round 1 seed: players ranked 1–N from current Seasonal Standings; anyone not yet ranked is appended in signup order.
• Later rounds: if a lower-ranked player or team beats a higher-ranked opponent, they swap positions on the ladder. If anyone is waiting because there are more teams than courts, the loser of the lowest court drops to the end of the bench and the first waiting team takes that spot. A team that wins the lowest court is not forced off. When all court scores are entered, the next round starts automatically from the updated order. Use Next round (if needed) only if the page did not advance. The live session page shows the current ladder order list.
• Scores: enter a clear winner — tied scores are not allowed.
• Number of rounds: optional at Start live; stops auto-advancing after that many (blank = play until End session).
• Best for: placement-focused league nights where season-rank movement on a ladder board matters.

Swiss (record-based pairing)

• How matchups work: each round ranks active players (or fixed doubles teams) by tonight's session record — wins first, then point differential — and pairs nearby records so strong play strong. Courts fill each round when you have enough players (e.g. 24 doubles players → 6 courts of 4).
• Round 1 seed: Seasonal Standings when available, otherwise signup order (same idea as ladder seed, but only for the opening round).
• Later rounds: players with fewer games get the bye last, so games played stay within one of each other. The group that plays is then paired by tonight’s record (wins, then point differential), preferring new opponents. Random mix on a mixed roster pairs one man with one woman. When every court is saved, the next round starts automatically (same auto-advance as king of the court / ladder). Next round (if needed) remains as a fallback.
• Partner modes: fixed or manual keep the same partner while teams move by combined record; random mix re-forms partners from the standings list each round (unlike ladder).
• Scores: enter a clear winner — tied scores are not allowed.
• Number of rounds: optional at Start live; stops auto-advancing after that many (blank = play until End session).
• Session placement: like king of the court and round robin — final placement from session W–L and point differential (not a ladder board). Weights still apply only after Complete session.
• Best for: larger fields with skill variance where a flat round robin creates blowouts, but you still want every court competitive round after round.

What drives pairings vs scoring

Pairing (who plays whom each round) and scoring (how the night affects standings) use different inputs. Weight sliders, skill ratings, and age handicap affect standings points after you complete a session — they do not change who is matched on court.

Per-game winner (all formats)

For each court, the captain enters Team A and Team B scores. The higher score wins that game.

• Round robin — tied game scores are allowed; both players get a tie for that game.
• King of the court, ladder & Swiss — tied scores (e.g. 11–11) are rejected; enter a clear winner.

Per-game results drive round advancement (KOTC queue, ladder swaps, Swiss re-pair) and end-of-night session totals.

4.5 Session scoring & placement

When you tap Complete session, Club Rankings runs two related calculations:

Layer 1 — Session placement (who finished where tonight)

Game scores aggregate into each player's session record: wins, losses, ties, points for, points against.

King of the court, round robin & Swiss — placement is decided in this order:

1. Most wins
2. Fewest losses
3. Most ties (if any)
4. Highest point differential (points scored minus points allowed)
5. Weighted tiebreaker — if still tied, a performance blend using your club's scoring weights (excluding placement, to avoid circular logic): win %, point differential, opponent strength, partner strength, and optional age handicap. Opponent/partner strength use the hidden skill rating built from prior sessions.
6. If still tied, lower member ID (stable fallback).

When the tiebreaker applies, Training shows an asterisk (*) beside placement and a footnote on the session preview. For Swiss, the same W–L / point-diff order also drives in-session pairings each round; placement at Complete session uses this list, not a separate ladder board.

Ladder — session placement comes from final ladder order on the session page (not raw W–L–T). Upsets during play move players on the ladder; completing the session records that order as finish position.

Layer 2 — Leaderboard points (season & club-wide standings)

The same night is also stored as a completed event. The rankings engine computes each player's performance score (0–100) from win %, placement, point differential, opponent strength, partner strength, and optional age handicap — using club-wide weights or seasonal standings custom weights when enabled. That score converts to performance points added to seasonal standings and (when configured) club-wide leaderboards, plus participation bonus, champion bonus for 1st place, and hidden skill-rating updates.

This is why the player with the most wins might move the leaderboard differently than someone with fewer wins but tougher opponents — both can be correct: raw record for “tonight’s sheet,” weighted quality for season standings.

In Training, the Complete session preview shows session totals with a Perf column (performance score) and before/after standings columns.

Full formulas: Calculations reference CR-30 and §8 Scoring weights below.

5. View results

5.1 Season standings (seasonal standings)

1. Open /rankings and choose your sport.
2. Go to the Seasonal Standings tab.
3. Pick seasonal standings from the dropdown — season dates and eligibility appear above the standings table.

5.2 That night's detail (game-by-game)

1. Rankings → Sessions tab.
2. Click a completed session row.
3. See per-player totals; Club Play sessions include game-by-game scores.

5.3 Club-wide leaderboard

Rankings → Leaderboard — if the seasonal standings has Counts toward overall leaderboard enabled, session points roll into the sport-wide board.

5.4 Personal view

Rankings → My ranking — your points breakdown, recent sessions, rankings wallet QR, and confirm code.

6. Role cheat sheet

7. Worked example — Men's Doubles

Typical weekly play at a pickleball community:

1. Admin blocks Saturdays 8–10 on the courts, names the Group Men's Doubles, sets the type to Men's, and assigns captains.
2. Captain opens Club Play, opens the leaderboard, turns on round robin, and members add their names.
3. The captain can email the list. At the courts they start live play and enter scores.
4. Everyone checks Sessions. That Group's standings update because the leaderboard was open.

8. Scoring weights & age handicap

When a session is completed, Club Rankings blends several factors into each player's performance score for that night — win rate, placement, point differential, opponent strength, partner strength, and (optionally) age handicap. Admins tune club-wide weights under Rankings → Admin → Settings; captains may override weights for their seasonal standings only when Use custom scoring weights is enabled.

Important: these weights apply when standings are recalculated after each completed session. They do not affect live court pairings (see §4.4 pairing vs scoring). Session placement uses the same weight preset for tiebreaks only (placement weight excluded) — see §4.5.

Weights stay on unless someone checks Remove all performance weights and confirms. That sets win %, placement, point differential, opponent strength, partner strength, and age handicap to 0. Finish order for the night does not change. Champion bonus, participation bonus, and volunteer points stay as set. Unchecking restores 40 / 20 / 15 / 15 / 10 / 10. Admins use Rankings → Admin → Settings. Captains use the same checkbox on the Captain tab for one seasonal standings. Training → Administrator has the same checkbox in the practice lab.

8.1 Default weights (typical)

Weights are relative (they do not have to add up to 100). Saving settings recalculates completed sessions for that sport.

8.2 Optional age handicap (senior boost)

Some communities enable a sixth component that gives older players a modest boost based on date of birth on the member profile:

• Who turns it on: tenant admin only — Rankings → Admin → Settings → set Age handicap weight above 0 (e.g. 5–10).
• Baseline / spread: age that scores neutral (default 50) and years to reach 0 or 100 (default 25). Example: age 60 → higher component than age 50; age 40 → lower.
• Missing birth date: scores neutral (50) — no penalty, no boost.
• Captains: may set seasonal standings-only Age handicap weight when custom weights are enabled; baseline and spread stay club-wide.

Encourage members to complete profile birth dates before enabling age handicap. Preview the effect safely in Training — choose Administrator on the welcome screen, set age handicap weight, and compare the two leaderboard columns (fictional players have varied ages). Full formulas: Club Rankings manual Part 3.

9. Practice first (Training)

Before your first live night, open shared Training from clubcourtmanager.com/platform/rankings or https://your-sports-club.clubcourtmanager.com/rankings-scenario. Choose Captain (or Administrator) on the welcome screen, then walk through a fictional session with 24 fictional players:

1. Open Club Play practice.
2. Click Sign up all, then Start live play.
3. Pick a format. Round robin and Swiss keep games even (or within one). King of the Court and ladder keep winners on court and rotate the bench. Enter scores for each court — for king of the court, ladder, or Swiss, the next round starts automatically when every court is saved; then Complete session to preview standings, session totals (including Perf score), and tiebreaker footnotes when applicable.
4. Nothing is saved to your club — fictional data only.

Members can choose Member on the welcome screen to practice signup and score entry from a player's perspective. Choose Administrator to preview club-wide weight sliders including optional age handicap. See also Club Rankings manual Part 8 — Training.

Related manuals

• Club Rankings complete manual — settings, CSV import, confirmations, admin
• Seasonal Standings Captain manual — captain tab, custom weights, events
• Club Court Manager manual — court booking + rankings in full CCM

Standings on your phone: the Club Rankings app — Club Rankings manual. Court booking stays in the Club Court Manager app.

Club Rankings — App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/club-rankings/id6816728971 · Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stoufferai.clubrankings

Support

Email support@stoufferai.com · Product: clubcourtmanager.com/platform/rankings

Club Rankings™ · Seasonal Standings Playbook · September 14, 2026