TOURNAMENTS AND SCHEDULING

TOURNAMENTS - TERMINOLOGY Tournament – series of games which follow a pattern that allows every player equal opportunity to play and to succeed Bye – a player/team is excused from that round of play but advances to the next round Round – series of games Slot – a line on a chart on which a team is placed Braquet – two joined lines that show which teams will play each other Seeds – players are rated or seeded according to ability (if you are seeded #2 you are considered the 2 nd best player/team)

SCHEDULING Scheduling means determining how, when, and where people/teams will participate in events. Things to consider: participants, facilities, equipment, time, personnel, officials There are several types of schedules that can be used for events in which teams or individuals play against one another. The type you choose will depend on the kind of activity involved and the amount of time you have to run the event.

CHALLENGE TOURNAMENTS Challenge tournaments are best for events which run over an extended period of time. Purpose is to encourage participants to challenge one another, and move ahead on a ladder or pyramid, if successful. Advantage – is that such a tournament can establish ability levels in preparation for other types of tournaments Disadvantage – is that after the initial play and changing position, the number of challenges usually decreases, leading to fewer games for all participants

TYPES OF CHALLENGE TOURNAMENTS Ladder Tournament - players are placed on the ladder through random selection or according to ability - sometimes it is better to place the more advanced players at the bottom to encourage more movement on the ladder - advance by defeating other players/teams 1-2 places higher on the ladder - winning player/team changes places with the losing player/team - if the challenger loses, they stay where they are on the ladder - challenger cannot re-challenge until they have played another player/team - simple and easy to run - run mainly by the players/teams themselves

TYPES OF CHALLENGE TOURNAMENTS Ladder Tournament Examples of rules: - games to 11 points - players/teams may challenge up to 3 rungs above them - player/team at the top of the ladder at the end of class or end of time period wins - no players/teams can refuse a challenge - may not challenge same team twice in a row

TYPES OF CHALLENGE TOURNAMENTS Ladder Tournament Dave Lionel Diane Bruce Shelley Mae Gail Gail can challenge Mae, Shelley or Bruce but no higher. Bruce can challenge Diane, Lionel or Dave.

TYPES OF CHALLENGE TOURNAMENTS Pyramid Tournament - similar to ladder tournaments - player/team must win at least one game on their row before challenging a player/team on a higher row - challenge one row up - tends to promote high number of games and equal competition amongst the players

TYPES OF CHALLENGE TOURNAMENTS Pyramid Tournament Matt John Amber Jack Cindy Michelle Deneille Suzanne Randy Rick Denielle challenges Suzanne and wins, she can now challenge either Jack, Cindy or Michelle.

TERMINOLOGY N = number of games Bye = a free game. Byes are usually used in tournaments with an odd number of teams. To determine the number of byes you subtract the number of teams from the next highest power of 2 (ex. 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128). 6 teams13 teams N = 6N = 13 Byes = 8-6 = 2 byesByes = = 3 byes

SEEDING - process by which players/teams are given a number based on their previous performance (or standing) to decide what players/teams will play each other - top team would be ranked #1, and would play the bottom ranked player/team - rewards players/teams for their league or round robin play - gives an advantage to the better players/teams ensuring that they will potentially meet up later on in the tournament

SINGLE ELIMINATION TOURNAMENTS - once you lose you are eliminated from the tournament - decides a winner quickly - brackets must be by 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 (ex. March Madness NCAA) - you must have proper seeding, proper number of byes, and have the total number of games (see examples on handout) 1 – bye

DOUBLE ELIMINATION TOURNAMENTS - when you lose two games you are eliminated from the tournament - there is a winners bracket and a losers bracket (see examples on handouts)

ROUND ROBIN TOURNAMENTS - provides the opportunity for a number of teams in a league to play against one another - takes a long time to play - single round robin means each team plays every other team once - double round robin means each team plays every other team twice - X is used to indicate a bye for that round - a bye is used when there is an odd number of teams - can have several pools for this type of tournament

ROUND ROBIN TOURNAMENTS To determine the number of rounds to be played in a single round robin: A) odd # of teams = N (ex. 5 teams = 5 rounds) B) even number of teams = N-1 (ex. 6 teams = 6-1 = 5 rounds) To determine the number of games in a tournament: A) single round robin: N(N-1)/2 (ex. 5 teams = 5(5-1)/2 = 10 games) B) double round robin: 2 X N(N-1)/2 (ex. 5 teams = 2 X 5(5-1)/2 = 20 games)

ROUND ROBIN TOURNAMENTS Even number of entries, rotate the entry numbers around #1 Example: 6 teams

ROUND ROBIN TOURNAMENTS Odd number of entries, rotate the teams around the bye. Example: 5 teams B B B B B

GAMES BEHIND LEADER - this is used in baseball by showing how far each team is behind the division leader TeamWinsLosses% A B C D Formula X = team that you are looking for (1 st place wins – wins of X) + (losses of X – losses of 1 st place)/2

GAMES BEHIND LEADER Ex. Team B = (20-15) + (3-0)/2 = 8/2 = 4 games behind Team C = (20-12) + (8-0)/2 = 16/2 = 8 games behind Team D = (20-19) + (2-0)/2 = 3/2 = 1.5 games behind If they have played the same number of games or an even amount in the difference (one has played 20 one has played 18), then you will have a whole number. If they have played a different amount of games with an odd number being the difference (20 games versus 19 games), then you will get a fraction of a half.

CALCULATING STANDINGS Point System - use wins, losses and ties to determine standings (ex. Win = 3 points, tie = 1 point, loss = zero points) - disadvantage is that every team must play the same number of games TeamGames Played (GP)WinsLossesTiesPoints Boston Toronto Montreal

CALCULATING STANDINGS Percentage System - establishes rankings easier as teams do not have to play the same number of games - there cannot be ties Game won/games played = 42/57 = TeamGames Played (GP)WinsLosses% Vancouver Seattle Minnesota