Create a Tournament
The tournament wizard walks you through four steps to set up a complete event. Most tournaments can be configured in under five minutes.
Step 1: Event Details
Start with the essential details of your tournament.
Tournament Name
Enter a descriptive name, e.g., "Spring Classic 2026".
Bowling Center
Search the center directory by name. The address auto-fills when you select a center from the directory.
Start & End Dates
Set the start date. For multi-day tournaments, also set an optional end date.
Event Type
Choose the type of competition: Singles, Doubles, Trios, Teams, Baker, or All Events. This determines team sizes and registration requirements.
Sanctioned & Handicap
Toggle USBC sanctioned status. Set handicap mode (percentage of target or scratch), percentage, and target average.
Step 2: Structure, Squads & Divisions
Choose how your tournament is organized, configure squads, and set up divisions.
Tournament Structure
Select the format that fits your event:
- Simple Sweeper — Single event, everyone bowls together, total pins wins.
- Multi-Squad — Multiple qualifying squads with combined or per-squad standings.
- Match Play — Qualifying squads feed into match play finals for top bowlers.
- Elimination — Qualifying squads feed into bracket elimination for top bowlers.
Qualifying Squads
For multi-squad, match play, and elimination tournaments, each squad is a qualifying session. Configure for each squad:
- Squad Name — e.g., "Squad A", "Saturday 9 AM"
- Time — when the squad bowls
- Games — number of qualifying games
- Lane Range — which lanes are available (e.g., lanes 1-24)
- Max Entries — squad capacity (leave blank for unlimited)
Finals Configuration
For match play and elimination structures, configure how many bowlers advance from each squad and the finals format (number of rounds, bracket size, games per round, byes).
Divisions
Create divisions to group bowlers by eligibility. Each division can have its own criteria:
- Open — no restrictions
- Average Range — min/max average limits
- Age Range — age-based eligibility
- Gender — gender-specific divisions
Tip
You can save division and squad templates in Tournament Options so you don't have to reconfigure them each time.
Step 3: Funding & Payouts
Set up the financial structure for your tournament.
- Entry Fee — total amount each bowler pays to enter
- Lineage — portion that goes to the bowling center for lane usage
- Admin Fee — your operating costs (optional)
- Added Money — additional prize money contributed by sponsors or the house
- Payout Ratio — what ratio of entries receive payouts (e.g., 1 in 4, 1 in 5)
Director automatically calculates the total prize fund using the formula: (Entry Fee - Lineage - Admin Fee) × Entries + Added Money. The live preview updates as you adjust values.
Step 4: Side Pots (Optional)
Optionally create side pots during tournament setup. You can also add them later.
Available side pot types:
- High Game — highest single game wins
- High Series — highest total pinfall wins
- Brackets — head-to-head bracket competition
- Eliminator — lowest score eliminated each game
- Mystery Doubles — randomly paired partners compete together
- Survivor — last bowler standing
- Strikeout — most strikes in a session
For each side pot, set the name, buy-in price, number of payout positions, and whether it is scratch-only or allows multi-entry.
Tip
After completing all four steps, tap Create Tournament. You can edit any setting later from the tournament detail screen.
After Creation
Once your tournament is created, you can:
- Publish — make it visible to bowlers for online registration
- Share Links — get shareable registration and standings URLs with QR codes
- Add Staff — assign team members with role-based access (scorers, assistants, viewers)
- Manage Entries — add bowlers manually or approve online registrations
- Sync Standings — push live standings to the public page during the event
See Entries & Check-In, Standings, and Registrations for next steps.