Team Up Help – Edit Configuration Screen (v1.1)

In the Edit Configuration screen, you specify the rules for your event. And, very importantly, you specify what factors Team Up should prioritize when automatically generating matches. You get to this screen in the following ways:

  • From the Event Configurations screen, when you click click the round button in the lower right corner, you can create a new default event configuration.
  • From the Event Configurations screen, when you long-click on a configuration, the following menu options bring you to this screen:
    • New: To create a new default event configuration.
    • Edit: To edit the default event configuration you long-clicked on.
    • Copy: To make a copy of the default event configuration you long-clicked on and then bring you to the Edit Configuration screen to edit it.
    • View: To see the default event configuration in read-only mode.
  • From the Edit Event screen, when you click on the Edit Configuration button, you can edit the configuration used for that specific event.
Edit Configuration

The Edit Configuration screen has these fields:

  • Name: You assign an alphanumeric name to each default event configuration. The names don’t have to be unique, but, to avoid confusion, it is recommended that you make them unique.
  • Pts to win: The number of points needed to win a game.
  • Players/team: The number of players per team. This can be 2 or 3.
  • Num courts: Number of volleyball courts available. Team Up will not allow more than this number of active games to exist at the same time. When generating matches, Team Up will generate this number of matches if there are enough players and there are no active games. See note below for more discussion about this.
  • Rally scoring: Check this box if rally scoring is used in the event. Uncheck it if old-school scoring is used.
  • Late arrival penalty: If this box is checked, players who are added to an event after games have already been completed get penalized in the Generate Match screen. Normally, the Generate Match screen attempts to make sure everyone plays the same number of games. If the late arrival penalty field is not checked, late arriving players will be assigned to every possible match until they have played the same number of games as everyone else. However, if it IS checked, late arriving players will be treated as if they had already played the same number of games as everyone else, so they won’t necessarily be assigned to every possible new match.

Match Generation Priorities

The match generation priorities are the key to how Team Up automatically generates matches. They appear as a list below the “Late arrival penalty” check box. The items higher in the list have higher priority.

  • To move an item up or down, long-click it and drag it up or down.
  • To delete an item from the list, swipe it to the left or right.
  • To add an item to the list, click the three vertical dots in the upper right corner and choose the item from the menu displayed.

Three Vertical Dots: If you click on the three vertical dots in the top right corner, in addition to see possible priorities to add, you will get these menu options:

  • Display Log: Shows the Session Log screen.
  • Help: Displays this web-based help page.

Priorities

In generating matches, Team Up always gives the highest priority to making sure everyone plays the same number of games (except as described above for the Late arrival penalty, and as described below for co-ed events). After that, it applies the priority items specified in the Edit Configuration priority list. In the first round of play, before any matches have been played, Team Up assigns teams and matches randomly. Available priorities include:

  • Avoid repeat teammates
  • Avoid repeat opponents
  • Equalize on points
  • Equalize on games
  • Co-ed teams
  • King of the Court

Priorities

These other priorities can be mixed and matched as desired:

  • Avoid repeat teammates: Team Up will try to avoid putting players on teams with other players they’ve already teamed up with.
  • Avoid repeat opponents: Team Up will try to avoid matching players against other players they’ve already played against.
  • Equalize on points: Team Up will try to create equally matched teams, using points for and against to equalize the teams. See note below for more information.
  • Equalize on games: Team Up will try to create equally matched teams, using won-loss record to equalize the teams. For example, if player A is 5-1, players B and C are 3-3, and player D is 1-5, Team Up might create a match in which A and D play against B and C. See note below for more information.
  • Co-ed teams: Every team will include at least one guy and one woman. If this priority is chosen, Team Up will equalize games played within the group of guys and independently within the group of women. For example, if there are five guys and four women playing on two courts, the four women will play every game while one guy will have to sit out each round.

King of the Court

King of the Court is handled differently than the other priorities. In King of the Court, Team Up assigns the players with the best records to the first court; those with the next best records are assigned to the second court; and so on. This method helps ensure that the players who are playing well on a given day will play against each other, and those who are having an off-day will play against each other.

If several players have equal records and there are too many such ties to fit on one court, they are assigned randomly to their eligible courts. For example, in a doubles event, if three players have 3-1 records and four players have 2-2 records, Team Up will randomly assign one of those four players to the first court and the other three will go to the second court.

Within a particular court, Team Up will attempt to create the most equal teams possible. Although Team Up tries to avoid repeating teammates, it gives higher priority to creating equal teams. For example, if players A and B are both 3-1 and players C and D are 2-2, Team Up will put player A with either C or D, but not with B, no matter how many times A has played with C or D.

You can change that priority by adding “Avoid repeat teammates” to the priority list. In that case, within a particular court, Team Up will give equalization of teams a lower priority than avoiding repeat teammates.

The only priority that can be specified at the same time as King of the Court is “Avoid repeat teammates”.

Priorities

These other priorities can be mixed and matched as desired. Note that these are priorities, not guarantees! A more important constraint may prevent one or more of the priorities from taking effect. For example, the highest constraint is to equalize playing time, so if the only way to achieve that is by not respecting one of the priorities, so be it.

  • Avoid repeat teammates: Team Up will try to avoid putting players on teams with other players they’ve already teamed up with.
  • Avoid repeat opponents: Team Up will try to avoid matching players against other players they’ve already played against.
  • Equalize on points: Team Up will try to create equally matched teams, using points for and against to equalize the teams. See note below for more information.
  • Equalize on games: Team Up will try to create equally matched teams, using won-loss record to equalize the teams. For example, if player A is 5-1, players B and C are 3-3, and player D is 1-5, Team Up might create a match in which A and D play against B and C. See note below for more information.

Notes

  • Num Courts: If you have a lot of players and not enough courts, you should consider setting Num Courts to the number of courts that would theoretically allow the highest number of players to play at the same time. This will allow Team Up to do a better job at optimizing the pairings. For example, if, in a doubles event, you have eight players but just one court, it would make sense to set Num Courts to 2. That way, Team Up will generate two matches each round, and you’ll need to play them consecutively on the one court.
  • Mixing and matching: You can specify more than one priority in the priority list. For example, in the screen capture above, the event configuration specifies two priorities: “Avoid repeat teammates” and “Equalize on games”. So Team Up will give most importance to trying to make sure that players don’t play with the same teammates very often. But, given that constraint, Team Up will also try to create equal teams in each match.
  • Equalize on points: Because it is possible that players have not all played the same number of games, this priority method doesn’t use absolute number of points to equalize the teams. Instead, it creates teams that have the closest possible ratio of “points for” to total points.
  • Equalize on games: Again, because it is possible that players have not all played the same number of games, this priority method doesn’t use absolute won-loss record to equalize teams. Instead, it creates teams that have the closest win percentage.