Competitions

The Competitions Section within the GAA system allows the Competition Administrator to manage the competitions that have been created, to add/edit and clone existing competitions.

Click on a topic below for instructions on how to carry out the action -

• View Competitions
• Add a New Competition
• Clone an existing competition
• Fixture Generation Options
• SMS Fixture Options
• Archive Competitions
• Delete a Competition
• Assign Referees to a Competition
• Move Rounds
• Manage Groups

View Competitions

This page provides users with the ability to view and edit the full list of active Competitions on the system for the County\Province in question.

The Records Per Page drop down control can be updated to adjust the number of Competitions listed within the Competitions table.

The following details are displayed for each Competition:

• Rank
• Group ID
• Competition (Name)
• Competition ID
• Division (Name)
• Type
  • League
  • Cup
• Grade
• Season
• Fixtures (Count)

By default the Competitions are ordered based on:

• Rank
• Competition Group Name
• Competition Name

The list of Competitions displayed in the Table can be filtered based on the Owner of the Competition. For example, the table can be filtered to display only competitions from a specific Competition Administrator.

The contents of the Competitions Table can be sorted by clicking on the column headings. For example, to sort the Competitions by Name, click on the Competition (Name) heading.

The contents of the Competitions Table can be exported to PDF, Word or Excel format.

Figure 1– View Competitions- showing competitions ordered by Rank. 

Add a New Competition

To create a brand new Competition perform the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Competitions page.

2. Click the Add button.

3. Step 1 – Initial Options

a. Select the Create a New Competition option

Figure 2 – Create Competition Wizard - Step 1

4. Step 2 – Competition Details

a. Specify values for each of the following properties:

• Competition Name
• Sponsor
• Competition Owner-
• Defaults to the name of the current user.
• Rank-
• Modifying the rank will change the ordering of the competitions in the system. A competition with rank 1 is more than important than a competition than rank 10.
• Season
• Competition Format-
1. League
2. Knockout*(See details below)
3. League\Knockout
• Competition Type** (See Below)
• Competition Grade
• Competition Discipline
1. Football
2. Hurling
• Age Level
• Gender
• Referee Pool
• Venue Pool

b. Specify the Match Official options that will apply to fixtures in this Competition. Check the box of each Match official type that applies.

• Set Referees
• Set Standby Referees
• Set Linesmen
• Set Sideline Officials
• Set Assessors

Figure 3 – Add Competition - Step 2

**Depending on what you select for ‘Competition Type’ will filter what you can select for ‘Competition Grade’ and ‘Age Level’.

Example:

• If you always want your senior fixtures to appear first when making calls to the Fixtures and Results XML feed, then set a rank of 1 on all senior fixtures. The Competitions in question will then always be ranked or displayed first on your website.

c. Click the Next button.

5. Step 3 – Competition Format Setup

If you selected 'League' for Competition Format you will be asked to specify values for each of the following:

 

League Format Setup

• Number of Divisions
  • 1-10
• Number of Legs
  • 1-2

League Table Options

• Points for a Win
• Points for a draw
• Points for a loss
• Points for a walkover

c. Specify the preferences for ordering the League Table:

• Total Points
• Head to Head
• Score Conceded

These options will be used to determine the ordering of the League Table placings in the event of a tie.

Figure 4 - Step 3 when you select 'League' for 'Competition Format'.

If you selected 'Knockout' for Competition Format you will be asked to specify values for each of the following:

Knockout Format Setup

• Number of Knockout Divisions

Figure 5 - Step 3 when you select 'Knockout' for Competition Format

If you selected 'League/Knockout' for Competition Format you will be asked to specify values for all of the above fields.

Once you have filled in the required fields based on what Competition Format you selected -

d. Click the Next button.

6. Step 4 – Allocate Teams

a. Using the Filter options above the Division tables, select the Teams that will take part in the Competition.

Example 1

For example, to select Counties in Ulster specify the following filter properties:

• Club Type = County
• Province = Ulster
• County= All Counties

Example 2

To select Club teams in Co.Meath specify the following filter properties:

• Club Type = Club
• Province = Leinster
• County= Meath/An Mhí

b. Select the checkboxes of the teams in the left hand table that you wish to enter in the Competition.

c. Click the Add button to move the selected Teams to the right hand table.

OR

Drag and drop the selected Teams to the right hand table.

d. Choose the preferred option for generating Fixtures.

• Use Matrix to Create Fixtures (The Fixtures will be created for the user automatically using Matrix)
• Manually Create Fixtures (The user must create the fixtures themselves)
• Randomly Generate Fixtures from Selected Teams (You cannot use this option if you have set Competition Format to Knockout in Step 2).

To see screenshots for these options see step 5. For further details on these options see section on Fixture Generation Options below.

Figure 6– Showing Fixture Creation Option (bottom, left of screenshot)

e. NOTE -

Click the Save Now button if you wish to save your competition without proceeding any further through the Competition Wizard (i.e. Before Fixtures are created).

f. Click the Next button to continue.

7. Step 5 – Create Fixtures

a. Specify values for each of the following properties:

• Division Name
• Division Abbreviation

b. Specify values for each of the following SMS properties:

• Confirm Officials availability via SMS
• Score Undateable via SMS
• Fixture Reminder SMS
• Administrator Alerts (Unavailability)
• Administrator Alerts (No Reply)
• Administrator Score Request
• Allow Postponing by SMS
• Referee must text ‘PP’ to postpone a fixture
• Allow Abandoning by SMS
• Referee must text ‘AB’ to abandon a fixture
• Allow Walkovers by SMS
• Referee must text ‘H WO A CC’ or ‘H CC A WO’ to call a walkover for a fixture.
• SMS Walkovers require confirmation
• NOTE: if this is set and the referee texts back a walkover, it will appear in the results section of the system as awaiting confirmation. To confirm the user can either edit and save the result or tick the box beside it and click on ‘Confirm Walkover’.

• Show Home Team instead of Venue in SMS

 

Figure 7– Create Fixtures - Showing SMS Details - Step 5

 

For details on these options see section on SMS Fixture Options below.

c. Generate fixtures for the Competition. The options available on this page will vary based on the Fixture Generation option selected in the previous step.

d. Click the Next button to continue.

8. Step 6 - Allocate Referees

a. Select Referees for each of the Fixtures created in the previous step, if required.

NOTE – This is an optional step. Match officials may be assigned to the fixture at a later stage.

b. Click the Save button associated with each fixture that has been updated.

c. Once a Referee has been assigned to a fixture it will be removed from the table.

d. Click the Finish button.

9. The Competition has now been successfully created.

10. The user will be directed back to the View Competitions page where they may view the high level properties of the competition.

NOTE – The set of steps presented above is a basic example and may not be representative of the actual number of steps involved in the creation of a real-world competition. The number of steps involved will vary depending on the type of competition (i.e. League, Knockout or both) and the complexity involved (i.e. Number of teams, number of division, number of legs, etc).

 

 

Figure 8– Allocate Referees - Step 6

Clone an Existing Competition

To clone an existing Competition perform the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Competitions page.

2. Click the Add button.

3. Step 1 – Initial Options

a. Select the Create an Existing Competition option.

b. Specify the season in which the Competition you wish to clone took place. (e.g. 2009).

c. Select the competition from the drop down list provided that you wish to clone.

d. Click the Next button.

Figure 9 – Create Competition – Clone Option

4. Step 2 – Competition Details

a. The properties of the cloned competition will be populated within the Step 2 screen.

b. Adjust the properties as or if required.

c. Click the Next button.

5. Proceed through the remaining steps in the Wizard to complete the creation of the Competition. 

Fixture Generation Options

When utilising the Wizard to create a Competition there are three options available for the creation of fixtures:

• Use Matrix to Create Fixtures

When this option is specified the Competition Owner has the ability to select the preferred Competition Matrix.

The type of matrix available depends on the style of Competition involved.

The user also has the ability to define and use their own (League) Matrices, to create a User Defined Matrix carry out the following:

1. Go to 'Matrix Templates'
2. In the Search Box, make sure 'My Matrices' is selected
3. Click 'Add'

Figure 10– User Defined Matrix

 

4. Enter values for 'Name' and 'Number of teams' properties'.

5. Click 'Finish'

6. Your Matrix will now be added to the list of 'My Matrices'.

Championship Matrix

A Championship Matrix caters for competitions involving a structured knockout. The winners of each knockout round are automatically populated into the next round.
This option is available when a Knockout or League\Knockout

League Matrix

League matrices may be pre-defined on the system or alternatively may be user defined.

See section below for details on adding a League Matrix.

Once a Matrix has been selected the screen will be refreshed and the fixture options will be displayed.

The option to reverse the Matrix is also provided.

Figure 11–Create Fixtures - For 'Use Matrix to Create Fixtures' in Step 4

• Manually Create Fixtures

When this option is specified the Competition Owner has the ability to manually specify the details of the fixtures.

All fixtures added during the current session for the Competition in question are listed in a Table below the Create Fixture options.

• Randomly Generate Fixtures from Selected Teams

When this option is specified the system will automatically generate fixtures based upon the number of teams involved in the Competition.

The Competition Owner may specify the following options:

• Extra Time Allowed
• Dates may be specified
• Competition start date
• Days and times on which the fixtures will take place.

When you enter a Competition Start Date and specify the days and times the fixtures are to take place on and click ‘Generate’, the fixtures will automatically be organised according to your selection.

NOTE – Regardless of the selected Fixture Generation option it is possible to both adjust all fixtures and add additional fixtures at a later stage.

SMS Fixture Options

When utilising the Wizard to create a Competition there are several options available for how the built in SMS functionality can be utilised:

• Confirm Officials availability via SMS

When this option is selected the Match Officials will receive an SMS requesting that they confirm their availability for the fixture to which they have been assigned.

The options are Yes / Yes (No Reply) / No - Choosing Yes (No Reply) will force the referee to be allocated to the fixture.

Once this option is selected, the Competition Administrator can specify the number of days prior to the fixture when the availability SMS should be sent.

• Score Updatable via SMS

When this option is selected Match Officials will receive an SMS request following the fixture to ask them to text back the score.

The result of the fixture will be automatically updated once the SMS response if received from the Official.

• Fixture Reminder SMS

When this option is selected Match Officials will receive an SMS reminder two hours before the fixture to which they are assigned is due to start.

• Administrator Alerts (Unavailability)

When this option is selected the Competition Administrator\Owner will receive an SMS alert if the Match Official has responded to an availability request to say that they are unavailable.

• Administrator Alerts (No Reply)

When this option is selected the Competition Administrator\Owner will receive an SMS alert if the Match Official fails to respond to an availability request two days after it is sent.

• Administrator Score Request

When this option is selected the Competition Administrator\Owner will receive an SMS alert, asking them to provide a result for a fixture, if the Match Official assigned to fixture has failed to provide a result two hours after they are sent an SMS requesting the score.

• Send Availability Request how many days before fixture?

You can enter a specific number of days in the text box.

• Allow Postponing by SMS

When this option is selected allows the referee to reply PP to set the game as postponed.  

• Allow Abandoning by SMS

When this option is selected allows the referee to reply AB to set the game as abandoned.  

• Allow Walkovers by SMS

When this option is selected allows the referee to reply H WO A CC to set the game as walkover.

NOTE: If a game is marked as a walkover the game will not appear within the results feed unless accepted by the competition administrator.

• Allow Walkovers by SMS

When this option is selected it displays the home team instead of venue in SMS messages.                            

Archive a Competition

To Archive one or more Competitions perform the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Competitions page.

2. Click the checkboxes associated with each of the Competitions you wish to delete.

3. Click the Archive button.

4. The specified Competition(s) will be archived.

5. The Competitions Table will be refreshed and the archived Competitions(s) will be removed.

6. The archived Competitions may now be viewed from within Archive section. See section on Competition Archive for more details on Archived Competitions.

Delete a Competition

To delete one or more Competitions perform the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Competitions page.

2. Click the checkboxes associated with each of the Competitions you wish to delete.

3. Click the Delete button.

4. Click Yes on the pop-up to confirm that you wish to delete the selected Competition(s).

5. The specified Competition(s) will be marked as deleted.

6. The Competitions Table will be refreshed and the deleted Competitions(s) will be removed.

NOTE – This action is non-reversible and should only be performed in circumstances where a Member must be fully removed from a Club.

 

Assign Referees to a Competition

To manually assign referees to a competition, use the 'Assign Referee' button , which you will see in Figure 1 above.

1. Click 'Assign Referee'.
2. Use the drop down list beside 'Competitions' to select a Competition that you would like to assign a referee for.
3. Under 'Select Referee' in the table, select a referee from the drop down list to assign it to that particular competition.
4. Once you assign a referee a 'Save' button will appear - if you choose to assign referees to more than one competition you must save each one individually.

Figure 12- Assign Referees to a Competition

 

   5. On clicking 'Save' you can select to 'Notify referee of appointment via sms' before confirming you action.

  

 

 

Figure 13 | Confirm your action with the option to notify the referee via SMS.

Move Round

To change the date of a round within a Competition use the 'Move Round' button shown in Figure 1

1. Click 'Move Round'
2. Use the drop down menu beside 'Competitions' to select a Competition
3. Under 'New Date' in the table, select the time and date fields to use the calendar and time features to select the new date/time. If the date is not yet  confirmed click 'No exact date'.
4. Click the 'Submit' button that has now appeared

Figure 14 | Change the date/time of a round within a Competition

 

  5. You will be given the option to notify the referee by SMS of the change of time/date of the fixture by ticking the box, click 'Ok'

 

Manage Groups

The Manage Groups functionality enable you to move divisions from one competition to the other.

1. Click 'Manage Groups'
2. Select the season
3. From the drop down list on the left, select the Competition that you would like to move a division(s) from
4. Now select the division(s) that you wish to move to another competition by using the check boxes beside each division name 
5. Using the drop down list on the right, select the Competition that you would like to move the selected divisions to.
6. Click 'Add' to move the divisions you have selected on the left in to this Competition
7. You can also use 'Remove' to remove divisions from a competition on the right hand side in to the competition on the left hand side.
8. Click 'Finish'

Figure 15 | Manage Groups of divisions