Pick a format
Five formats, chosen when you create the tournament:
- Round robin + bracket. Everyone plays everyone, then a playoff bracket.
- Pools + bracket. Teams split into pools, then the top finishers advance. How pool play to bracket works.
- Pool play. Pools only, with each pool's winner crowned.
- Bracket only. Straight to single elimination.
- Swingers. Rotating partners with individual scoring, a King or Queen of the Beach. How rotating partner tournaments work.
Teams can be 2s up to 6s. Seed teams yourself or let Sideout draw them at random.
One tap builds the schedule
When the teams are in, tap Lock Roster. Sideout builds every game, sorts them into waves across your courts so no team is ever booked on two courts at once, and gives sit-outs fairly when the numbers are odd.
Every court, live
Games show up court by court. Players get a push when they are two games out to warm up, and again when they are up next on their court. Scores can be posted by you, your referees, or (if you allow it) the players in the match. Turn on live scoring and anyone watching can follow a game point by point.
If two people post different scores for the same game, the first one counts and you get flagged to check it. You can always overwrite a score.
Move things around when the day goes sideways
A court floods, a net breaks, a team is late. Move a game to another court or up and down the queue, and Sideout stops you from putting a team on two courts at once. Record a forfeit in one tap. Everyone affected gets a push.
From pools to playoffs
When every pool game is in, you tap Continue to Playoffs. Sideout seeds the bracket from the pool results, gives byes to the top seeds, and locks the pool scores so the seeding cannot drift. The bracket can run on fewer courts than pool play did.
Divisions, co-ed rules and co-admins
- Divisions. Run several skill levels in one event (for example A, AA and Open), each with its own pools, bracket and courts, under one name, one invite link and one feed.
- Who plays. Open, at least one woman per team, or mixed pairs, set for the whole event or per division.
- Co-admins. Add other directors who can do everything except delete the tournament.
Players and spectators
Send one invite link for players and another for spectators. Each team gets its own link to fill open spots. Players check in from their phone. Spectators can follow the scores, and you can make any of them a referee.
The tournament has its own feed with photos, clips and reactions, and Sideout posts round results and the champions automatically. When you end the event, everyone sees a podium and a champion card they can share.
What it costs
Sideout is free on iPhone and Android. You can also run your tournament from a computer at sideoutsports.net.