This article answers common questions about setting up tournaments, registering players, managing partners and waitlists, handling withdrawals and refunds, and syncing to Swish. For an introduction to Tournaments, see Introducing Tournaments (Beta).

No. Players register, pay, and sign waivers in CourtReserve, using the member portal or mobile app. Swish is only used to run the brackets.

Check that:

Staff need tournament permissions, or an assignment to a specific tournament plus the right coordinator settings on their profile. For details, see Tournament Staff Permissions.

Not yet. During the Beta, brackets run in Swish. Native CourtReserve brackets are planned for a later release.

Yes. On the Past tournaments tab of the Tournaments page, click the ... menu on the tournament and choose Run it again. You can also click Create Tournament and choose Start from existing. Either way, the tournament’s divisions, format, fees, and policies are copied, and you can change anything before you publish. For details, see Creating a Tournament.

Yes, with one limit. A player can't enter two divisions with the same format and gender, such as two Men's Doubles divisions at different skill levels. If they try, they see a message that they're already entered in a division of the same type and gender.

To let players enter a Pro or Open division on top of their skill division, edit that division and turn on Allow players to also enter their skill division.

The division shows the reason on the player's screen. Common reasons include:

Yes, if you're an admin or have the Can Register Against Tournament Restrictions permission. The entry is recorded as ineligible and marked Ineligible on the roster. To add a player to a division that's already full, you need the Allow exceeding maximum enrollment on a Full Division permission.

Yes. When registering, an adult account holder can choose who is entering each division, either themselves or a family member on their account. The family member is priced at their own membership type, and the account holder pays. Registration questions are answered separately for each family member. To pay for several family entries at once, they can click Pay next to the family total on the tournament page.

Only staff can withdraw a family member's registration.

Yes. In Add registration, click + Add a non-member (walk-up) and enter their name, email, and phone. They're added as a guest for this tournament only, and no CourtReserve account is created. If you send them a confirmation email, it includes a link to set up an account.

Walk-up guests can't join a waitlist. Add them to the division once a spot opens.

Yes. If a tournament requires waivers, players must accept and sign them before they can complete registration. Walk-up guests can sign on paper at the desk, or through a signing email.

If the tournament requires approval, players see Awaiting club approval after registering. Their spot is held, and they don’t pay until you approve the entry. They receive an email once you approve or reject it.

In a doubles or team division, a player can register on their own. Their entry is marked Looking for a partner, and a banner on the tournament's Registration stage shows how many players still need one.

To pair two solo players in the same division, click Match on either entry, or Link partner in its ... menu, and choose the other player. Both registrations stay as they are, so each player's fee and payment carry over to the team.

Note: An unpaid solo entry doesn’t hold a spot in the division until a partner is linked. A paid solo entry does.

When registering, a player can invite a partner by email. The player is entered on their own, and their partner receives an email with a Register Now button. The partner registers and pays for their own entry.

Invites don't expire, and no reminder is sent. If the partner never registers, the player stays entered on their own, and you can pair them with another player using Link partner.

Entry fees are charged per player. Each partner pays their own fee, unless one player pays for the other's entry when they register.

Click the ... menu on the team and choose Substitute partner. The player who created the entry keeps their spot. You can choose a different member or add a walk-up guest as the new partner.

If the division allows a waitlist, it shows Full · waitlist open, and players can click Join waitlist. Players aren't charged to join the waitlist. Doubles partners can wait together as one team.

When you click Promote on a waitlisted player, they're registered in the division right away. The entry fee is added to their account as a balance due, and they receive an email letting them know a spot opened.

In doubles divisions, promoted players join as a solo entry and show under Looking for a partner until a partner is linked.

Yes. In a full doubles or team division, a complete team can still register. When they do, the player who has been waiting longest without a partner gives up their spot and moves to the top of the waitlist, or is removed if they're a walk-up guest.

The player is notified, and any amount they paid goes to Pending Refunds for review. Before this happens, players without a partner see a message that their spot is held while space remains and that completing their team locks it in.

Note: A player who has invited a partner who hasn't registered yet keeps their spot.

If the tournament allows players to withdraw on their own, they open their registration and click Manage. Players on a team can choose to Withdraw just yourself, which leaves their partner registered and looking for a partner, or Withdraw full team. Every withdrawal requires a reason.

Players can't withdraw online if:

In these cases, the player is asked to contact the organizer.

On the tournament's Registration stage, click the ... menu on the player's entry and choose Withdraw. Enter a reason, and choose whether to send the player a withdrawal notice. Staff can withdraw players at any time, even after the player withdrawal deadline.

To review refund requests, navigate to Transactions > Refunds > Pending Refunds. To refund a player directly, click the ... menu on their entry and choose Refund.

No. Tournaments doesn't charge no-show or late-withdrawal fees. To limit refunds for late withdrawals, set a refund deadline on the Polish & Policies step. After the deadline, you decide on refunds through Pending Refunds.

To cancel a division that didn't fill, use Cancel division in the Prep checklist under Resolve undersized divisions. Each player in the division is withdrawn and notified, and each paid entry gets a full refund request in Pending Refunds. The division and its courts are then removed. You can’t cancel a published tournament’s only remaining division. To cancel it, cancel the tournament instead.

To cancel a tournament, open it, click Setup in the progress tracker, and click Cancel tournament in the Danger zone. Enter a reason to confirm.

When you cancel:

Waitlisted players aren't notified when a tournament is cancelled.

New registrations, withdrawals, and partner changes don't sync the moment they happen. If Keep in sync with Swish is on, they reach Swish at the next automatic refresh, every 6 hours, or the next time you save changes to the tournament. To send them right away, click Sync now on the tournament's Bracket stage.

Swish can run round robin formats with set or rotating partners, single and double elimination brackets, singles, Minor League Pickleball, and custom teams. It can't run double round robin or pool play formats. For the full list, see Sync a Tournament to Swish.

No. Swish receives each division's name, format, and maximum spots, plus each registered player's name and DUPR ID. Payment status, waitlisted players, and withdrawn or unapproved registrations aren't sent.

Tournaments brings registration, payments, and player communication into CourtReserve, while Swish runs the brackets on tournament day. If you have a question that isn't answered here, contact our Customer Support team via live chat or email.