Getting Started with Pickleball Tournaments (PT): Complete Setup Overview
Pickleball Tournaments (PT) is Pickleball.com's platform for creating, managing, and running pickleball tournaments. This guide walks you through the complete PT workflow from account setup through post-tournament wrap-up, with links to the detailed how-to articles for each step along the way.
Before You Begin
You need two things before you can create a tournament in PT:
- A Pickleball.com player account. This is your personal login. If you don't have one, create it at pickleball.com.
- A Club. Every tournament in PT must be associated with a Club. The Club is the organizing entity responsible for the tournament. If you don't have a Club yet, you'll need to create one before setting up your first tournament.
You don't need to run an ongoing club membership program to use the Club feature in PT. A Club in this context is simply the organizational account that owns and manages your tournaments. Many tournament directors create a Club specifically for this purpose.
Step 1: Create Your Tournament
Log in to Pickleball.com and click the Tournaments tab. You'll be redirected to Pickleballtournaments.com, where all PT management lives. Click Create a Tournament and you'll be prompted to:
- Select the Club the tournament is for (this lists all Clubs you manage)
- Select your Country
- Choose to start from a blank template or use one of PT's pre-built templates
See also: How to Use Premade Templates — if you want to start from a pre-configured structure rather than building from scratch.
Step 2: Tournament Setup
Once your Club is selected, you'll work through the tournament setup tabs. Each tab controls a different part of your tournament configuration:
| Setup tab | What it controls | Learn more |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Information | Tournament name, dates, registration window, public visibility | Tournament Creation: Basic Info |
| Registration Costs | Per-player registration fee charged at checkout | How to Set Up Registration Costs |
| Checkout Options | How players pay — Stripe, Pay Onsite, Pay Later, or Auto Redirect | Checkout Options |
| Logo / Flyer / Waiver | Upload your event branding and required waivers | How to Upload a Logo, Flyer, or Waiver |
| Discount Codes | Create and manage player registration discounts | How to Create and Apply a Discount Code |
| Sponsors | Add sponsor logos and information to your tournament listing | How to Add Sponsor Logos |
| Venue | Set the tournament location (pulls from your Club by default) | Venues |
| Amenities | Add hotel, rental car, or airline discount partnerships for traveling players | How to Add an Amenity |
| Managers | Add additional staff who need tournament management access | How to Add or Disable Managers |
Step 3: Create Events
At least one event is required before you can complete tournament setup. Events are the individual competitive divisions players register for — for example, Men's Doubles 3.5, Women's Doubles 4.0, or Mixed Doubles Open.
For each event you'll configure: skill level, format (round robin, single elimination, double elimination), age groups, registration capacity, event-specific fees, and more.
See: How to Set Up My Event in a Tournament for the full event configuration walkthrough.
Step 4: Complete Setup and Pay the Setup Fee
Once all events are configured, click Complete Setup. This finalizes your tournament structure and makes it ready to be listed publicly. You'll then pay the tournament setup fee from the Tournament Dashboard.
See: Understanding Your Tournament Dashboard for a full breakdown of the dashboard, fees, and financial reporting.
Step 5: Open Registration
Once setup is complete and your tournament is visible, players can register. Common tasks during the registration period:
- Move a player to the waitlist from the main draw
- Change a player's event after they've registered
- Manually add a player who is having trouble registering via the green Add New Attendee button in the Attendees tab
- Message players with updates or announcements
Step 6: After Registration Closes
Once registration closes, prepare your brackets and schedule before event day:
- Review for players without partners. Players without a listed partner can't participate. Withdraw them or move them to the waitlist if they haven't found a partner. See: How to Withdraw a Player.
- Merge events with low registration. If an event doesn't have enough teams, merge it with an adjacent event. See: How to Merge/Unmerge Events.
- Verify brackets. Once pools and brackets are finalized, verify them in the Live Console. See: How to Verify Brackets.
- Set start times. Use the Daily Planner to assign court times and send schedule notifications to players. See: How to Set Starting Times.
Step 7: Tournament Day
On event day, the Live Console is your operational hub:
- Start your events to move them to the Running tab and enable scoring.
- Use Court Desk to assign players to courts and send court notifications.
- Print scoresheets or use Court Desk for digital score entry.
- Enter scores as matches complete.
- Close and lock brackets once all results are in.
Step 8: Finalize and Pay
Once all events are marked complete, your tournament finalizes automatically. Your tournament will lock 5 days after the last event day, at which point a final invoice is generated. Any outstanding service fees or player text fees not covered by Stripe payments will be due at this time.
See: How and When a Tournament Is Charged for the full billing timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a Club to run a tournament?
A Club is the organizational account that owns your tournament in PT. It doesn't require an active membership program — many tournament directors create a Club purely to serve as the organizing entity for their events. You must have a Club before you can create a tournament.
How many events do I need to create before I can publish my tournament?
At least one event is required to complete tournament setup. You can add more events at any point before registration closes, though adding events after players have already registered requires care to avoid scheduling conflicts.
What does it cost to run a tournament in PT?
PT charges a one-time setup fee when you complete initial tournament setup, plus per-player service fees ($5 per event, up to $10 per player) collected at registration. Optional player text messaging is charged separately at $0.25 per player (US/Canada/Mexico). See Tournament Pricing for full details.
When does my tournament lock and when are fees due?
Your tournament locks automatically 5 days after the last event day. Once locked, the final invoice is generated. Any outstanding balance not covered by Stripe service fee collection will appear as a Balance Due in your Tournament Dashboard.
Related Resources
- How to Find Your Managed Tournament in PT — navigating to your tournament dashboard
- Understanding Your Tournament Dashboard — financial reporting and dashboard sections explained
- Tournament Pricing — setup fees, service fees, and billing details
- How and When a Tournament Is Charged — billing timeline
Have questions about getting started with PT? Reach out to our support team at support@pickleball.com — we're happy to help.