# Create a competition and take entries > Set up a ladder, box league, round robin or knockout, add players or let members enter, approve requests, then close entries and make the draw. Who this is for: Anyone with “Run competitions” (by default: Administrator, Sports Convener). Last checked in release 2026.10.28, on 28 October 2026. Source: https://sportsclubos.net/help/competitions/create/ A competition starts with entries open. You add players, or members enter themselves, or members ask and you approve. Nothing is drawn until you close entries: then the draw, boxes, fixtures or ladder are made from the club ratings, and play starts. ## Before you start - You need to be able to run competitions. The Sports Convener and the Administrator can by default. - Decide the kind of competition and its scoring. See [Ladders, boxes, round robins and knockouts](https://sportsclubos.net/help/competitions/formats/index.md). - For a tournament of several grades or sports, make it part of an event. See [Events with several grades and sports](https://sportsclubos.net/help/competitions/events/index.md). ## Create the competition 1. Open Club > Competitions > All competitions and press **New competition**. 2. Under **Part of an event?**, leave **No: it stands on its own**, choose an event, or choose **A new event…** and type its name. 3. Under **Sport**, choose **Squash**, **Tennis**, **Padel**, **Pickleball**, **Badminton** or **Snooker**, and **Singles** or **Doubles**. Padel is doubles only and snooker singles only. A sport the club has switched off on Admin > Settings, **Scoring**, is not listed. 4. Under **What kind**, choose **Ladder**, **Box league**, **Round robin** or **Knockout tournament**. 5. Type a number of players beside **What you will get with**. The panel shows what that would give: for a knockout, the size of the draw, the byes, the rounds and matches, and about how long it would take on the courts. ![The New competition panel. Part of an event? is set to "No: it stands on its own". Sport is Squash and Singles. Under What kind are Ladder, Box league, Round robin and Knockout tournament, each with a line saying what it is, with Knockout tournament chosen. "What you will get with 12 players" shows a draw of 16, 4 byes given to the top seeds, 4 rounds and 11 matches and 3 in the plate, and about 3 hours of play on 4 courts.](https://sportsclubos.net/help/img/comp-new-competition-1600.webp) *Change the number of players to see what the draw, boxes or table would look like. Shown in release 2026.10.29 · Competitions · as a Sports Convener.* 6. Under **Name and scoring**, type a **Name** (left empty, it is the sport and kind, such as "Squash Knockout tournament"), and choose **A match is**. Squash, tennis, padel, pickleball and badminton competitions start with the club's default for the sport: its rulebook (for squash, the World Squash Singles Rules 2025), or the club's own rule. Only the choices your club offers are listed, and a setting with one choice is not shown. Where the club offers them, you can also choose the sport's other settings: for squash, what happens at 10-all, **Between games**, **From the warm-up to play**, **When a player retires**, **A walkover in the table**, **Video review** and **Serves**; for the other sports, settings such as **At deuce** and **When a player retires**. The line under them says the rules in words, for example **Rules: Club rule: 90 seconds between games**. The options are set on Admin > Settings, Scoring: see [Choose the club's scoring rules](https://sportsclubos.net/help/competitions/scoring-settings/index.md). 7. Tick **Members ask to enter, and I approve each one** if you want to approve each entry. It is ticked to start with inside an event. 8. Under **Rules**, the usual ones are filled in. Change only what you need. 9. Press **Create and open entries** (or **Add to the event**). The message says **Created; entries are open**, and the competition opens on its **Players** tab. ## Take entries - **Add players yourself:** press **Add from the member list**. It lists members whose membership is active, strongest first, each with their member number and club rating in this sport. Type to find a name or number, tick the players, and press **Add** and the number, for example **Add 2**. The message says **2 added**. For doubles, tick two at a time: each two you tick become a pair. - **Members enter themselves:** they press **Enter** on the competition. Singles only; you enter doubles pairs. - **Members ask to enter:** with approval on, each request appears on the **Players** tab under **Waiting for your answer**, with the member's club rating beside the ratings already in the competition and the day they asked. Requests also appear on your **My matches** tab, counted in red. ![Squash C Grade, part of GPHC In House, with entries open: 4 entered so far and 3 waiting for approval, and the Close entries and make the draw button. On the Players tab, under Waiting for your answer, three members each show their club rating, the range of ratings in the grade so far and the day they asked, with No and Approve. Below them is the list of the four players entered, each with Withdraw.](https://sportsclubos.net/help/img/comp-entry-requests-1600.webp) *Each request shows the member's club rating beside the ratings already in the grade. Shown in release 2026.10.29 · Competitions · as a Sports Convener.* For each request press **Approve** or **No**. In an event you can instead choose **Put in another grade…** to approve them into another grade of the same sport that is still taking entries. The message says, for example, **Oliver Drummond is in Squash C Grade**. **Withdraw** beside a player takes them out while entries are open. ## Close entries and make the draw Press the gold button at the top. It says what it will do: - **Close entries and make the draw** for a knockout: **The draw is made**. - **Close entries and make the boxes** for a box league: **Boxes made from the club ratings**. - **Close entries and make the fixtures** for a round robin: **Fixtures made**. - **Open the ladder** for a ladder: **The ladder is open**. A knockout or a ladder needs at least 2 entries, and a box league or round robin at least 3. Every request must be answered first. Once a knockout or a round robin has started, nobody can be added. Players can still join a ladder or box league that is under way: at the bottom of the ladder, or in the bottom box next round. ## While it runs - Set each match's time and court: see [Set match times in the order of play](https://sportsclubos.net/help/competitions/order-of-play/index.md). - Close each round of a box league with **Close round** (press again to confirm). - Correct or remove any result, or record a walkover: see [Enter a match result](https://sportsclubos.net/help/competitions/enter-a-result/index.md). - Put its board on a TV: see [Wallboards and putting a board on a TV](https://sportsclubos.net/help/competitions/boards/index.md). - The **Rules** tab has the rules in words and **What has happened**, the competition's log of results and changes. A knockout finishes when every match has a result, and a round robin when every match has been played. The winner shows on the competition's card. ## If something goes wrong - **"3 still waiting for your answer."** Answer every entry request before closing entries. - **"This needs at least 3 entries."** Add more players. - **"Only members whose membership is active can be entered."** The member's membership has expired or is not active. - **"The draw is made, so nobody can be added now."** A knockout or round robin has started. - **"This competition has started. Record a walkover for any match that will not be played."** A player cannot be taken out once a knockout, box league or round robin has started. - **"Doubles: choose players two at a time, in the order they pair up."** Tick an even number of players. > **Note:** The Competitions page has no way to rename or delete a competition once it is made, or to change its scoring and rules. Check them before pressing **Create and open entries**. A competition made by mistake can be removed only by whoever looks after Sports Club OS for your club. > **Not built yet:** Entry fees, handicaps, and messages telling players they are in or drawn. See [What is not built yet](https://sportsclubos.net/help/reference/not-built/index.md).