League opt-in

Use league opt-in to collect player availability before each round so you only generate matches for players who are actually playing that week. You can set an opt-in deadline and add reminders so players are notified before the deadline through their preferred channels.

How league opt-in works

League opt-in is different from tournament check-in. Instead of confirming that a player has arrived on site, league opt-in tracks whether each player plans to play in the upcoming round. If you need the tournament attendance workflow, see Check-in and check-out.

Each player has one of three statuses for the upcoming round:

• Waiting: The player has not responded yet.

• Opted In: The player confirmed they are playing.

• Opted Out: The player said they are not playing, or they missed the deadline.

Set the opt-in deadline

1. Open your league and go to Event Settings.

2. Select Set Opt-In Deadline.

3. Enter how many hours before the round starts opt-in should close.

4. Save your changes.

You can use fractional values. For example, 0.5 closes opt-in 30 minutes before the round starts.

Add opt-in reminders

Once you set a deadline, a Reminders section appears below it. Tap Add Reminder to schedule when players get nudged. You can add up to 5 reminders.

Reminders go to players who are still in Waiting status before opt-in closes. Players receive reminders based on their notification preferences:

• Push notifications on their phone (on by default)

• Email (on by default)

• Text messages (players need to turn this on in their profile settings)

What players see

Players get a message telling them their current status and how much time remains. For example:

• "You haven't opted in yet for Mixed Doubles. You have 6 hours left to decide."

• "You're opted in for Singles. You have 3 hours left to change your mind."

The message includes a link to the Player Hub where they can tap Opt In or Opt Out.

Set round dates for your league

For leagues that use play dates, set your round dates first because the opt-in deadline countdown is calculated from each round date.

For Ladder leagues:

1. Open the Matches tab.

2. Click the admin button.

3. Click Manage League Dates.

4. Add each round date for your ladder league.

For Round-Robin leagues, see Managing play dates in Round-Robin leagues.

Players see these dates in the app, and the opt-in deadline countdown is calculated from each round date.

What happens each round

1. After a regular league round ends, player statuses reset to Waiting for the next round.

2. Before the next round, players use the app to opt in or opt out. For the player steps, see Opting in or out of a league week.

3. If you added reminders, Good Game Sports sends them before the deadline through each player's preferred notification channels.

4. When you generate matches, Good Game Sports only includes players whose status is Opted In.

5. Players who are still Waiting when the deadline passes are treated as Opted Out for that round.

In regular leagues, Good Game Sports resets players back to Waiting at about 6:00 AM in your facility's timezone after a round ends. You can also reset everyone manually from the Players tab with Bulk Set Waiting.

What you can manage as a host

Use the Players tab to review each player's opt-in status and filter the list by availability. In group management, player chips also show opt-in status so you can see who is available before you assign courts or groups.

If a player contacts you after the deadline, you can update their status manually before you generate matches.

League play date behavior

In leagues that use play dates—including Ladder leagues and Round-Robin leagues with rotating partners—opt-in is tracked by round date instead of one shared league-wide status. A player can be opted in for one date and opted out for another. When you generate matches for a specific date, Good Game Sports only includes players opted in for that date.

These leagues do not use the same round-to-round reset flow as regular leagues. Instead, each round date keeps its own opt-in responses.

Opted-out players appear in the Excluded section of the group editor so you can see who is not participating for that date.

If you imported players into the league, they begin in a waiting status until they respond. See Create an event with bulk player upload.

Tips

• Let your players know—when you first turn on reminders, give your group a heads-up that they'll start getting notifications and should check their notification settings in the app.

What to do next

After you set the deadline and reminders, confirm your player list, then generate matches when your opted-in players are final. If players need instructions, send them to Opting in or out of a league week.