Closing registrations

During the advertising and registration phase, it is prudent to regularly check the list of registrations, as there is no way to limit the number on iSquash, and you don't want to end up with heaps above your limit. The tctools toolkit contains a simple script that you can invoke regularly to snapshot registrations at any given time.

It may be a good idea to close registrations at 80–90% capacity, before specifically targetting members of your club, or inviting others you'd like to play.

There are two ways to closing registrations:

  1. Noting that the event has closed, and downloading the registrations so as to snapshot the list of registered players at the time;
  2. Hiding the event from iSquash, and putting a new event in place which serves as a waiting list.

Both approaches fundamentally serve the same purpose: you get a set list of players, and when someone pulls our due to a change of plans, or an injury, you will hopefully have another player ready to take their spot. If the draws have not been made, this can be any player, but if you've already drafted the draws, it pays to have a full waiting list so that there's a higher chance of another player in the same grade range able to slot right in.

Using a single iSquash event

The first approach is slightly easier at first, but you'll later end up with two lists that may diverge. Also, leaving the main event up there means that people can just deregister themselves, without you finding out until you compare the status quo to the snapshot, and work out the intersection between the two sets.

Again, the ?tctools scripts take care of that for you though, and with these helpers, all you have to do is run scripts/snapshot_registrations.sh at regular intervals, and it'll split the registered players into those who have made the cut, and those who are still on the waiting list. The way it works is by comparing all snapshots created, and keeping track of who registered when. The more often you run it, the better it'll be able to determine just who should make the cut because they were slightly earlier than the rest, because if two players register between any two runs, and there is only one space left, it'll be the higher graded player who gets the go, even if the lower graded player registered earlier — there is no other way of doing it than snapshots, since iSquash does not record registration times.

Using a separate waiting list event

The second approach takes a bit more effort, but you may prefer it in that it keeps the list of confirmed registrations separate from the waiting list. Moreover, if people want to pull out, they have to do so by letting you know, and you can then immediately look into filling their spot.

To hide an event from iSquash, set the "last registration date" property to yesterday's date, and create a new event, advertised as "waiting list", into which you copy-paste the details from the main event.

The downsides of having a separate event in place as the waiting list are:

  • Interested layers might hesitate to sign up to a waiting list, and feel left out.
  • Already registered players will re-register on the waiting list, no matter how much you tell them that this is not necessary;
  • Since the event no longer shows up on iSquash along with the yellow star for registered players, people might — no — people will forget that they've registered;

Whichever approach you use is up to you. Before tctools' automation, the waiting list was the saner albeit more elaborate approach. With the help of tctools, the snapshot approach is likely to be a lot easier and flexible, if you can ensure that the snapshots are generated frequently.

Now is the right time to drop all registrants an email, to inform them that registrations have closed, and ask if any plans have changed, so that you can update the list of players right away.

Let's move on to player communications.