TOURNAMENTS Coach MacKinney

Physical Education classes use a variety of tournaments for competition. Tournaments are used to find a definite winner based on the results of each game and the entire tournament. The tournament type we select will be determined by the following factors: sport being played, amount of players involved, and amount of time available for the competition. Types of tournaments:

Round Robin

Round Robin tournaments have all players/teams play each other an equal number of times. The team with the best win-loss record upon completion of all the games will be the champion. The round-robin tournament is best for smaller groups due to the large number of contests required. A round robin format is often used to set up league play – one time through for a season league schedule and two times through for a home and away season schedule. The round-robin tournament can be used to determine rankings for other tournaments (Single Elimination, Double Elimination) where seeding is needed. A tie-breaker strategy must be in place before the tournament starts.

Advantages

 All teams/players play each other  True results  Seeding is not important  Good use of facilities  No one is eliminated

EXAMPLE: 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 8-1

Disadvantages

 Requires many games (EX: 32 teams = 496 total games)  Many games will not be close  Very long tournament

Pool Play

Pool Play will be used at invitational tournaments to determine who advances to the elimination rounds. Teams are broken down into groups of 4-6 teams and play Round Robin Style in their assigned groups. The 2-3 teams that finish with the best record advance to the elimination rounds. This is played in Single Elimination format with one champion at the end.

Advantages

 All teams/players play each other in their pool  Seeding is not important  Good use of facilities

Disadvantages

 Requires many games  Very long tournament

POOL A Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4 POOL B Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4 Team 1 Team 1 Team 2 Team 2 Team 3 Team 3 Team 4 Team 4

Single Elimination

The single elimination tournament is best when you have a large number of entries, a short period of time, and a limited number of courts or fields. It is the easiest of all the tournaments to run. When players win, they continue and when they lose, they're out. Seeding/ranking is used in single elimination tournament play. Seeds can be assigned or based on results of a Round Robin Tournament. Round 1 of the Single Elimination tournament will match the top seeds to the lowest seeds.

Advantages

 Easiest to understand and run  Good for large numbers  Seeding is very important  Good use of facilities  No one is eliminated

Disadvantages

 Requires many games  Many games will not be close  Very long tournament

Double Elimination

The Double Elimination tournament is similar to the Single Elimination tournament except you must lose two games to be eliminated from the tournament. Seeding is the same as Single Elimination. The tournament will take longer to finish. Two separate brackets are set up (winners and losers bracket). A team that wins will advance through the bracket as they did in a single elimination tournament. The difference occurs after a team loses a game and they are placed in the losers' bracket. When only two teams remain---one from the winners' bracket, one from the losers' bracket---they play each other for the championship. To be crowned the champion, the team from the losers' bracket must beat the team from the winners' bracket twice, since this team has not yet lost.

Advantages  Two games guaranteed  Team/Player can lose one game and still win tournament  Requires few facilities  Seeding is not important

Disadvantages  It takes longer to finish  Some players play more games  Does not maximize use of multiple playing facilities

**The above rules are abridged and/or modified for Trinity HS Physical Education Classes. SEE THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE for official Tournament rules: www.printyourbrackets.com