Director's Guide to Starting & Managing a Ladder!

SECTION 1 - Getting Started (First Time Directors)

If you're just getting started with TennisMatrix and still need to open your director's account. Use the following steps to get going.

STEP 1 - Set up a PayPal account

Your PayPal account is how you get paid when your players sign up! First time directors must set up a PayPal account before creating your directors account and your first event. This may take up to 3 or 4 business days, so allow for the time. Go to PayPal.com for complete instructions. A Premiere or Business Account is required and no fee is charged. Please use ‘TennisMatrix.net’ somewhere in your title of business on your PayPal account ~ ‘John Doe’s TennisMatrix.net’.


STEP 2 - Create Your Director's Account

If you have already set up a PayPal account, you are ready to set up your director's account on TennisMatrix. If you already have a director's account, skip to Step 3 below. Otherwise, to set up a director's account, click on the 'Create A Ladder' button, found in top tool bar or at the bottom of the screen “Tennis Pros and Directors – Create A Tennis Ladder" and please complete the information requested. You will be prompted to read 3 paragraphs of important information and must acknowledge reading the material. Click “continue”. After submitting, you will need to log in to your account with your Username and Password. Once logged in, please familiarize yourself with the navigational pane info on the right side of your screen.


STEP 3 - Create Player Accounts

With a director's Account created, your players can create their accounts. Please see the Player Sign-Up Guide to create a player account. Players must create their player account and choose you as their director to populate your database. Once submitted, Players & Directors will receive a confirmation email. It will be helpful to inform your players to read the TennisMatrix Rating System in order to assign themselves a rating. As a director, you may choose to edit this rating when placing a player on a ladder or in the appropriate division for a Round Robin.
If you are ready to set up a Ladder or Round Robin event, you can start at any time after your director's account is set up.


SECTION 2 - Starting a Ladder or Round Robin

Whether you're a new or a returning director, as long as you've already set up your director's account with TennisMatrix, you're ready to start a Ladder or Round Robin. As always, log in to your director's account to see all the director menu options in the right hand side menu.

STEP 1 - Create a New Ladder(or Round Robin)

Click 'Manage Ladders' to start a new Ladder event. This screen allows you to create, update or delete an event. Complete the relevant information for this page and click “submit”.
Click 'Manage Rules' to customize information about your location and your event. Choose from the “one up, one down” ladder format or the Round Robin format to edit.
Click 'View New Ladders' to review your information for accuracy.

STEP 2 - Promote Your Ladder!

Click 'Email Roster' when you are ready to start promoting your event. You can promote a Ladder any time after it is set up. You might also find that you new players on your roster after your first promotion, so sending out reminder emails may be helpful. Include all pertinent details, including the entry deadline, the start date, and the location!


STEP 3 - New Player Notification

When players join, you will receive a confirmation email with each player entry, as well as a PayPal receipt when players use PayPal for payment. Players will receive a confirmation email entitled, tennisMatrix Ladder Joined Event Successfully.


STEP 4 - Managing Players BEFORE Activating the Ladder

Click on 'View New Ladder' and select the ladder you created. Now you have a menu of tools that you can yuse to manage your ladder, rank your players, and make sure everyone has paid before you activate the ladder.
Here are the tools you should use...
View New Ladder: Set Rankings
Allows Director to manipulate rankings.
View New Ladder: Manage Participants
Displays participants in alphabetical order, whether they have paid, and how they paid.
View New Ladder: Activate Ladder
Make sure all players have registered for your event! Review #’s 8 and 9 before activating. Once activated, TM.net will automatically send out match notifications for your ladder and all pertinent info if a Round Robin event.


STEP 5 - View New Ladder: Activate Ladder

Ready to start your Ladder? Make sure all players have registered for your event! Make sure everyone is in the right order! Review Step 4 before activating. Once activated, TennisMatrix will automatically send out match notifications for your Ladder and all pertinent info if a Round Robin event.


SECTION 3 - Managing a Ladder or Round Robin

So you've started a Ladder. What now? TennisMatrix manages a lot of the details for you, but as the director it's up to you to make sure each session is properly closed, and to manage your players.

Your main screen for managing your Ladder is "View Active Ladder". You will see a link for this on the righ hand side menu.
Please review all options under Ladder Functions tab to facilitate a smooth running ladder or round robin!

When the Ladder is complete - Close Ladder Make sure all results are posted, send closing email to players, and update and submit all final TM.net ratings and NTRP ratings.



Frequently Asked Questions

What if I can't remember my password?

Please DO NOT create a new user account if you can't remember your password. Click the 'Password Recovery' link in the upper right of the page and the system will email you a new password.

What if I don't have a Paypal Account?

Players don't need a Paypal account to sign up, but to run your own ladder, you must have a Paypal account to handle payments.

Are there any age or skill level limits on who can sign up?

That depends on you! Run your own A-level ladder, a beginners ladder, or a ladder for everyone. On the original Live Oak Park ladder, men and women of all ages and skill levels play. Remember, you should do your best to put your players in a spot on the ladder where the skill level is closest to those near them.