In the platform, each game is assigned an Age Group. An Age Group speaks to the ages of the players for a given game.
How do I add an Age Group?
Age Groups can be configured under Maintenance → Ages & Fees.
To add an age group, follow these steps:
Select Maintenance → Ages & Fees.
Select + Add New Age Group.
Add the Age Group's Name, Game Length, and any other information you'd like to.
Select Save.
Repeat steps 2-4 for each Age Group in your site.
💡 If you import games with Age Groups associated with them that are not yet in the system, they will be automatically saved as new Age Groups upon completion of the import. You can always edit those after they've been imported, under Maintenance → Ages & Fees.
If your Game Fees are based off of games' Age Groups, then you can add game fees by following these steps:
💡 For full step-by-step instructions on Game Fees, check out this article.
From Maintenance → Ages & Fees, select Edit next to the Age Group you want to add Game Fees to.
Under Fees, fill in the Default Fees (and, if applicable, Pay Scale fees), for each Pattern and Position.
Select Save.
What are Age Groups used for?
The platform uses Age Groups for several things:
1. Age Restrictions for Officials.
Some organizations require that officials be of a certain age, to work games of specific Age Groups. For example, perhaps a referee must be at least 18 years old, in order to work an Under 16 Age Group.
Because of this, when setting up an Age Group, you'll notice an option to enter a Minimum Age of Assigned Official. Assuming you include officials' birthdates in their profile, if you try to assign an official that is too young to work a game, you'll see an A conflict code in the assigning dropdown.
2. Game Lengths.
Each Age Group has a Game Length assigned to it (in minutes). The platform uses this value to determine when a game ends.
If the game length of an Age Group is set up correctly, the platform can help prevent an official from being assigned to overlapping games on the same day.
3. Game Fees.
As mentioned above, one of the ways you can set up Game Fees in the platform is per Age Group. Learn about all the ways you can set up Game Fees in this article here.
4. Ratings.
Some organizations use our Ratings system to help ensure that officials are only assigned to positions that coincide with the age groups they're qualified to work. You can learn more about our Ratings system here.
5. Officials' Abilities (less common).
If your site happens to be using our Ability feature, then each official can be considered 'qualified' to work specific Age Groups, or not.
If you have any questions on Age Groups, reach out to us at [email protected]!