Online Player Matchmaking
We are pleased to introduce online Player Matchmaking feature which has been added to CourtReserve. Please be aware that this is a new feature in the software and there is the possibility of glitches in the functionality.
Think of Player Matchmaking as a type of online virtual tagboard that you may use any time you make a court booking, and are looking for a partner or partners to play with. This feature allows you to create Open reservations that do not yet have the required number of players (2 for singles, 3-4 for Doubles). Other members may then see your open reservation in the system, and join it. Once there are enough players, the reservation is finalized, and it becomes a normal reservation.
Important:
Open reservations that are not finalized (i.e. there are not enough players) by 12 hours before the booking time, will be automatically deleted by the system. This will free up that booking slot and allow other members to book that time.
Open reservations count towards your normal booking limits (i.e. 2 outstanding bookings allowed as of Aug 2022)
Creating Open Reservations
Now, when you make a Singles or Doubles reservation, you will see a new checkbox at the bottom, “Is Open Reservation”. If you check off this option, this will tell the system that you wish to leave your reservation “Open” so that other people can sign up to play with you. If you selected Singles, there can only be 1 spot open (since you are the first player). If you selected Doubles, there will be anywhere from 1-3 open spots depending on how many people (including yourself) are specified upfront.
(The screenshots in this description are from the online CourtReserve site, but the process in the mobile apps is substantially similar).
Once you have checked off this option, the booking dialog will have a new section available where you can specify some criteria to limit who may sign up with you, and/or provide some guidance to them.
The first, optional, criteria you may specify is Match Type, which may be one of Games, Fun Rallying, and Mixed Rallying and Points Play. This is simply an indication to the other player(s) as to what type of hit you are looking for. You don’t have to select anything here if you don’t want to, and certainly for Doubles there is no need since in Doubles play you usually want to play games.
The second, optional, criteria is Eligible NTRP rating(s). If you specify one or more ratings here, then only people with the specified rating will be able to sign up with you. If somebody does not have a rating at all, they will not be able to sign up either.
The final, optional section is a textbox labelled What to expect in this match. Here, if you wish, you can give more explicit info on what you are looking for in this hit.
Once you have completed all the criteria to your satisfaction, press Save to complete the reservation. You will receive an email confirmation that your open reservation has been created.
Every time another member joins your reservation, you will receive another email informing you of this.
When there are enough players, the reservation will be finalized, and become a normal reservation, and you will also receive an email confirmation of this.
12 hours before the booking time, if there are not enough players, the system will automatically delete the open reservation, thus freeing up the booking slot for other members to use. You will also receive an email confirmation of this.
Please note that the current 12 hour cutoff is a trial, the exact limit may change in the future. Obviously, this limit also means that the system will not allow you to create an open reservation if it is currently less than 12 hours ahead of the court booking time. Within this timeframe only normal reservations may be created.
Finding and Joining Open Reservations
Members wishing to find and join any open reservations in the system may do so in a few different ways.
One options is to click on the Open Reservations menu item at the top of the CourtReserve screen (or in the mobile apps).
This will take you to a screen listing all the open reservations that other members have created. If you wish, you will be able to filter based on various criteria to narrow your search. When you find an open reservation that you want to join, simply press the blue Join Group button in that reservation.
Alternately, if you are in one of the court booking calendars (aka schedulers), open reservations will be labelled as Open. Just click on the Details link on any open reservation to take you to a screen with more information about it. Again, press the blue Join Group button to join this reservation.
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