In our second in-depth tutorial, we will use SchedulOpt to create a season schedule that doesn't adhere to a standard single (or double) round-robin. We will explore the 'Games Per Team' tournament type, and add scheduling rules to ensure we maintain home-away balance, among other objectives, for all teams.
In our example, we have the following conditions:
- 8 Teams
- 12 game dates on Thursdays and Saturdays
- 12 Games per team.
As we will see, this tournament is larger than a single round-robin (where each team would each other team once), but smaller than a double round-robin (where each team would play each other twice). Therefore, we need to specify a different tournament type, as well as add some scheduling rules to make sure that:
- Opponents who play twice must play once home, once away (Pair Home-Away Balance), and
- Repeated contests between two opponents are spaced apart throughout the season (Repeat Opponent Spacing)
We will also want to accommodate the following scheduling rules:
- Teams must play 6 home, and 6 away games each (Home-Away Balance)
- Teams must play 3 home, and 3 away games on Saturdays (Weekday-Specific Home-Away Balance)
- Teams cannot play more than two consecutive home (or away) games (Home-Away Repeated).
- One team cannot play Home on several game dates (Team Availability).
Finally, we will examine a scenario where two rules conflict with each other, and identify ways to resolve such conflicts.
Want to skip ahead? Jump to the below chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:20 - Tutorial Scenario
01:30 - New Schedule
01:40 - Teams and Dates
02:00 - Tournament Type
02:32 - Rule 1: Home-Away Balance
03:00 - Rule 2: Saturday Home Games
03:59 - Rule 3: Consecutive Away/Home Games
04:22 - Rule 4: Pair Home-Away Balance
04:48 - Rule 5: Repeat Opponent Spacing
05:29 - Rule 6: Team Availability
06:15 - Rule Conflicts
07:29 - Next Steps
You can start creating your own optimal schedules that meet the needs of your teams, fans and athletes alike in minutes! Sign up free at www.schedulopt.com!
