Director Preview Guide

See how BowlBoard works before you move an event online.

This public guide gives tournament directors a practical overview of the workflow, from tournament setup through registration, squads, lane assignments, scores, and standings. The full step-by-step Manager Guide is available inside BowlBoard after director or manager access is approved.

Start your New Director Launch Pass View launch pass details

Workflow Overview

What directors do in BowlBoard

BowlBoard starts with a draft tournament, then gives directors and managers connected tools for setup, registration, tournament-day operations, and results.

1. Set up the tournament

Create the draft, choose the organization and bowling center, add dates, configure handicap settings, pricing, events, formats, squads, and optional side pots.

2. Open registration

Publish when ready, or apply credits first to keep the tournament in draft while managers work with bowlers before the public page goes live.

3. Run the event

Use the dashboard, squad tools, desk check-in, lane assignment pages, score sheets, score entry, standings, and reports to keep operations organized.

BowlBoard management dashboard showing tournament actions and organization tools
Management dashboard overview with organization and tournament actions.

How tournament setup works

Directors can use the Create Tournament Wizard for a guided pass through the main setup choices. Tournaments start as drafts, so setup work can happen before anything appears publicly.

  • Choose tournament basics, dates, bowling center, handicap settings, and registration cutoffs.
  • Add events such as singles, doubles, or team formats.
  • Set entry pricing, prize and expense portions, pricing tiers, squads, and side-pot options when needed.
Create Tournament Wizard showing event setup steps
Create Tournament Wizard for guided setup.

What directors manage from the dashboard

The Tournament Dashboard is the main control point after a tournament exists. It shows status, setup progress, and links into the areas that need attention.

  • Publish, apply credits, unpublish to draft, or cancel when director access allows it.
  • Jump into events, bowlers, wait list, side pots, desk check-in, reports, and payment logs.
  • Review setup progress and event-level next steps.
Tournament Dashboard showing tournament status, setup progress, and management links
Tournament Dashboard with status, setup progress, and management links.

How bowler registration works

Bowlers can register from public tournament pages, while managers can still add or adjust bowlers from the management side when staff need to help.

  • Public pages show tournament details, squads, fees, formats, and standings links.
  • Bowlers can register with an account or start as guests by email link.
  • When caps are reached, registrations can move through wait-list workflows.
Public bowler self-registration form for choosing squads and registration details
Public registration flow for bowlers.

How squads and teams are handled

Squads define when bowlers compete. Team events add captain and roster workflows so directors are not forced to manage every teammate manually.

  • Directors and managers can create squad times and manage squad-level caps.
  • Captains can create teams, invite teammates, manage pending roster spots, and keep team details moving until cutoffs lock changes.
  • Managers can add bowlers to teams, update averages, and clean up incomplete rosters.
Event roster page showing bowler and team management details
Roster and squad management for registered bowlers.

How lane assignments work

Lane tools organize what bowlers see, what staff print, and how score entry is arranged. Assignments can be automatic, manual, or adjusted after review.

  • Select available lanes for a squad, stage, or session.
  • Run auto assignment using options like entry order, lane pattern, and conflict preferences.
  • Confirm assignments before bowlers see them, then print lane lists or score sheets.
Lane assignment tools showing lane options and assignment controls
Lane assignment tools for organizing squad play.

How scores and standings are managed

BowlBoard supports score sheets, score entry, scratch and handicap standings, and public results workflows for the formats configured in the event.

  • Print pre-filled or blank score sheets for squads and stages.
  • Enter scores from management pages and let standings update from the saved results.
  • Publish final standings when review is complete.
Score entry page for updating tournament scores
Score entry workflow that feeds standings.

Reusable Tournament History

BowlBoard keeps useful history after the first event.

BowlBoard helps from the first tournament by keeping setup, registration, squads, lanes, scores, and standings in one workflow. As your organization runs future events, saved history can reduce repeated data entry.

That history can include participant profiles, USBC IDs, averages, past participation, team context, and tournament rosters. When you clone a tournament, BowlBoard can copy selected setup, pricing, side-pot settings, squad structure, roster records, teams, squad registrations, and lane assignments depending on what you choose.

Clone Tournament page showing options for copying setup from a previous tournament
Clone Tournament options for reusing setup from a previous event.

Why the launch pass is flexible

  • Use one credit for a tournament with up to 100 unique bowlers.
  • Use two credits when you need room for up to 200 unique bowlers.
  • Use all three credits for one tournament with an unlimited bowler cap.
  • Buy pay-as-you-go credits later only when your organization needs more.

New Director Launch Pass

Create your first tournaments for free.

Approved new organizations receive 3 included publishing credits. Use them to publish up to three tournaments with 100 unique bowlers each, one tournament with an unlimited bowler cap, or anything in between.

1 credit

100

unique bowlers

2 credits

200

unique bowlers

3 credits

Unlimited

unique bowlers

After the launch pass, tournaments are published using pay-as-you-go credits. There is no monthly subscription, and credits do not expire.

Next Step

Create your organization to access the full Manager Guide.

After approval, directors and managers can open the protected Manager Guide inside BowlBoard for the detailed step-by-step workflow.

Start your New Director Launch Pass Back to director overview