Game Handles Guide

This guide is for coaches and players. A game handle is the account name a player uses inside a game, such as an Epic Games name for Rocket League or a Riot ID for VALORANT. Competitions ask for them so opponents can invite each other to a lobby on match day. This guide covers where players add theirs, how coaches enter them for Managed Members, and which handle each game needs.

Related guides: Match Week Guide, Managed Member Guide, and Team Creation Guide.

1. Why Handles Matter

On match day, the host creates a private lobby and invites the other team. Without the right handle on file, the opposing coach has to chase names in Match Chat while the clock runs. With it, the handle sits on the match page and the roster, and invites take a minute.

Some competitions also set a network requirement. Every player on the entry then needs a handle on one of the networks the competition accepts. Coaches never need one. What happens when a handle is missing:

• During registration, the roster step marks the player with a chip that names the account, such as Missing Riot Americas account. Registration still goes through. In a solo competition, that player's row starts unticked, so add the handle first.

• On the competition page, a player with a missing handle sees a banner that names the account, such as "Link your Epic Games account to play in this competition", with a Connect button that opens the link form. A player with more than one issue sees "You have 2 outstanding issues" and a row for each.

• On the competition's Bracket tab, the queue band says your entry can't queue yet and names who needs which account. Edit Entry takes you to the fix.

• A few competitions require the handle before registration. Their registration steps ask for it and do not let the player finish without it.

A missing handle keeps your entry out of the weekly queue until it is added. Match play itself is not blocked, but your opponent cannot invite that player until the handle is there.

2. Players: Link Your Own Accounts

Every player with their own login links their own accounts. Coaches cannot do this for them, so share this section with your team.

2.1 Open your linked accounts

1. Select your profile picture at the bottom of the left navigation and open Settings.

2. Select the Accounts tab and scroll to Linked accounts, the second section.

3. Select Link Account.

2.2 Choose the network

Pick the network from the list. There are two kinds:

• Sign in to link. Discord, Battle.net, Twitch, and Riot Americas open a sign-in window for that service. Sign in with the account you play on and the handle is pulled in for you.

• Type the handle. Epic Games, Nintendo Friend Code, Nintendo Nickname, Playstation, Xbox Live, Steam, Chess.com, EA, Activision, Ubisoft, and the others take a typed name. Enter it exactly as it appears in the game, then select Add.

Typed handles are not checked against the game. The form only checks the shape of a few: a Nintendo Friend Code must read SW-0000-0000-0000 ("Use the SW-0000-0000-0000 format."), and a Wizards ID needs its name#12345 tag. A typo that fits the shape only shows up when an opponent tries to invite you. Copy the name from the game's own profile screen rather than typing it from memory.

For Nintendo, add the Nintendo Friend Code from the player's Switch profile, in the SW-0000-0000-0000 form. For now, a competition that accepts Nintendo takes either a friend code or a Nintendo Nickname. The friend code will become the one competitions ask for, so add it now.

2.3 Sharing

Each linked account has a sharing setting:

• Selectively shared is the default. When a competition you entered requires that network, its organizers and the opponents you are paired against can see it. Members of a school or team that has turned on handle sharing can see it too. Nobody else can.

• Always shared shows it anywhere your profile appears.

The default is the right choice for almost everyone. It keeps handles visible where match day needs them and private everywhere else.

In K-12 leagues, handles are always shared with your school and team and with opponents who need them for a match; a school or team cannot turn that off below the league's setting.

2.4 Edit or remove

Back in Linked accounts, each row lets you edit the handle inline, change its sharing, refresh a signed-in account, or remove it. The account you sign in to the platform with is marked Sign-in and cannot be removed here.

Get handles right before the season starts. Once a competition is under way, organizers compare the handle on your profile with the one you registered with, and a change shows up on their roster view as "Changed from" the original.

3. Coaches: Managed Members

A Managed Member has no login, so nobody can sign in to link an account for them. Instead, you type their handles. There are two places to do it.

3.1 From your school page

1. Open your school's page and select the Members tab.

2. Find the Managed Member and open the menu at the end of their row.

3. Choose Game Handles.

4. Type the handle for each network the student plays on and save.

The member's row on your team page has the same Game Handles option.

3.2 From a competition roster

Open your entry's page in the competition. Under each Managed Member's name you will see a field for every network the competition requires. Type the handle there and it saves on the member. This view only shows the networks that competition needs, so it is the fastest way to fill gaps before a season.

3.3 Two things to know

• Handles you type carry a Staff-entered label. Nobody signed in to prove them, so ranks and match statistics do not sync for those handles. Match play is unaffected.

• Once a competition's registration has closed, the handle for each network it requires is locked: "Registration for this competition has closed, so only an organizer can change this handle." An empty handle never locks, so you can still fill in a missing one. If a student changes their in-game name mid-season, ask a league official to update it.

3.4 Students with their own accounts

You cannot enter or edit a handle for a student who signs in to the platform themselves. Send them section 2 of this guide.

4. Which Handle Each Game Needs

The competition decides which networks count, and the competition page lists them during registration. Many K-12 competitions require no handles at all. The table below shows the usual setup for Fall 2026 titles in the leagues that do, and your competition may accept fewer. Where several are listed, a player needs a handle on any one of them, so pick the platform the student actually plays on.

Many competitions set no network requirement at all, including every USAEL Open title this fall. Opponents then see no handles unless a player set one to Always shared, so trade handles in Match Chat before the match.

5. Common Questions

My player linked the wrong platform. Link the right one as well. Extra handles do no harm, and the competition only checks that one of its accepted networks is present.

The opponent says they cannot see our handles. Opponents see a handle once you are paired in a match, and only for the networks that competition requires. If the competition has no requirement, share handles in Match Chat.

A student changed their gamertag mid-season. They update it in Linked accounts. Organizers see the change flagged on their roster. For a Managed Member whose handle is locked, ask a league official.

Can my school see everyone's handles? Only if the school or team has Share Handles turned on in its settings and the member has not opted out. This applies to new members from the time the setting is changed.