This guide is for coaches and team captains. It walks through one match, from finding your opponent to reporting the score, using the platform's real screens and buttons. How your team gets its match each week depends on your competition's format (a weekly queue, a weekly queue with availability, or a round robin), and the Tournament Formats Guide covers each one.
Related guides: Tournament Formats Guide, Team Creation Guide, Game Handles Guide, Team Draft Guide, Managed Member Guide, and Scrim Finder Guide. Your league's rulebook is the final word on dates, times, and formats.
1. The Week at a Glance
Step | What you do |
|---|---|
Get your match | In a weekly queue league, join the queue on the Bracket tab each week. In a round robin, your match is already on the schedule. See Get Your Match. |
Coordinate | Say hello in Match Chat as soon as you see your opponent, and use Reschedule on the match page if you need a different time. |
Get ready | Be in Match Chat 15 minutes early. Select Check In or Ready Up on the match page if yours shows one. |
Play | Host or join the lobby and play the full format. |
Report | The winner reports scores, and the other team confirms. |
2. Preseason Checklist
Work through this list before your first regular-season match. Most leagues run a Preseason Practice week that uses the full match-day flow with no effect on standings, so use it to shake out problems.
2.1 Account and school
Create your account, join your school (or create it if it isn't listed), and get verified as staff. The Coach Registration Guide walks through each step.
2.2 Team and roster
Create a team and invite your students by link or by search. The Team Creation Guide covers invites, roster roles, and registering the team for a competition.
Each competition entry has the team size your title needs, with substitutes. Registration warns you if you're short.
Everyone has accepted their invite and appears on the entry. Check Competitions Entered on your team page.
Managed Members are on the entry with their game handles entered. See the Managed Member Guide.
2.3 Game handles
Many competitions require each player to have a game handle on file so opponents can invite them to a lobby. Players link accounts under Settings then Accounts; for Managed Members you type the handle yourself. The Game Handles Guide covers which handle each game needs.
2.4 Equipment and games
Every game is installed, patched, and launches on the machines your players will use.
Anti-cheat and account requirements are handled (Riot Vanguard for VALORANT, Nintendo Switch Online for Nintendo titles). Your rulebook's game rules list these per title.
Your school network allows the platform and the games. Hand the IT & Networking Guide to your IT team.
2.5 Know your format and match times
Find your competition's format in the Tournament Formats Guide, so you know whether you join a queue each week or play a fixed schedule.
The Rules Overview table at the top of your rulebook's Game Rules section lists each title's default match day and time, format, and team size. Note them for every competition your school entered; middle school and high school divisions of the same game often play on different days.
3. Get Your Match
How your entry gets its match each week depends on the competition's format. Byes, standings and what happens if you miss a week are covered per format in the Tournament Formats Guide.
3.1 Weekly Queue
Join the queue on the competition's Bracket tab during the queue window, once for every entry that will play that week. When it closes, the entries in it are paired, and your match shows up on the Bracket tab and in your inbox. Step by step, including Late Queues: Tournament Formats Guide, Weekly Queue. Each league's queue times are in the FAQ question How does the weekly queue work?
3.2 Weekly Queue with Availability
USAEL Open works the same way, except that joining the queue also asks for the times your team can play that week, and your match time comes from the hours both teams have open. See Tournament Formats Guide, Weekly Queue with Availability.
3.3 Round Robin
There's nothing to join. Your opponent for every week is on the schedule once registration closes, and you play at your title's default match day and time. See Tournament Formats Guide, Round Robin.
4. Find Your Match
4.1 Where to find it
Your inbox. You get a notification in your inbox when your entry is assigned a match.
The Bracket tab. In a weekly queue league, the queue band flips to Match Found ("Use match chat to contact your opponent.") with a View Match button.
The Matches tab. Open the competition and select Matches, then choose Mine to see only your entries' matches.
Matches in the left navigation. It lists every entry you play on or manage, across all competitions, with its status and next match.
Your school page. The Matches tab on your school's page has two views. Status lists each of your school's entries with its status and next match, and All Matches lists every match across all competitions, with an Entries filter. This is the one place to see a whole week for a school with several teams.
The Schedule page. Select Schedule in the left navigation. It opens on Mine, showing your matches on a calendar alongside the league's events.
4.2 The match page
Select any match to open its page. The two entries face each other across the top of the card, each with a Home or Away chip, with the match start time, the rosters (collapsed until you open them) and a row of actions:
Match Chat opens the chat shared by both teams and league officials. It's also on every match row in the Matches lists. Coaches can open it even when they aren't on the entry roster. Say hello as soon as you see the assignment, so the other coach knows you're there.
Report Scores appears once the match is playable. More on this in Report the Score.
Forfeit Match lets a coach or Team Captain concede the entry's own match: pick a reason and confirm, and the match ends as a loss. It goes away once a score is reported, a game is recorded or the match is flagged.
Flag Admin (the hand icon) sends the match to a league official. Pick a reason, such as General Support, Opponent Unresponsive or Disputed Result, and describe the problem in Details. Use it when the other team is unresponsive, when you disagree about a rule, or when something has gone wrong that the two of you can't settle.
Smash Team Solos entries in leagues that use Team Draft also see a Team Draft panel on this page; the Team Draft Guide walks through it.
Only people on one of the two entry rosters see Report Scores, Forfeit Match and Flag Admin. If they're missing for you, see Why don't I see Report Scores or Flag Admin on the match page? in the FAQ.
4.3 Rescheduling
The default match time stands unless both teams agree to change it. To move a match, use the Reschedule section on the match page:
Select Propose New Times. Pick the Dates you want to see, then tap the grid to place up to three times that work for your side. Hover over Times to see how long each time is and the latest it can end. You can add a Note, then select Send Proposal.
The other team sees a Your Turn chip on the section. They select Review Times and pick one of your times with Accept Time, choose Decline All Times (with an optional reason), or select Counter With Other Times to offer their own.
When a time is accepted, the match moves and both teams are notified. Tell your players the new time.
While you wait, the section shows how long the other team has to answer, and Withdraw takes your offer back. An offer expires after 48 hours, or when its last offered time starts if that's sooner.
The grid only lets you place times that still work for the league. In a weekly queue league, a new time has to end early enough for both teams to join the next week's queue. Once match check-in opens, or once your league's reschedule cutoff has passed, the match can no longer be moved this way. If your match has no Reschedule section, or it can no longer move, select Flag Admin (the hand icon), choose General Support, and write the new time in Details. If the other team doesn't agree, the match stays at its original time. Your rulebook says how late in the week a match can be played. The FAQ answer is at How do we reschedule a match?.
5. Match Day
5.1 Get ready
Fifteen minutes before the match:
Your starting players are at their machines with the game open and signed in to the right accounts.
You, or your approved captain, are in Match Chat. Most leagues expect both teams to have established communication by the default match time.
Some competitions also run a ready check on the match page. Which one you see depends on the competition:
Check In. If the match page shows a Check In button, your entry has to check in before the deadline on the button (for example Check In by 3:45 PM). Opening the match page during the check-in window checks your entry in automatically, and a message offers Undo. Otherwise, select the button. It reads Check In: Waiting until the other team checks in, then Check In: Complete. An entry not checked in by the deadline forfeits the match. This is separate from joining the weekly queue; see Is the Check In button on a match page the same as joining the queue? in the FAQ.
Ready Up (Team Draft). Smash Team Solos matches in Team Draft leagues start in the Team Draft panel. Ready Up opens 30 minutes before the match time, and the draft starts once both teams have readied up. Coaches, captains and Draft Captains can ready up for the team. The Team Draft Guide walks through the rest.
5.2 Set up the lobby
Agree in Match Chat on who hosts. If you can't agree, the team with the Home chip (the left side of the match page) hosts.
The host creates the lobby using the game settings in your rulebook's Game Rules section, and posts the lobby name, code, or invite details in Match Chat.
The other team joins. Game handles on the match page and rosters are there to make the invite easy.
Once everyone is in, each team confirms in Match Chat that the settings are correct and that they're ready.
The host starts the match.
Opponent not there? Post in Match Chat at the scheduled start time. If the other team hasn't joined or replied 15 minutes later, select Flag Admin (the hand icon) and choose Opponent Unresponsive. Only a league admin records a forfeit, so never enter a score for a match that wasn't played. If your own team can't play, say so in Match Chat and use Forfeit Match. See Our opponent has not shown up. How do we report a no-show or forfeit? in the FAQ.
5.3 Play it out
Play the full format for your title, whether that's a best-of-three, a first-to-two, or a set of races. Between games, handle map picks, side selection, and substitutions the way your rulebook describes. In Team Draft leagues, Smash Team Solos picks, strikes and per-game reports happen in the Team Draft panel, and Report Scores stays hidden until the draft ends. Take a screenshot of the result screen after every game, not just the last one. Screenshots are your proof if a score is questioned, and they resolve most disagreements in minutes.
If a player disconnects, the game crashes, or something else stops play, say so in Match Chat immediately and screenshot what you can. Your rulebook's game rules say how each title handles a pause or a restart. If you need help of any kind during the match, select Flag Admin on the match page.
6. Report the Score
6.1 The winning team reports
Open the match page and select Report Scores.
For each game, select Win under the team that won it. Some formats also offer Tie. In competitions that report in-game scores (VALORANT, Rocket League, NBA 2K, Madden and Fortnite), the form shows a score box for each team instead: enter both teams' in-game score for every game, and the winner is taken from the scores.
Attach a screenshot for each game where the form asks for one. If the competition requires a screenshot, the form won't submit without it.
Submit. The match page now reads "Score submitted, your opponent has [time remaining] to review before they become automatically finalized."
6.2 The other team confirms
The opposing coach or captain gets a notification that a score has been reported. On their match page, they select Confirm Scores, which opens Review Results with three choices:
Accept Their Results finalizes the match.
That's Not Right lets them enter their own version of the scores. The match is then marked as conflicted and goes to a league official, who uses both teams' screenshots to settle it.
Request Admin Review sends it straight to an official without a counter-report.
If the other team does nothing, the reported score is accepted automatically when the review timer runs out. In most leagues that timer is 24 hours.
6.3 After the match
The result appears on the competition's Matches tab and in the standings. The match page keeps the per-game breakdown and the submitted screenshots. If you have a concern about the result, select Flag Admin within the review window, choose Disputed Result, and describe the problem in Details.
7. Coach Responsibilities
Your rulebook makes the coach the team's point of contact and holds the coach responsible for the team's readiness, conduct and results. The short version:
Before the match: track match times and relay them to your players; keep the entry's lineup and substitutes eligible; make sure hardware, game accounts and anti-cheat are ready (IT & Networking Guide, Game Handles Guide).
Every week: make sure each entry has its match, by joining the queue in a weekly queue league or checking the schedule in a round robin, and be in Match Chat at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start.
During the match: coordinate the lobby, pauses, disconnections and substitutions with the opposing coach; coach only before the match and between games; model good sportsmanship.
Evidence: capture screenshots of scores, disputes and disconnections.
After the match: make sure the winner uses Report Scores right away; check the reported score within the 24-hour review window (Confirm Scores, then That's Not Right if it's wrong); report conduct or eligibility concerns to League Officials.
Managed Members: all of the above happens through your account.
8. Other Things Your Rulebook Covers
Your league's rulebook is the authority on all of these; check it for the details that apply to you.
No-shows. A team absent 15 minutes after the match time with no word in Match Chat may forfeit; ask for a grace period in Match Chat if you need one.
Forfeits. Recorded at the minimum winning score, for example 2-0 in a best-of-three, and usually final. A team that can't play forfeits its own match with Forfeit Match on the match page.
Byes, standings and playoff eligibility. These depend on your format; see the Tournament Formats Guide.
Substitutions. Between games only, with the opposing team told, and only from your bench. Smash Team Solos lineups in Team Draft leagues lock when Set 1 starts.
Spectating and closures. Most leagues let coaches and substitutes watch unless the other team objects (TexSEF and the USAEL Open need both teams to agree in Match Chat); Nintendo titles allow no spectators. A league-wide closure moves the match to the next day; an individual school's closure is a reschedule.
9. Getting Help
During a match, use Flag Admin (the hand icon) on the match page. It attaches the match, so an official sees exactly what you see.
Abusive chat, report it with Flag Admin and the reason that fits; league staff can mute a member in that chat for up to a day.
Anything else, select Contact Support at the bottom of the left navigation, choose Platform Support, and describe the problem. A ticket opens with a chat where our team follows up. The Contact Support icon button on a competition page opens a ticket with the competition already attached.
Already have a ticket open about the same issue? Continue there rather than opening a new one, so the whole history stays in one place.