Houseplay
Tutorial

Create an event pool and its first heats

Follow an event pool from creation through nominations and first-round heats to the Events list.

An event pool brings together the students nominated for one activity and group. Its rounds turn those nominations into heats or a final. Those races also appear in the carnival’s Events list, where officials can enter results.

This walkthrough follows one pool from creation to its first heats. It uses manual nominations and manual first-round management so you can see each part. The example has enough nominations to fill more than one heat.

From pool to first-round heats

  1. Open your carnival’s Event Pools list and click Add Pool.

  2. Choose the Event Type and Default Division, then set Max Competitors per Event to the number who can compete in one heat.

  3. Select the Genders and Grades or Age Categories eligible for this pool. Leave the two automatic switches off if you want to add nominations and heats yourself.

  4. Click Create Pool. The new pool appears in Event Pools with no competitors or events yet.

  5. Open the pool’s Nominations page, then click Add Student. Nominations are the students who may compete in its rounds.

  6. Select the students who will take part in this pool.

  7. Click Add Students. The nomination board now shows the students under their houses.

  8. Click Add Round to create Round 1. The round groups the first heats together.

  9. Click Add Event for each heat you need in Round 1. Houseplay spreads the nominations across those heats using the capacity you set. Select a heat to see its students highlighted on the nomination board.

  10. Open your carnival’s Events list. The heats appear there as events, ready for officials to record results. Their Pool Nominations links lead back to this pool.

This is the basic path: pool → nominations → round → heats in Events. The pool keeps the nominations and round together; officials use the events to record results.

You can add, reorder, or remove nominations manually, or have Houseplay nominate every eligible student. You can also let Houseplay create and size the first-round heats. After the heats have results, advance competitors through heats and finals.