Creating Your First Tournament

Last updated: May 9, 2026

This guide walks you through creating your first tournament in MyCup. The whole process — from sign-up to a working tournament dashboard — takes about 5 minutes.

Before You Start

You need:

  • An email address, or a Google account (for one-click sign-in)
  • A rough idea of your tournament size and format

You don't need a payment card — every tournament starts on the Free plan and can be upgraded later.

Step 1 — Open the Get Started Wizard

From the MyCup home page, click Get Started. You'll land on the /start wizard, a three-step setup that creates your tournament and your account in one go.

Step 2 — Pick Your Sport

The wizard opens with a searchable sport gallery (football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, esports, and more — 30+ sports total). Type in the search box to filter, then click the sport that fits your tournament. Each sport ships with sensible default rules (number of periods, scoring, events) which you can customize later under Settings → Sport Settings.

Step 3 — Tournament Basics

Fill in the basics:

  • Tournament name (required)
  • Season (optional)
  • Panel language — used for the dashboard you'll work in
  • Website language — used for your public tournament site
  • Timezone — auto-detected from your browser; override if needed

Click Continue to proceed.

Step 4 — Create Your Account

Choose how to sign in:

  • Continue with Google — one click, account created automatically
  • Continue with Email — enter email + password and we'll create your account

If your email already has a MyCup account, the wizard will sign you in instead and attach the new tournament to it.

That's it — your tournament is created on the Free plan and you're taken straight to the dashboard.

Step 5 — Follow the Setup Checklist

The dashboard greets you with a compact Setup progress card. Click View All Steps to open the full checklist, which guides you through:

  1. Upload tournament logo — adds visual identity to your tournament
  2. Configure divisions (Premium only) — split teams into age groups, skill levels, or categories
  3. Add teams — manually or via public registration
  4. Build the structure — pick league, knockout, or mixed format
  5. Generate matches — auto-create the schedule from your structure
  6. Customize your public website (optional) — banner, info cards, theme
  7. Open public registration (optional) — let teams sign up themselves

Each step shows a primary action button (e.g., Upload, Add, Build) plus a Mark complete button if you handled it elsewhere. Steps auto-tick when their underlying data appears (e.g., adding a logo automatically completes step 1). The progress bar at the top of the page tracks your overall completion.

Step 6 — Review Sport Settings (Optional)

Before generating matches, make sure the default sport rules match your tournament:

  1. Go to Settings → Sport Settings
  2. Review periods, duration, scoring, match events, and overtime rules
  3. Adjust anything that differs from your tournament's rulebook
  4. Save

You can always come back and tweak this — but settings shouldn't change once matches are in progress.

Step 7 — Build the Tournament Structure

Open Tournament Management → Structure and pick a format:

  • League (Round-Robin) — every team plays every other team
  • Knockout (Elimination) — single elimination bracket
  • Groups + Knockout — group stage feeding into a knockout bracket

Configure groups, rounds, and team counts. Save.

For a deep dive, see the Tournament Structure guide.

Step 8 — Add Teams

Two options:

Option A — Add Teams Manually

  1. Open Tournament Management → Teams
  2. Click Add Team
  3. Enter name, optional logo and contact details
  4. Repeat for each team

Option B — Public Registration

  1. Open Settings → Website Settings
  2. Enable Participant Registration and set the open/close dates
  3. Share the tournament URL — teams sign up themselves
  4. Approve registrations from Tournament Management → Participant Candidates

Step 9 — Generate Matches

Once teams are assigned to phases:

  1. Open Tournament Management → Matches
  2. Click Generate Matches
  3. Confirm the schedule

MyCup creates a balanced schedule using round-robin (for groups) and bracket logic (for knockouts). You can also add or edit individual matches afterwards.

Step 10 — Enable the Public Website

  1. Open Settings → Website Settings
  2. Toggle the pages you want public (matches, standings, statistics, etc.)
  3. Customize the hero image, banners, info cards, and theme (Pro/Premium)
  4. Share the tournament URL with players, fans, and sponsors

See an example tournament website →

Step 11 — Invite Co-Admins (Optional)

Need help running the tournament?

  1. Open Tournament Users → Admin Users
  2. Send an Invitation to a co-admin's email
  3. They'll receive a link to join with the role you picked

Next Steps

Tips for Success

  • Start simple. Build the structure first, customize later.
  • Test a small tournament first to learn the interface before running a real event.
  • Watch the setup checklist. It catches the most common forgotten steps.
  • Upgrade only when you need it. The Free plan is enough for trial runs and very small events; the Plans page shows exactly what each tier unlocks.

Common Questions

Can I change the format after creating the tournament?

Yes — open the Structure page and edit. Easier before matches are generated; possible after but may require regenerating matches.

How many teams can I add?

Depends on plan: Free up to 8, Pro up to 50, Premium up to 500. See Understanding Tournament Plans.

Can I edit team names later?

Yes — from Tournament Management → Teams, click any team to edit.

What if I picked the wrong sport during the wizard?

Sport is configured per tournament. You can adjust most rules under Settings → Sport Settings. Changing the underlying sport entirely is rare; if you really need to, contact support.

Need Help?

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