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Team Management for Clipboard Compete

How to properly manage Teams in Clipboard, including important limitations when Teams have active nominations or Fixtures.

Updated this week

Understanding Team Status and Nominations

Before creating Teams, it's important to understand the relationship between Teams, nominations and Fixtures:

  • Teams are the basic units that participate in Competitions

  • Nominations are when a Team is entered into a specific Competition or Grade

  • Fixtures are the scheduled matches between Teams

  • Active/Future Fixtures are matches that haven't been completed yet


Creating and Managing Teams

Adding New Teams

  1. Navigate to your Teams page

  2. Filter to the correct Activity

  3. Click Manage Teams, then either Create Teams Without Students or Upload Team Lists

Recommendation: Team Naming Conventions

Stick to simple, clear naming conventions. The only information required in the Team name is: Year Level, Gender and/or Division.

Examples:

  • Year 8 Girls A

  • Senior Boys B

  • Year 10 Mixed A

For co-educational schools, we recommend always including Gender in Team names to avoid confusion when nominating Teams to Competitions.

Do not include:

  • The Activity name (e.g., avoid "Year 8 Girls Basketball A")

  • Additional information like coach names or venues

Why this works: Simple names are flexible across multiple Seasons, making your Teams reusable year after year.

Create Teams Without Students (recommended)

  1. Enter Team name

  2. Enter Staff responsible (Optional)

  3. Save your Teams

Info: Core Users can easily add students once Teams are created

Upload Team Lists (Core Users only)

  1. Select Activity

  2. Download the example template and enter your Teams

  3. Upload your prepared Excel or CSV file

  4. Review and Save your Teams


Editing Team Details

You can safely edit most Team information at any time, including:

  • Team names - Can be changed without affecting Fixtures or nominations

  • Order of Teams - In the Manage Teams dropdown, you can select the order that your Teams appear in

  • Non-structural information - Any details that don't affect Competition structure

  • Add and remove students - Save and empty the student list or drag and drop students


Hiding Teams vs Deleting Teams

Hiding Teams

What it does:

  • Makes the Team invisible in most views

  • Preserves all historical data

  • Team remains in the system but is not displayed

When you can hide Teams:

  • Teams with no current nominations

  • Teams with no future Fixtures

  • Completed/historical Teams you want to archive

Limitations:

  • Cannot hide Teams with active nominations - You'll receive an error message

  • Cannot hide Teams with future Fixtures - The system will prevent this action

How to successfully hide Teams:

  1. Make sure the Season and all Fixtures are over

  2. Ask your Association to reopen nominations for the finished Season

  3. Remove the Team you want to hide from the Competition

  4. Navigate to the Teams tab

  5. Find the Team you want to hide

  6. Using the three vertical dots button, select Hide Team

  7. If an error message occurs, follow the instructions given

Info: If you unnominate and hide your Team at the end of a Season, once all Fixtures are over, your past Fixture data will be preserved.


Deleting Teams

What it does:

  • Permanently removes the Team from the system

  • WARNING: This action cannot be undone

  • Removes all associated data

When you can delete Teams:

  • Teams with no nominations (past or present)

  • Teams with no Fixtures (past or present)

  • Teams created by mistake that haven't been used

Important Limitations:

  • Cannot delete Teams with any nominations - Even historical ones

  • Cannot delete Teams with any Fixtures - Past or future

  • Cannot delete Teams with results recorded - Historical data is preserved


Working with Nominated Teams

What Are Nominated Teams?

A Team becomes "nominated" when it's entered into a Competition. Once nominated, the Team becomes part of the Competition structure and is subject to restrictions to maintain data integrity.

Restrictions on Nominated Teams

Cannot Change Activity Type

If your Team is nominated in a Competition, you cannot:

  • Change the Team's sport/Activity

  • Move the Team to an Activity with a different Activity type

  • Modify the Activity type of the sport the Team plays

Why: This would break the Competition structure and make Fixtures invalid.

Solution: Wait until the Competition has ended, then make the change.

Cannot Unnominate Teams with Fixtures

You cannot remove a Team's nomination if:

  • The Team has any future Fixtures scheduled

  • Fixtures exist that haven't been completed

Why: This would orphan the Fixtures and disrupt the Competition.

Solution: Complete all future Fixtures first, then unnominate the Team.

Cannot Hide/Delete Nominated Teams

As covered above, Teams with active nominations cannot be hidden or deleted.


Best Practices for Team Management

Before Making Changes

  1. Check for Fixtures - Review if the Team has any upcoming Fixtures

  2. Review nominations - Confirm which Competitions the Team is entered in

  3. Consider impact - Think about how changes affect other Teams and Competitions

Safe Changes You Can Always Make

  • Rename Teams

  • Add or remove students

  • Modify non-structural details

Changes Requiring Caution

  • Hiding Teams (check nominations first)

  • Deleting Teams (ensure no historical data)

  • Changing Activity Type (check nominations and Fixtures)

Recommended Workflow for Major Changes

  1. Plan ahead - Make changes before nominating Teams when possible

  2. Complete Competitions first - Finish ongoing Competitions before restructuring

  3. Archive properly - Use hiding instead of deleting for historical preservation

Planning for Long-Term Team Management

Important: Clipboard Teams are designed to be used year after year, providing consistency and preserving valuable historical data. With proper planning, there should be minimal need to delete or hide Teams.

Consider the following when setting up your Teams:

  • Use consistent naming conventions that will work across multiple Seasons

  • Think long-term - Will this Team structure work for future years?

  • Plan for growth - Consider how your Team structure might evolve

  • Preserve history - Keeping Teams active maintains valuable participation records

Benefits of maintaining consistent Teams:

  • Historical data remains accessible

  • Student participation history is preserved

  • Less administrative overhead each Season

  • Easier comparison of performance across years

  • Streamlined nomination process for recurring Competitions

If you plan your Team structure thoughtfully from the beginning, you can avoid most of the restrictions and complications that arise from needing to modify or remove Teams mid-season.


Common Error Messages and Solutions

"Cannot hide team - active nominations exist"

Cause: The Team is currently nominated in one or more Competitions.

Solution:

  1. Navigate to the Team's nominations (must be opened by the Association)

  2. Remove all active nominations (if Fixtures allow)

  3. Try hiding the Team again

"Cannot delete team - team has fixtures"

Cause: The Team has Fixtures (past or future) that would be orphaned.

Solution:

  1. If you need to clean up: Hide the Team instead of deleting

  2. If Fixtures are errors: Delete the Fixtures first, then the Team

  3. For historical Teams: Keep them for record-keeping

"Cannot change activity - team has nominations"

Cause: Changing the Activity would invalidate existing Competition entries.

Solution:

  1. Complete or remove the Team from current Competitions

  2. Make the Activity change

  3. Re-nominate in appropriate Competitions if needed

"Cannot unnominate - team has future fixtures"

Cause: The Team has scheduled matches that would be disrupted.

Solution:

  1. Complete all scheduled Fixtures first, OR

  2. Delete the future Fixtures (if appropriate), OR

  3. Wait until the Season/Competition concludes


When to Contact Support

Contact support if you encounter:

  • Error messages not covered in this guide

  • Data inconsistencies (Teams showing as nominated but no visible nominations)

  • Fixtures that appear "orphaned" or disconnected from Teams

  • Situations where the system prevents necessary changes without a clear explanation

Remember: The system's restrictions are designed to protect your Competition data and ensure Fixtures remain properly connected to Teams. While these limitations might feel restrictive, they maintain the integrity of your sporting Competitions and preserve valuable historical records.

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