Creating Rounds and Pairings

Rounds organize the tournament schedule. Each round contains manually created pairings between a prosecution/plaintiff team and a defense team.

Add and schedule a round

Open the tournament and select Rounds.
Select Add round.
Enter a descriptive round name.
Set the date and time, or select TBD.
Select Save if the row shows unsaved changes.

The rounds list shows the number of submitted ballots out of the total assigned scorers when ballots exist. Select Open to manage a round.

Removing a round also removes all its matchups. Confirm that you opened the intended round before removing it.

Add a pairing

Open the round.
Select Add Pairing.
Choose the Prosecution or Plaintiff team.
Choose the Defense team.
Choose a courtroom or leave it TBD.
Select Add matchup.

The two sides must be different. A team cannot be added more than once to the same round. If the selected prosecution or defense team is already used, MockScores rejects the pairing.

To make corrections, select either team on an existing pairing and save the new teams. Select the courtroom to change it. MockScores shows a warning when a courtroom is assigned to multiple pairings in the same round.

Prepare each pairing

Before publishing, check every card for:

Correct prosecution/plaintiff and defense teams
A unique courtroom assignment
The expected number of scorer positions
No duplicate team appearances

You may also select Download ballot to open a printable ballot for the pairing.

Scorers and presiders are managed on the same card, but their links are sent later. See Managing Ballots and Results.

Publish pairings

Select Publish pairings when the round’s matchups are ready. At least one pairing is required.

Publishing makes the round visible in each coach’s Schedule, where coaches can assign students to roles and set their witness call order.

You can still correct a pairing after publication, but coordinate any late change with the affected coaches so they review their preparation for the updated matchup.

Know when a round is ready to lock

A round can be locked only after its pairings are published. Before locking, use the tournament Overview and the coach view for each team to resolve:

Missing role assignments
Missing witness call orders
Missing courtrooms
Missing scorers or presiders
Scorers assigned to recorded conflicts

When a coach did not create pairing-specific assignments or call orders, locking copies that team’s saved defaults. After locking, coaches cannot edit the copied or pairing-specific preparation.

The lock action is covered in Managing Ballots and Results.