Overview
From registration, drawing teams, board selection, to chart management, we all have our little personal preferences and ideas on how to run a shuffleboard tournament. However, from a small 2 board, 1 event tournament to a large 32 board, 12 event tournament, there are 7 basic steps that we all follow;
(1) Tournament Design (events, formats, etc), (2) Player registration/event signup, (3) Drawing and/or specifying teams, (4) Sponsor sale, (5) Chart management, (6) tabulating prize money and finally, (7) submission/publication of tournament results. Computer Peas was designed with these 7 basic steps in mind.
When it comes to keeping track of the list of registered players, who's playing in what event, keeping track of fees and sponsor sale money, and other general accounting, the advantage of using a computer is fairly obvious. However, in a small tournament, these tasks might be easier to accomplish with a pencil and paper. Data entry can be more trouble than it's worth. Computer Peas attempts to present various tools that make data entry very compelling. As you will see in the demonstration, keyboard entry is kept to a minimum.
So far, for the most part, tournament directors I have spoken to about the program are skeptical about a computer program managing the charts. For one, having a chart on a dinky computer screen instead of a large mylar, easily viewable, wall chart is certainly an understandable concern. For those who refuse to let a computer manage their charts, Computer Peas will generate the board assignments (complete with byes), letting you, at that point, to run the tournament without the aid of the program.
HOWEVER, keep in mind that it is thought that the real value of the program is in the chart management. This is true not only for the help it offers in running the actual chart, but for the preservation of the information that is buried in a chart. Why are charts mylar? Yes, so they are easily erased and reused for the next event or tournament. Computer managed charts are never erased.
An entire section of this website is dedicated to computer automated charts. After you've gone through the program Demonstration, be sure to check out this section. Your ideas and input are vital to the future of Computer Peas.
