AskFRED walks you through creating a tournament or clinic step by step. This guide gives you a straightforward overview of each step. Several steps have their own in-depth articles, which are linked where relevant.
Tournaments vs. clinics
A tournament is a multi-event competition. You create the tournament first, then add individual events (by weapon, gender, age, etc.) to it.
A clinic is a single-session activity such as a camp, coaching clinic, referee clinic, or practice session. A clinic is essentially a one-event tournament, so its event details (weapon, age, restrictions, capacity) are collected right on the initial creation form.
Both use the same five-step flow. The only difference is the first step.
To start, go to your Bout Committee area and choose to create a new tournament or clinic.
Step 1: Details
This is where the two flows differ.
For a tournament, you provide the high-level information: name, start and end dates, division, sanctioning authority, a short description, your registration open and close dates, host club, the registration fee and currency, and whether registrations require your manual approval.
For a clinic, you provide the same core details plus the single event's settings directly on this step: the clinic type, start time, weapon/gender/age, and capacity.
A few things worth knowing:
End date defaults to the start date if you leave it blank.
Registration opens / closes default to today and the start date, respectively, if left blank. Your event accepts online registration by default.
Host Club links the event to your club for display and discoverability. Read more in What Does the Host Club Field Do? (https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/10108534-what-does-the-host-club-field-do-on-a-tournament).
Currency is locked to your Stripe account's settings if you have one connected, or once payments have been received.
Venue can be selected from existing venues or created new. Read more in Managing Venues (https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/9309312-managing-venues).
Restricting who can register — membership requirements, weapon/gender/age enforcement, and club allow/block lists — is covered in its own article: Restricting Who Can Register (companion article).
Step 2: Configure Payments
Choose whether to accept payments online. You can connect either a Stripe or a PayPal account, then select which provider to use. You can accept payments without requiring them, or require payment to register with a configurable payment window.
This step is covered in depth in Tournament Payment Settings (https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/8714637-tournament-payment-settings).
Step 3: Pricing & Discounts
Set tiered (early/late) pricing and configure club or rating-based discounts. Discounts require online payments and a membership requirement to be enabled.
This step has its own in-depth article: Pricing and Discounts (companion article).
Step 4: "More Info"
Add any additional information fencers should know — parking, spectator info, refund policy, alternative payment options, and so on. The more you add here, the fewer questions you tend to receive.
Step 5: Add Extras
Attachments — files to include with your registration confirmation emails.
Waivers — collect e-signatures from registrants. Waivers are added after creation and require online payments to be enabled. Read more in Waivers and E-Signatures (https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/9569531-waivers-and-e-signatures).
Registration Fields — collect extra information (t-shirt size, phone, etc.) during registration. Read more in Additional Registration Fields (https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/9660360-additional-registration-fields).
Finishing and publishing
You can save from any step using Finish and Create (or Create Tournament / Create Clinic on the last step). The stepper at the top lets you move freely between steps, and flags any step that still needs attention.
After creating a tournament, you'll add its events. New tournaments start hidden so you can finish setting them up; publish them when you're ready for fencers to register.
Related articles
Restricting Who Can Register (companion article)
Pricing and Discounts (companion article)
Tournament Payment Settings — https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/8714637-tournament-payment-settings
What Does the Host Club Field Do? — https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/10108534-what-does-the-host-club-field-do-on-a-tournament
Managing Venues — https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/9309312-managing-venues
Waivers and E-Signatures — https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/9569531-waivers-and-e-signatures
Additional Registration Fields — https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/9660360-additional-registration-fields
Using the Waitlist Feature — https://help.askfred.net/en/articles/13155003-using-the-waitlist-feature-as-a-tournament-organizer