Since 2005, Oponentus has been developing a prototype and completing plans for a new online solution allowing people to organise and participate in sports in a very different way. The expected effect of this exciting innovation (patent pending) is that more people will organise and participate in sports. See the descriptions below for an overview of what makes it so useful.

Fig. 1A presents an illustration showing that a user may fill multiple roles in the system via a common login. A user may be a player, tournament director, manager, court manager, tournament official or medical officer. Roles such as photographer, cameraman, salesperson and reporter can be added later. Each role confers different rights and/or tools.

Fig. 1E depicts important parts of the system. These include communities of different categories such as associations, sports clubs, cafés, employers, hotels, schools/universities, arenas including the management of such and other categories. There are users with different roles such as players, tournament officials and medical officers, and arenas with and without management (an arena with management is managed by a community). Plus, there are different tools such as user tools, manager tools, tournament director tools and court tools and a rating formula included. The methods for registering, creating and conducting a tournament are explained for sports where one player plays against another player (e.g. tennis singles) but can of course also be applied for team sports.

Fig. 1D shows a tournament plan and message settings. All are set when the tournament is created so the tournament can run itself from the beginning until the end. No other solution has that.

If tournament officials are required in a tournament, invitations are first generated to tournament officials. When they enter they enter all the possible matches of the tournament since the number of players is not known yet. If sufficient tournament officials have not entered all possible matches (within the entry period for tournament officials set in the tournament plan), then the tournament is de-activated.

If tournament officials have entered all possible matches of the tournament, entry is subsequently opened for players. Invitations are then generated automatically for players and the players can enter within the entry period for players. If none or no more than one player has entered in this period, the tournament is de-activated and a message is sent to tournament officials and players saying that the tournament has been cancelled.

When two or more players have entered, then the tournament schedule is generated automatically when the maximum allowed number of players have entered or the entry period for players closes. Then messages to players are also generated with information about when and where to play the first match, as well as reports to tournament officials and messages to tournament officials who are not needed. Some tournament officials may be unneeded when the number of players is less than the maximum allowed number of players.

The period after the entry period for players is due until the first match begins is bounded by the “preparing for play from” and “preparing for play to” parameters. As the results are received over time, messages can automatically be generated to players about when and where to play next match.

Players’ ratings are automatically updated when results are submitted.

At the end of the tournament, when results for the final match have been processed, diplomas can be automatically generated for the players in the tournament.

Fig. 3 shows the registration page of the Web site. Users may have different roles in the solution, so when users register they must first select what to register for. Each option is named by “Type”, assigned a price, a “description”, and a link to a more detailed description.

If a user represents an international sports association governing a sport, and has the authority to act on its behalf, they can select “International Sports Association”. By doing so, the user will be able to manage the rules of the sport within the system, manage tournament official certificates, tournament officials, disciplines, match formats and do other settings that will impact on the sport in the system internationally. The cost for this license is free.

If the user represents a national association, and has the authority to act on its behalf, he can select “National association”. By doing so, they will be able to manage tournament officials, tournament officials’ fees, etc. The cost for this license is free.

If the user just wants to obtain membership in a registered community he can select the option “Obtain membership in a community”. Being a member of a community allows a user to obtain benefits such as participation in the community’s tournaments and discounts on court booking. The cost for this license will depend on the community.

If the user just wants to register as a player, the user will select the “Player” option. As a player, the user can participate in tournaments and book courts. By being a player, users can also obtain membership in communities on the terms of the community.

If the user represents a company and wants to organise sports for the company’s employees, the user will select the option “Employer”. As an employer, the user can manage tournaments and courts for its employees. The cost for this license will depend on the number of members.

If the user represents a sports club and wants to organise sports for club members, the user will select the option “Sports club”. As a sports club, the user can manage tournaments and courts for its members. The cost for this license will depend on the sports selected and the number of members.

If the user just wants to organise sports for their friends, neighbours or family, the user will select the option “Other sports community”. Here, the user can manage tournaments and courts for friends, neighbours or family . The cost for this license will depend on sports selected and the number of members.

If the user represents an arena and just wants to use the solution for managing courts, they will select the option “Arena”. After which the user will be able to manage online court booking. The user can also set up tournaments in vacant times to maximize use of the courts. The cost for this license will depend on the sports selected and the number of members.

If the user wants to register for tournaments as tournament official, the user will register as a “Tournament official”.

If the user wants to register for tournaments as medical officer, the user will select the “Medical officer” option.