How to Create a Volleyball Scrimmage Bracket

The preseason is an important time for volleyball teams as it allows you to work on building your team's skill set without having to put your official record on the line. Scrimmages with other local teams provides the closest simulation available to playing a real match. When working with several other local teams, creating a preseason tournament is a simple way to add an extra bit of competitive flair to the games, despite the games' lack of reflection on the teams' formal records.

Things You'll Need

  • Straight edge
  • Permanent marker
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Instructions

    • 1

      Consult with the rules of the governing body your team plays under, as restrictions may be in place which prevent the use of a preseason scrimmage tournament as a warm-up for the season. For example, Indiana high school teams are only permitted one preseason scrimmage, which does not allow for a bracketed event.

    • 2

      Contact local teams to find participants for the scrimmage tournament.

    • 3

      Organize hosts for the event, as which courts are available will determine how your tournament is bracketed. For example, if one team hosts the entire event, any teams can be paired, however if each match is hosted by one team playing in it and only two teams have open courts the first day of a four-team bracket, those teams will have to be split so they don't face each other.

    • 4

      Set the format for your tournament. In a single-elimination bracket as soon as a team is defeated they are eliminated, while in a double-elimination bracket, there is a second loser's bracket beneath the winner's bracket where teams go after losing.

    • 5

      Draw a horizontal line near the right side of a piece of paper with a straight edge, then draw a perpendicular line so the left side of the horizontal line touches the middle of the vertical line.

    • 6

      Draw a horizontal line where the right edge of the line touches the top end of the vertical line. Draw a matching line off the bottom end. This group of two horizontal lines connected with a vertical line, and a single horizontal line extending out the other side of the vertical line creates one pairing, and accommodates two teams.

    • 7

      Add pairings to your bracket by drawing a vertical line with two horizontal lines touching it attached to an open horizontal line until you have enough spaces for all the teams. Each extra pairing accommodates one extra team. For example, a four-team bracket has to add two additional pairings, one to each of the left horizontal lines of the first pairing, to result in four spots for teams.

    • 8

      Fill in the names of the teams in the tournament, with on team name on each horizontal line that does not have a vertical line touching its left end. Each pairing shows one match, with the winner of the pairing written in on the line extending off the right side of the vertical line.