How the schedule is generated

The scheduling process for a league of AMSA’s size can create a number of challenges. We do our best to make the season as equitable as possible for all divisions and teams. We look at the time slots as well as the field allotments when creating the schedule.

I wanted to share the process for how we generate the schedule so that you know things are not done in an arbitrary manner and that no teams are given preferential treatment when we build the schedule.

How times are allocated

We utilize a round robin algorithm that ensures we provide perfectly even schedules, related to times, for each division. We are able to generate the full schedule for all divisions with the click of one button.

However, this assumes that each division has an even number of teams. Once a division is not even, there is absolutely no way to ensure that each team has the same number of time slots as a division will have a team with a bye week each round. There is no way around this.

This system also assumes that we have the same number of fields as we do divisions. If we have less fields that we do divisions the system creates what is call ‘orphan matchups’ meaning that they are not currently set to fill a time slot. These are then allocated in a uniform way to fill the remaining time slots.

How field assignments are allocated

To provide an equitable distribution of field assignments, we rotate when the fields start in the schedule builder each season. For example, in Season 1 the Premier Division will play at OCSC 1 and the last division (Over 50 A for 2019) would play at OCSC 10 the first week of the season. In Season 2 Over 50 A would start on OCSC 1 and Premier would start OCSC 2, In season 3 Over 50 A would start at OCSC 2 and Premier would start at OCSC 3, etc. This uniform rotation means that we are doing a standard format for rotating the field assigments.

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So, what does this all mean and how does it affect your team?

The Competition committee and AMSA Staff do everything in their power to build a schedule that is fair and even across all divisions. No special requests are accepted or honored when building the schedule. The system generates it and we fill in the orphan matchups in a standard and consistent way. We do our best to make sure that if a division had more field assignments away from OSCS the prior season, then they will have equal or less than the other divisions the next season. There could be, based upon the result of uneven divisions, instances where your team has more games at a particular time or more games at a particular venue than others in your division. This is just the “luck” of the draw and it was not done to punish OR reward your team. The likelihood of things evening out the next season is good.

As always, the Austin Men’s Soccer Association is looking for volunteers and if you have ideas, thoughts or feedback about this scheduling process you are always welcome to attend the Executive Committee meetings. We value our members support and feedback.

If you have any questions about this process or how the system works please feel free to reach out to Kevin Fricke. His contact information can be found here.