How Do I Create a Schedule for Six Baseball Teams?
When organizing a baseball league with six teams, one of the most important aspects is creating a schedule. Because you have an even number of teams, it means that on any given day three games can be held within the league. You will also need other information such as field availability in order to create a schedule that works for everybody.
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Instructions
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Determine the structure of your season. This will include the total number of games and if there will be a playoff round. Because there are six teams in the league, the season can be built in factors of 5 if everyone is going to play each other an equal amount of times. So a 10-game season would mean everyone plays each other twice, 15 games would mean three times, and for a 20-game season each team would play every other team four times.
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Find three fields in order to hold the baseball games. It would be ideal to find three different fields where games can be held at the same time in your town or community. However, if three different fields are not available, you may stagger the start times of each game. Staggering the start times is not necessarily ideal because there is no set time limit on a baseball game. The overage of one game could bleed into the next, disrupting the schedule for later games.
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Determine the days of the week that games will be held. Remember that you will want to allow for rainouts, as well, so leaving space in between games is ideal. For a 20-game season, playing every Tuesday and Friday is one suggestion. Or for a shortened season of 15 games over five weeks, you could set up games Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Take into account school vacations, holidays, or other community activities when scheduling these days so there is not a conflict.
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Create the six-team baseball schedule. Plug these variables into a sports scheduling program such as Schedule Creator from Sandy Knoll Software. A trial version for schedules up to six teams is available free of charge, and a larger version as of May 2010 cost $4.95. Another way is to create the schedule by hand. On a piece of paper, list the dates of the games across the top. Along the side list the fields and start times. Under each date match up the six teams in three different games. Rotate each opponent until each team has played each other once. (This will be five games.) Repeat the schedule until all of the dates are filled across the top.
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Tips & Warnings
When structuring playoffs, there are two ideas that align well with a six team league. The first idea is that the best two teams get a "bye" into the second round. That would mean the 3 seed would play the 6 seed and the 4 seed would play the 5 seed. The winner of those two games would then play the first and second seed in a semi-final game, and then the final would follow. Another idea is to only allow the top four teams to make the playoffs. In this scenario the 1 seed would play the 4 seed and the 2 seed would play the 3 seed, and then a final game would follow.
It might also be a good idea to touch base with your umpire pool, as well. While you do not want umpires to dictate your schedule, if you have a limited number of umpires, taking into consideration their availability before you schedule the season may save you some headaches down the road.
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- Photo Credit baseball image by Tomasz Plawski from Fotolia.com
