Systems and methods for managing recruiting and player allocations within sporting competitions

Abstract

System 10 implemented over network 120, is a semi-autonomous bot 14 for managing recruiting and player allocation functions, for sporting grades and sporting leagues, with sub-functions for finding and confirming recruits, controlled through administrative interface 11. The bot uses recruit interface 12, a discrete page on league website 17, to accept allocation requests from new players or the like, i.e. requests to join the league generally or to join particular teams. Using the preferences and personal details submitted in the recruit interface the bot can generate ranked lists 1411 of the most suitable teams for the initiator of the allocation. Ranking is performed by allocation algorithm 141 and uses team population data, team skill, team recruiting status (set through private team interface 13 ), team congruence with the initiators personal details (particularly age, gender etc), and previous allocation requests received by said team. The bot either sequentially or in parallel sends allocation requests to said teams using either SMS's 181 sent through SMSC 18, emails sent through network 120, or logs sent to team interface 13, as a means of finding a team interested in receiving the initiator, preferentially targeting teams whose reception of the player would balance the grade, i.e. preferencing underpopulated or under skilled teams. If a team is found, notifications are sent and team lists are updated, if not, the initiator is added to player pending list 162, awaiting further action from an administrator. The allocation process may be initiated through the recruit interface, or may be initiated by the bot 14, by autonomously prompting selected parties to have teams found for them, particularly dropout players, or fill/temp players. By doing so the league bot can provide an easy process for dropout players to be reintegrated into the competition (and also confirm their interest/non-interest), or provide underemployed players the packaged option of playing more regularly.

1 . A recruit and allocation management system for a sports league implemented over an electronic communications network, including:
 a league ‘bot’, a semi-autonomous program that manages the player allocation process, including performing strategic individual/team allocations, and identifying parties that might serve as recruits/‘new’ players;   an administrative interface, for league administrators to set bot preferences;   a team interface, for teams to interact with the bot, including setting team recruiting status, and viewing logs of allocation requests;   a recruit interface, for recruits/individuals to interact with the bot, including cueing making a particular or general allocation request; and   a database containing league data, bot lists, administrator preferences, team preferences, recruit details etc.   
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein allocation initiators and prospective teams are contacted by electronic messaging. 
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein allocation initiators and prospective teams are contacted by email. 
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein allocation initiators and prospective teams are contacted through a telecommunications messaging service, selected from one of SMS, EMS or MMS messaging. 
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein allocation initiators and prospective teams are contacted through a web interface, e.g. through posting a message to a private web-page. 
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein a plurality of prospective teams are contacted at the same time. 
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the team to respond positively first is assigned the allocation. 
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein once a team accepts an initiators allocation request, other alerted teams are notified that there is no longer a player seeking a team. 
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein prospective teams are contacted sequentially. 
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein an allocation request made to a prospective team includes response data or links for responding to said alert. 
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein once an allocation is made, the initiator and accepting team are notified of the match. 
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said recruit interface allows an initiator to specify preferences including preferred season, grade, or teams to join. 
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said team interface allows teams to flag themselves as ‘recruiting’. 
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said allocation request is submitted to a prospective team via a telecommunications network. 
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said allocation request is submitted to a prospective team via an SMS message. 
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said allocation request is submitted to a prospective team via an email. 
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said allocation request is submitted to a prospective team via a log in an interface, e.g. a log in a private team interface. 
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said system can identify ‘dropout’ players. 
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said system can identify ‘underemployed’ players. 
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said system can identify ‘dropout’ players and ‘underemployed’ players, and wherein dropout and underemployed players are contacted by electronic messaging. 
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 20  wherein dropout and underemployed players are contacted by email. 
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein dropout and underemployed players are contacted through a telecommunications messaging service selected from one of SMS, EMS or MMS messaging. 
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein said positive responses to said contacts, by dropouts or underemployed players, are used procedurally in place of an initiation made through the recruit interface. 
   
   
       24 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein play history data, personal and preferential, associated with a dropout or underemployed player is used in place of manually entered data in the recruit interface. 
   
   
       25 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said recruit interface allows a player to view lists of recruiting teams. 
   
   
       26 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said recruit interface allows said system to save or store interest in joining a team, e.g. to a player pending list. 
   
   
       27 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said system includes a website in which allocation requests and player requests might be submitted by players and teams respectively. 
   
   
       28 . A method for automating the allocation of an individual to a sporting team using an electronic communications network, including the steps of;
 providing a recruit interface for an individual to register for the allocation service;   providing a team interface for a team to register as ‘recruiting’;   creating a list of ‘suitable’ teams for the initiator, sending allocation requests to said teams, and awaiting a positive reply, which if forthcoming might prompt notifications to relevant parties and the initiator to be added to the relevant team list.   
   
   
       29 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein player to team matching is performed through analysing age/gender, and/or team skill, and/or team population, and/or team recruiting status, and/or previous similar contacts made to teams. 
   
   
       30 . A method for prompting parties, particularly dropout and underemployed parties, to use an allocation engine, or express an interest in rejoining or changing teams in a league, including the steps of;
 providing an administrative interface to setup prompting systems;   sending prompts in the form of messages to said parties, with reply mechanisms; and   receiving responses and either storing said responses, or using said responses to initiate an allocation or equivalent process.   
   
   
       31 . A recruit and allocation management system for a sports league implemented over an electronic communications network, including:
 a league ‘bot’, a semi-autonomous program that manages the player allocation process, including performing strategic individual/team allocations, and identifying parties that might serve as recruits/‘new’ players;   any one or more of the following interfaces:
 (a) an administrative interface, for league administrators to set bot preferences; 
 (b) a team interface, for teams to interact with the bot, including setting team recruiting status, and viewing logs of allocation requests; 
 (c) a recruit interface, for recruits/individuals to interact with the bot, including cueing making a particular or general allocation request; and a database containing league data, bat lists, administrator preferences, team preferences, recruit details etc.