Special requests

A special request is a note to yourself: “these exact four players should play a game together before the night is over.” You record it whenever it comes up - even if two of them are mid-game - and the four keep playing as normal. Near the end of the night you fulfil the request the way that suits the moment.

It is built for the one job clubs ask for most: “Dave wants to play with these three before we finish - don’t let me forget.” A special request stays parked until you act on it, so nothing is left to memory.

The whole feature stays out of the way until you use it. On a normal night the only thing you will see is a single button on the toolbar; the list of requests only appears once you have made one.

Recording a request

On the live board, the Waiting Members toolbar has an Add Special Request button, alongside Check In, Quick Guest and Bulk Add. Tap it to open the Add Special Request window:

• Pick four players - two for each side. Players who are currently on court can be chosen; the game only starts when you fulfil the request later.
• Add an optional label (for example “Dave’s request”) so you can tell requests apart.
• Choose Save for later. Save stays disabled until you have picked four different players.

Once you save, a card for the request appears in the Special Requests list. Make as many as you need; the list hides itself again if you discard the last one.

Only owners and admins can add or act on requests. Watchers and Club Users can see the parked requests but not change them.

Fulfilling a request

Each request card shows the four players, their live status, and a row of actions. You choose how to honour it:

Action	What it does
Hold	Pulls all four players out of the rotation so the picker stops drawing them into other games. Tap it again (it now reads Release) to return them to the queue. Use this near the end of the night to gather the four before you run their game.
Start	Puts the four straight onto a free court now. Available when all four are free and a court is open.
Queue	Drops the four into the waiting queue as a linked group. They come up together when their turn is due - no need to hold a court open. Changed your mind? See Cancelling a queued four below.
Assign to prep	Stages the four as the next game, so they are up next before a court frees up. Available when all four are free.
Discard	Removes the request. If it was holding any players, they are returned to the queue first, so no one is ever left stranded out of rotation.

You can mix and match: hold the four now, then Start, Queue or Assign to prep when you are ready.

Cancelling a queued four

Once you have Queued a four, they appear in the waiting queue as a single linked pill. If plans change, you do not have to wait for the picker to bring them up - the pill has a round × button in its top corner.

Tap the × to cancel the queued four: the linked pill dissolves and the four go back into the queue as individual members, so the picker no longer keeps them together. Nobody is dropped from the night - they simply rejoin the normal rotation. There is no confirmation step, and only owners and admins see the button.

This is the same round-× affordance you will see on a sticky pair pill in the queue - tapping that removes the pairing for the night instead (you can re-pair any time). See Sticky pairs.

Players who are mid-game

You can build a request around players who are still on court - that is the point of recording it early. The card shows each player’s live status so you always know what is holding the request up:

• A player who is free shows in the normal way.
• A player on court shows on court. Start and Assign to prep stay disabled until they finish, with a caption naming who you are waiting on (for example Waiting on: Dave (on court)).
• If you have Hold switched on, a player still on court shows on court - holds when game ends - they will drop out of rotation the moment their current game finishes, so you do not have to watch for it. Held players show as held, and the card shows a Held marker with the note Held - out of rotation.

Queue always works, even when someone is mid-game - the linked group simply waits its turn in the queue until all four are free, then comes up together.

Good to know

• Holding is always tied to a request and applies to all four players at once. To sit a single player out on their own, use Sit Out on the player instead.
• A special request never changes attendance, ratings or the queue on its own. Nothing happens until you Start, Queue or Assign it - and once the game is played, it flows through scoring and ratings exactly like any other game.
• Discarding a request only removes the note. It never removes a player or affects a game already in progress.

Related

• Sessions - running a club night
• The game picker - how games are chosen, and sticky pairs
• Members - checking players in and sitting them out