Barrel Racing – Explaining Barrel Racing Event Settings

The Team Roping comes with many many features and options, so, at first glance, it will also be a bit complicated. We intend to simplify setting up Team Roping Events by explaining the most basic configuration options to some of the more advanced.

Manage a Competition Settings

Before we can set up the events, we must first have a Competition to put the Roping event into. Competition Setup > Manage Competitions is where we do this. This basic information about the Competition, the what, where and when information.

Setting Up the Roping Events

Next go to Competition Setup > Manage Roping Events and click to select the roping Competition we just created. Next, add a new event. This is where we set up an event within a roping Competition. The settings are split into 5 settings categories, General Information, Rounds and Fees, Event Settings, Payout Rules, and Handicaps. The images below are typical of settings for a numbered event.

In General Information, you may name the event whatever you want. The Date should match the date of the Roping Competition. Start Time is an approximate and is most importantly used to order multiple events within a Competition. Team Roping Type will determine how teams are formed and how the draw is configured. Draw Details include whether competitors may enter as singles, or must enter as a team, or if you will allow both (mixed) within the same event. If single is chosen, then the entry form will only allow single entries, there will not be an option to add a team member. If Team is chosen, the entry form will not allow an entry that does not have a team partner included. If Mixed is chosen, singles and teams may be entered. Draw teams will be generated for singles. For Pick and Draw and Draw and Pick events you will need to indicate the of draw entries the event will create upon entry.

Team Roping System also includes the ability to manage individual roping events such as Breakaway Roping and Calf Roping.

The first setting in Rounds and Fees is the total number of rounds in the event, including the final/short round. For example if your draw will be 3 progressive rounds followed by a short round for the top 10 teams, you will indicate 4 rounds. The Entry Fee is per roper, not per team. This will be charged for each team the roper competes on. For example a Pick 2 Draw 1 would charge the competitor the entry fee three times. The exception to this is a Round Robin event where the Entry Fee is the total fee to enter the event. Max Entries is the maximum number of times a competitor may enter an event. In a numbered roping, this would be the number of team the roper can enter. In a Pick and Draw, it would multiply the event settings by the number of entries. Using our Pick 2 Draw 1, if a Competitor entered twice, they would be entered on 3 x 2 teams. Gross $ Addition is the added money (if any) to the prize purse for this event. Add After Stock Fees % deducted means that the entire amount goes into the prize pot. Gross $ Deduction is the money (if any) taken from the prize purse for this event before payouts. Stock Fee % is deducted from the gross purse, to be paid to stock contractor. If set here, it overrides the default setting in Settings > System Settings for this Roping Event only. It should be set as a decimal number, as in .35 = 35%. Assoc. Fee % (This percentage is deducted from the gross purse, to be retained by the association or producer. If set here, it overrides the default setting in Settings > System Settings for this Roping Event only.) It should be set as a decimal number, as in .1 = 10%.

Event Settings is where you specify the permitted makeup of teams as well as specifics on some rounds. The Max and Min Ratings indicate the values that the entry form will test for when submitted. For example, if the Max Team Rating is 12 and a #7 header and #7 heeler attempt to enter, the entry form will not allow the entry to proceed. Similarly a header or heeler with too high or too low a rating will not be permitted to enter. Progressive After Round determines in which round progression kicks in, the rounds before the team must catch to progress to the next round. In a fully progressive draw, this will be 1, as in, the team must catch in round 1 to progress to round 2. If your event will use a Short Round, set the number of teams. This will be the maximum number of teams after all progressive rounds to be included in the Short Round. If 20 teams remain, and our Short Round Teams is set to 10, only ten will progress. If 8 teams and our Short Round Teams is set to 10, only eight will progress. Short Round Draw Order determines if the short round is ran from slowest team to fastest team, fastest to slowest, or is set to generate a random order.

Payout Rules is where we determine how much of the prize purse is paid when and to whom. Percentage of Pot is the percentage of the net purse available for each round payout. The net purse is determined by entry fees, prize money added and money deducted for stock and admin fees. The net purse is then distributed by round according to the Percentage of Pot settings (entered as a whole number such as 25, 50, or 100). Example, a net purse of $7000 and a Percentage of Pot set at 50% will result in a $3500 available for a round payout. Holes Paid is the number of top placings that are paid in the round. Payout Breakdown is the percentages of the prize money split among the riders who place (entered as a whole numbers separated by commas, such as 40,30,20,10). In the above example, the $3500 would be split into $1400, $1050, $700, $350.

Handicaps are only used in some roping draw formats. These are the +/- seconds added to or subtracted from a Slide roping based on the team ratings. Although intended for Slides, it can be used with other roping types. For team ratings higher than the base for the roping event, enter a positive number, such as 2. For team ratings lower than the base, enter a negative number, such as -2. The base rating does not require a handicap setting. Handicaps are added to the times for the first round of the roping event, after which the handicaps are no longer used. The example shown below would be for a Number 10 Slide roping with a max team rating of 12 and a min team rating of 7. Handicaps are set as one second increments for each rating point.

Testing Reduces Anxiety

The best way to ensure you have your settings correct is to enter some test data. Set up a test roping Competition with a test Event in the format and with the settings you expect to use. Add some competitors, run the draws, and enter some test times to confirm that the results are what you expect. As we often tell our users, it is far better to discover a wrong setting on a Tuesday morning than during the high anxiety of a Competition.