AU2007237253A1 - Systems and Methods for Participation Management - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Systems and Methods for Participation Management Applicant: Brett Guthrie The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 1 Comm pat req 1A Systems and Methods for Participation Management The present invention relates to systems and methods for participation Z management. It may relate to the management of player attendance at sporting matches. It may also have more general application as well.

Many people play in local sports leagues and the like in many different types of sport, including for example basketball, netball, indoor soccer, and (N indoor cricket.

Typically, a league organising body will set up matches and provide r- 10 game officials and other support, and registered teams will play once a week at C) a designated time in a local hall, sports centre or the like.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for players to have commitments, injuries and the like that may prevent them from playing on a particular date, and player availability can change on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis.

Accordingly, it is not uncommon for a match to be called off due to a team lacking sufficient players. This is disappointing for the players involved, and is also problematic for the organising bodies, as they may lose game fees and also custom if players become dissatisfied and lose interest.

One aim of the present invention is to provide systems and methods for managing player attendance at sporting matches.

Viewed from one aspect, the present invention provides a player attendance management system for a sports match implemented over an electronic communications network, including: a message receiver for receiving a substitute request for one or more substitute players for a sports match from a requesting party over the network; a substitute database containing data relating to players registered as substitute players; a player matching engine for matching one or more registered substitute players to a substitute request based on the registered substitute player data; and a message sender for sending an alert to the one or more matched players of the substitute request over the network.

CAP Alnal sped The present invention may for example be accessed through a website 0on the Internet and/or through any other suitable communications system,

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including electronic messaging in general, and provides a central bank of

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Z potential substitute players from which substitutes can be automatically identified and alerted in a quick and efficient manner. An alerted player may then agree to play as a substitute in a suitable manner, e.g. by an appropriate reply message. The system may thus include a substitute allocator for N assigning one or more players to a substitute request. The message receiver Smay be configured to receive responses to the alert from the matched players r- 10 and the substitute allocator may be configured to then assign one or more matched players to the substitute request based on the responses received from the matched players.

The present invention assists a party, e.g. a team captain, to obtain a substitute to play in a match, e.g. of a local league, when not enough regular team players are able to attend. It can therefore help to prevent forfeits and the associated loss of playing fees and reduction in player satisfaction.

The ability of the system to automatically identify potential substitutes and to send out alerts, removes the burden of this from team captains and the like, and the speed and efficiency of the system is especially useful given that the need for a substitute is often learnt of only a day or two or even less before the match date.

The system may provide a substitute for a sports team or may provide a substitute as an opponent, e.g. in individual competitions. Thus the requesting party could be a team requiring a substitute player or an individual requiring an opponent. The team sport could be for example basketball, netball, soccer (e.g.

indoor soccer, including 5-a-side or 6-a-side soccer), indoor cricket, darts or any other team sport where substitutes may be required. The individual sport could be for example a racket sport, such as tennis, squash, badminton or tabletennis, or any other suitable one-on-one sport, e.g. golf. The invention is particularly relevant to bodies that organise leagues and the like, be they commercial ventures or voluntary organisations, and, the league association or organisation may be the requesting party that requests a substitute through the system, e.g. after being informed of a lack of players by a team captain.

CAP fina2 sped A particular player attendance management system may be dedicated to 0a single type of sport and/or venue, e.g. to a basketball league or to a particular sports centre. The system may also be run in more general manner, e.g. the

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Z system may provide a central management service for a number of different sports and/or venues, and could for example allow a player to register for a number of sports and/or venues.

The system may be accessed through a website, which may include a N substitute registration interface on which players can register as substitute Splayers. The substitute registration interface may take the form of a webpage, r- 10 email or other electronic form. It may include fields for entering registration 0 0 data, such as personal data, e.g. gender, age and skill level and team data such as any teams that a player plays for. It may also include fields for inputting availability data, e.g. days, times and specific dates on which a player is available or unavailable, and, if relevant, locations where a player would or would not be willing to play. A field for indicating skill levels that the substitute player is prepared to play at may also be provided. The system may then include a player registration storer, wherein the message receiver is configured to receive registration data from a substitute player over the network; and the player registration storer is configured to store the registration data in the substitute database.

A website through which the system is accessed may also include a substitute request interface, which may take the form of a webpage, email, electronic form or the like. It may include fields for team details, e.g. any gender or age restrictions or team skill levels, e.g. league divisions. It may also include fields for match details, e.g. time, day and date of match, match location and opponent details, e.g. team name. It may include fields for substitute player requirements, e.g. number of players, playing position, and skill level. The system may alternatively be accessed by an electronic address or telephone number to which to send a basic request message or the like.

The substitute request data may be entered manually by the requesting party, and/or may be provided automatically. The request data may include one or more of team data, match data, eligibility requirements and substitute preferences, and the player matching engine may be configured to match one CAP final sped or more registered substitute players to a substitute request based on the 0 request data.

The system may include a team databases containing data relating to the Z requesting parties and the player matching engine may be configured to retrieve request data from the team database based on the identification of the requesting party when a substitute request is received by the message receiver, and the message sender may be configured to send the retrieved request data N- to the requesting party for verification.

For example, the player matching engine may determine a requesting r- 10 party's team from an input by the party or from a login name of the party or the like into the system, and may access team and fixture databases to determine team and match details for that party, e.g. the next rostered match. The website may then automatically provide team and match details. These details may be editable by the requesting party, e.g. due to changes in rosterings or due to the need for a substitute for a later match. The website may access and display details of all or a number of future matches of a team, so that the requesting party may select any of the matches as ones for which a substitute is needed.

The substitute system may be accessed via a separate substitute website, which for example a party may access via a link from the website of a sports league or other organising body, e.g. a link in a fixtures webpage, or in a team's webpage. The system could also be accessed from an organising body's website.

The substitute registration interface may be provided when a player initially enrols with an organisation, e.g. as part of a team or player signing-on procedure.

The substitute request interface may be brought up when a player, e.g.

the team captain, accesses a substitute site, e.g. clicks on a link in a league's website, e.g. a link from the team's webpage, a general link on a fixtures webpage or a link adjacent each match or team on a fixture's webpage. The link selected may cause the website to identify various data for entry into the requesting fields.

The player matching engine automatically identifies possible substitute players by matching registered player data with substitute request data. The CAP final sped player matching engine may check for availability based on team fixtures. For

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example, it may check whether registered players are in a team opposing the requesting party or are themselves playing matches that would prevent their

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Z attendance at the requesting party's match, e.g. because they are also playing at the time of the requesting party's match. This information may be stored in the team database or the player matching engine may have access to another database, e.g. of an associated organization's website. The player matching N engine may also check personal availability data, e.g. times, days, dates or Slocations at which a player has specified that they do not wish to play.

S 10 The player matching engine may apply other matching criteria also, e.g.

Othat may increase the likelihood of an acceptance. For example, the player matching engine may preferentially match players that are rostered to play before or after a requesting party's match at the same location. This is because players may be more likely to play as a substitute in a game before or after their own rostered game rather then to attend a location specifically for another team's match.

As well as matching availability, the player matching engine may also match eligibility, e.g. for gender or age restricted teams, and may match requesting preferences, e.g. skill level, playing position and the like.

The player matching engine may be configured to rank players based on one or more of availability, likelihood that the player will respond positively to the alert, eligibility for playing in the sports match and requesting party preferences, and may send out alerts, for example sequentially, based on this ranking.

Player alerts may be issued in any suitable manner. In one embodiment, the message sender broadcasts a message to a number of matched substitute players simultaneously. The message receiver will then await player responses, and the substitute allocator will decide on which players, if any, to choose based on their replies. For example, the substitute allocator may assign the substitute position or positions to the first alerted player/s that respond positively to the alert. The message sender may then notify the requesting party and the one or more matched players of the assignment of the one or more matched players to the substitute request. The message sender may also notify other alerted players that a substitute is no longer required. Alternatively, CAP flna spea the message receiver may await all replies, e.g. received within a set time 0 period, and the substitute allocator may be configured to assign players to a substitute request based on the best match between players responding Z positively to the alert and the substitute request.

In another embodiment, the message sender may be configured to send positive responses to the alert to the requesting party for the requesting party to select one or more substitute players to play in the sports match. Again the successful party will be notified by the system, and the other parties advised that the position is filled.

r- 10 In another embodiment, the system may send out alerts to the substitute request sequentially, one at a time, and may await a negative response or a time-out before alerting another possible substitute. Whilst sequentially alerting potential substitutes, the message receiver may also accept positive replies from previously alerted players, e.g. who may have changed their mind or replied after the time-out. The message sender may be configured to cease sending alerts to matched players after the substitute allocator has assigned the required number of matched players to the substitute request.

The message sender may send out alerts to a first number of potential substitutes, either as a broadcast or sequentially, and, if it does not receive a positive response or runs out of registered players that match the necessary criteria, it may inform the requesting party appropriately, in which case the requesting party may forfeit the game or may relax some search criteria, e.g.

skill level or the like, so that the player matching engine may try to match with more substitutes. The player matching engine may also do this automatically.

The system may be implemented in any suitable form, and the communications network may take any suitable form, including, as said, the Internet. The communications network may also or alternatively include telecommunications networks, including PSTN and cellular systems. The message sender and message receiver may be implemented using electronic messaging services in general, e.g. email, instant messaging, and/or SMS, EMS or MMS, and may include combinations of networks. The system may be implemented on the Internet, with a suitable server system providing the message sender, message receiver, player matching engine, substitute allocator and player registration storer, e.g. through the running of suitably CAP Marl sped designed software. The substitute database of registered substitutes may be 0 part of the server system or remote therefrom, and for example the database could be part of an organization's system that the server may obtain access to.

z Interfaces for accessing the system could be provided by the server by C\ 5 uploading executable code to remote user terminals, e.g. through flash code or an applet, or could be provided through a CGI script or the like.

In one preferred form, a standard alert may use emails, whilst an express N alert, e.g. sent out less than 24 hours before a game, may use SMS messaging.

(Ni The message sender may be configured to alert matched players to the substitute request simultaneously when the substitute request is received 0 before a first predetermined period of time before the match; and alert matched

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players to the substitute request sequentially when the substitute request is received after the first predetermined period of time before the match.

The Standard Service may for example be provided free of charge, whilst the Express Service may be charged for to take account of SMS fees and the like. Email alerts may be sent out in a broadcast, whilst SMS alerts may be sent out one at a time, so as to save on fees. In one embodiment, the system may send out a number of sequential SMS messages, e.g. ten, using a set time-out of e.g. three minutes, and the system will refer back to the requesting party, e.g. after 30 minutes, with advice on whether a player has been found. It would also be possible to broadcast SMS messages, although this would be more expensive.

In one embodiment, an instant service may send out an SMS alert to a number of registered players simultaneously, e.g. where time is very pressing.

The message sender may thus be configured to alert matched players to the substitute request sequentially when the substitute request is received before a second predetermined period of time before the match; and alert matched players to the substitute request simultaneously when the substitute request is received after the second predetermined period of time before the match. This may be for example a service used by the organising body itself in a particularly urgent situation. The system may provide for free replies to the SMS messages, e.g. by billing the requesting party.

The message receiver may also allow the substitute requests to be placed via SMS messaging or the like, e.g. by a user dialling a number and CAP qfLW SPe 8 texting "emergency". Data entry may be by parsing further text in the message Cor in subsequent replies to automated SMS questions. Alternatively, the player matching engine may obtain all necessary information automatically from a

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Z user's identification, e.g. their phone number. The message sender may then automatically alert players. In this case, if more than one player is required, the requesting party could send an emergency message twice. Other notification and alert systems and methods could also be used, e.g. automated voice Nmessages, pager systems and the like.

Alerted players may make replies in any suitable manner, and the alert r- 10 may include response data or links for responding to the alert.The player may Ofor example reply to specific links, emails or phone numbers to accept or reject an alert. The player could send a text reply, e.g. in an email or SMS message, e.g. "yes" or that may then be parsed by the system. In a further form, a player may reply by pressing an accept or decline button on an email or by replying to a yes or a no telephone number. The user may also reply through a website acceptance page or the like.

The system may provide for a secure payment method, e.g. through an online site using credit card details or the like, or may bill through a telephone bill or the like of a registered player, e.g. their registered mobile phone details, e.g. through the sending of an SMS message or the like.

The system may provide other functionality also. For example, as well as providing for substitute players, the system may find substitute officials.

Also, players may positively indicate that they wish to play as a substitute on a specific date or the like, in which case the player matching engine may rank them first in a search as they may be most likely to provide a positive response.

If the system allows for substitutions in a range of sports and/or locations, then registered players and requesting parties may specify the types of sports and locations that they wish to play.

Furthermore, the message sender may issue reminders of matches, e.g.

to team captains and or to other players. It may also request confirmation of attendance in the reminders, so that the player matching engine can initiate a search for a substitute, should a player advise of their unavailability. If a player is unavailable, this may be reported to the team, e.g. to a team captain, and the CAP final Wedi 9 message sender may include in the report the ability to reply with a substitute 0 request.

The present invention also extends to methods of substitute player Z searching, and, viewed from another aspect, the present invention provides a method of identifying a substitute player for a sports match using an electronic communications network, including the steps of: receiving a substitute request for one or more substitute players for a c-i sports match from a requesting party over the network; matching one or more registered substitute players to the substitute request based on registered substitute player data; and 0 sending an alert to the one or more matched players of the substitute request over the network.

It will be appreciated that features of the system outlined above can be incorporated into this method.

The present invention may also be applied to areas outside of sports matches, and may be used to find substitutes in a number of other areas, e.g. in employment areas, leisure activities and generally in any area of event or other participation.

The invention also need not only relate to substitutes, and may apply to finding participants in general to an event. Thus, viewed from another aspect, the present invention provides a participation management system for a sports match implemented over an electronic communications network, including: a message receiver for receiving a participant request for one or more participants in a time-slotted event from a requesting party over the network; a participant database containing data relating to persons registered as potential participants; a participant matching engine for matching one or more registered potential participants to a participant request based on the registered potential participant data; and a message sender for sending an alert to the one or more matched potential participants of the participant request over the network.

This system may again be accessed via the Internet and/or any other suitable communications networks, e.g. a telecommunications network, e.g. a PSTN and/or cellular phone system, and may use any of the above identifying, CAP final sped matching, notification and confirming features, including the Standard email 0 service and the urgent SMS service.

The systems may for example allow workers to swap shifts with one Z another, or for employers or employment agencies or temporary personnel agencies to fill a temporary position or place in a shift, e.g. caused by sickness or the like. The systems could also provide extra staff for a time-slot rather than substitute staff. The systems may be integrated into an employer or agency c-i management system, and may automatically change personnel payment details and the like to reflect substitutions. The systems may have especial use in r- 10 situations where there is a homogeneous pool of workers, and may provide 0 substitutes or replacements for teachers, nurses, and supermarket and

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department store workers.

The data used to match persons with opportunities will change according to the application, e.g. skills required, hourly rates and the like.

The systems may be applied generally to the filling of timed slots and reservations with preregistered potential users of the slots or reservations, e.g.

to fill an unsold or re-available seat on a plane or at a venue, e.g. restaurant, concert or sporting event. The potential users could be registered to receive notifications when they originally apply for a reservation or the like and e.g. if they are initially unsuccessful in their application, and matching may occur based on any appropriate predefined criteria.

The systems could be applied to finding participants for a game. For example, a short-notice game at a particular time and open to anyone could be suggested by a notification process to potential participants, and the first people responding positively could be assigned the game, e.g. the first ten people for a proposed 5-a-side sports game would be chosen.

The systems could also be used to trigger an event, e.g. a potential event could be notified to potential participants, and if sufficient interest is received, e.g. above a threshold number of people confirm their interest, then the system may confirm the event and allocate places to all or some of the people confirming their interest. If the event is over-subscribed, then the system may select people according to preset criteria. The criteria may be selection based on the first people to reply, or may be based on the other CAP final sped criteria, e.g. preferences set by the event organisers, personal abilities and the like.

The terms "participant", "participation" and "event" should be understood 0 z in an appropriately broad sense in view of the above discussions.

The present invention also extends to electronic devices that are programmed or otherwise include digital content, e.g. code and/or data, that Sallow them to act as the above-discussed interfaces or generators/engines, and N extends also to electronic data products that include digital content, e.g. code Sand/or data, that can be used to so enable an electronic device.

It should be noted that any one of the aspects mentioned above may 0 include any of the features of any of the other aspects mentioned above and may include any of the features of any of the embodiments described below, as appropriate.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the particularity of the drawings does not supersede the generality of the preceding description of the invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a player attendance management system and various possible features of the system; Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a server for use with the player attendance management system Figure 3 is a flowchart of steps in registering a substitute; Figure 4 is a flowchart of steps for matching and alerting substitutes to substitute requests; Figure 5 is a substitute registration interface screenshot; Figure 6 is an initial substitute request page screenshot providing the options of a standard or express substitute request; Figure 7 is a preferences page screenshot for a standard substitute request; Figure 8 is a billing page screenshot for an express substitute request; Figure 9 is a preferences page screenshot for an express substitute request; CAP flnal sped 12 Figure 10 is an options page screenshot showing substitute request options; and Figure 11 is a flowchart of steps for a further matching and alert process.

Z Referring to Fig. 1, a player attendance management system 10 for a sports match uses one or more electronic communications networks 12, such as the Internet and/or telecommunications services, to facilitate the finding of replacement players for a sports match. It can thus provide emergency substitutions, when a player has to drop out of a sports match. The sports match may be between teams or individuals, and a replacement may be for a member of one of the teams or for an opponent.

The system is accessed via a central substitution site 14 that teams 16 and potential substitute players 18 can access to request substitutes or register as potential substitutes. The site 14 may be hosted on suitable server equipment 20 and may provide access to a registration interface 22 and a request interface 24. The system includes a substitute database 26 containing data relating to players registered as substitute players and a team database 28 containing data relating to requesting parties, e.g. fixtures and the like.

The server equipment 20 is shown in Fig. 2. The server equipment includes a processor 50, memory 52, input/output devices 54 and a hard-drive 56. The system includes a message receiver 58, message sender 60, player matching engine 62, substitute allocator 64 and player registration storer 66 that are stored in hard-drive 56 and loaded into memory 52 as required.

In this embodiment, the system is located on the same server 20 that hosts the site 14, however, the system could be located on a remote server or distributed across different servers.

In use, players may register as substitute players 18 on the site 14 through the registration interface 22, and, when a team 16 needs a substitute player for a sports match, a team captain or other requesting party may access the site 14 place a request for one or more substitute players for a sports match through the request interface 24. The message receiver 58 receives the substitute request over the network 12. The player matching engine 62 then matches one or more registered substitute players 18 to the substitute request based on the registered substitute player data stored in the substitute database 26 and from the search request and/or from the team database 28. The CAP Mial specd 13 message sender 60 then sends an alert to the one or more matched players of 0 the substitute request over the network 12. When a substitute player 18 agrees to play appropriate notifications are sent out to the teams 16 and substitutes 18.

Z The site 14 may be separate from or integral with a website 30 of an C\ 5 organisational body, e.g. the organisers of a sports league. This website may for example include one or more of a league ladder page 32, a fixtures page 34, team pages 36 and individual player pages 38.

(Ni The substitution site 14 may be accessed via the organisation's website e.g. by appropriate links in the web pages 32-38, or may be provided as a r- 10 service module as part of the site The registration interface 22 may form part of a sign-up process for the league, and, when a player or team signs on to the organisation's league, they may provide data relating to their availability as a substitute, which may be entered by the organ isation or by the player into the interface 22.

Requests for substitutes may for example be instigated by accessing the site 14 directly or via a link on a fixtures page, team page or general support pages of the site Notifications and alerts may be sent out by the message sender 60 via any suitable messaging service, including email, instant messaging and SMS, EMS or MMS messaging. Thus, the message sender 60 may send out an email or an instant message over the Internet, or may send out an SMS message, e.g. via a base station 40 and an SMSC 42 (Short Message Service Centre). The SMSC 42 is a bridge between the mobile telephone network and the Internet-based server 20, and translates between IP addresses and mobile phone numbers.

When a party wishes to register as a substitute, they may initiate a registration interface 22, e.g. by clicking on a link, a tab or the like on the websites 14 or 30, and enter registration data. The registration data may include one or more of personal data such as gender age and/or skill level, team data such as teams of which they are members and the like, as well as contact details, e.g. email and telephone numbers, e.g. mobile phone numbers.

It may include availability data, e.g. times, days and dates on which the player is available or unavailable. Depending on the circumstances, other data may also be provided, e.g. locations at which the player will play, sports in which the CAP finai spedi 14 player will play and the like. Other preference data may be provided, e.g. that 0 Sthe player will play in games of their own skill level and/or of higher and/or of lower skill levels or will play in certain playing positions.

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Z The system may run through a process as shown in Fig. 3. Thus, at step 68, the message receiver 58 may receive registration data from a substitute player 18 over the network 12. At step 70, the player registration storer 66 stores the registration data in the substitute database 26, and at step 72 the N message sender 60 advises the substitute player 18 of their registration, e.g. to a their email address or via an SMS message. This can also act to confirm that S 10 contact details are correct.

OThe registration process could be initiated at any time, e.g. when a player signs up for a team in a sports league or the like, e.g. on an organisation's website 30. Thus, a player may be presented with a sign-up page as shown in Fig. 5, in which a player inserts name, email address, and team details, and also indicates whether they are willing to act as a substitute (an emergency player), as well as the skill level at which the player is happy to play. It also includes a mobile phone number for urgent contacts. Players may access their preferences pages at any time to amend these details.

The registrations of the substitute players are used to build up the substitute database 26 of potential substitutes, which the player matching engine 62 may then search through to match one or more substitute players to a substitute request.

When a team requires a substitute player, a team member, e.g. the team captain or another requesting party, may access the substitute site 14, e.g.

through a sports league's web site 30 or the like and initiate a request interface 24. An initial substitute request page, e.g. as shown in Fig. 6 may be provided.

This first page may explain the services provided, and may provide a choice between a Standard Service and an Express Service, e.g. for when there is less than 24 hours before the match for which a substitute is required. The requesting party then chooses between the Standard Service and the Express Service.

Referring to Fig. 4, at step 74 the message receiver 58 receives the substitute request and at step 76, determines which service is chosen. If it is the Standard Service, the system proceeds to step 78, at which the message CAP flnal speci receiver 58 determines whether request data is included in the substitute 0 request. Request data may include one or more of team data, match data, eligibility requirements and substitute preferences. If there is no request data, z at step 80 the player matching engine 62 may determine the team in which the requesting party plays from their log-in details or from the link used to bring them to the site, and may then bring up data associated with the requesting party's team from the team database 28, which may be stored on the server c-I hosting the site 14 or on the server hosting the organisation's site 30. This data may include the details of the next match, including date and time and r- 10 opponents. At step 82, the player matching engine 62 may send the data to the requesting party for verification. The requesting party may receive a populated preferences page e.g. as shown in Fig. 7. The requesting party may amend this data, e.g. to change the match details to a match later in the fixtures. They may also add further preference data, e.g. the number of players required to play, desired skill levels, and messages that might be of use to a player when deciding whether or not to play, and the like. The message might for example indicate the playing positions available.

The requesting party will next click on the button "Contact Players", and the process passes to step 84, where the player matching engine 62 searches the substitute database 26 for registered substitutes whose details match the substitute request and, if available, the request data. This would include matching availability, eligibility, preferences and the like. For example, the system would discount players who would be unable to play due to their own team commitments, e.g. rostered to play at the same time, who would be ineligible due to age or gender restrictions and who would be ineligible due to personal preferences, e.g. skill level choices. The system may also give preference to particular substitutes for other reasons also, e.g. it may prefer players who will be playing immediately before or after the requesting party's match, as players may be more likely to act as substitutes if they do not have to wait around between games or to attend a sports venue especially for another team's match.

Once a list of potential players, e.g. a list of ten players, is created the message sender 60 may alert all of the players to the request simultaneously at step 86, e.g. by broadcasting an email to them, and the message receiver 58 CAP fnaid SiPW may receive any responses to the alert at step 88 and the substitute allocator C) 64 may process them accordingly. The substitute allocator 64 may assign one or more players to the substitute request based on the responses received from Z the matched players and may for example match the first positive reply with the request. At step 90, the substitute allocator 64 checks whether the required number of substitutes have been matched. If so, the system may send the positive responses to the alert to the requesting party at step 92 for approval at N- step 94 for the requesting party to select one or more substitute players to play in the sports match. Otherwise, the substitute allocator 64 assigns the players r- 10 to the substitute request at step 96. At step 98, the message sender 60 will notify the requesting party and the matched substitute players accordingly, and may also email the other alerted substitutes to notify them that a substitute is no longer required. If no positive replies are received at step 88, e.g. after a set time-out period, or if the required number of substitutes are not available at step 90 the system notifies the requesting party accordingly at step 100, and they may either forfeit the match or try another search. In the latter case, the system may remember the players previously contacted, and will search for another ten different players to contact. If no matches exist, then the system may inform the requesting party of this, and the requesting party may forfeit the match or relax their requirements, e.g. by changing the criteria such as skill level or the like at step 102, and search again.

If the requesting party chooses the Express service, a billing page may be provided by site 14, which explains that this service must be paid for and provides a suitable billing procedure, e.g. through a credit card and secure payment system or through the requesting party's mobile phone. Such a page is shown for example in Fig. 8.

Once the service fees have been paid, the site 14 serves up a page such as shown in Fig. 9 for the user to enter their requirements.

When the message receiver 58 determines that the Express Service has been chosen, the process continues at steps 104, 106 and 108, which correspond to steps 78, 80 and 82, The process then continues with step 110 which corresponds with step 84, in which the player matching engine 62 searches the substitute database 26 and a list of matched players, e.g. ten substitutes, is compiled. The list of matched players is ranked at step 112.

CAP Mln spad In this service, rather than broadcast an email to a number of registered

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substitutes simultaneously, the message sender 60 alerts the one or more matched players to the substitute request sequentially, by sending out a rolling

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Z SMS. Thus, at step 114, the message sender 60 sends an SMS alert to the first ranked substitute on the list and awaits a reply. If the reply is deemed positive at step 116, the substitute allocator 64 checks whether the required number of substitutes have been allocated at step 118. If so, the substitute allocator 64 c assigns players to the substitute request at step 124 and the message sender t 60 notifies the requesting party and the substitutes that they have a match and S 10 ceases sending alerts at step 126. If not, the substitute allocator 64 continues Othrough the list of matched players, alerting them sequentially at step 114. If the reply is negative, or if no reply is received within a set time period, e.g. three minutes, the process passes from step 116 to step 120, at which it determines whether all of the selected players have been contacted, and, if not, repeats steps 114, 116, 118 and 120. If all of the players on the list have been contacted and the required number of substitutes have not responded positively, the process proceeds from step 120 to step 122, at which the requesting party is advised of the failure to find a substitute. As with the standard search, the requesting party may then have the option of conducting another search for another ten substitutes and may also relax their preferences if necessary.

The message receiver may still receive player responses after their timeout period or if they have changed their minds from an initial negative response, so that for example, if the message receiver receives a positive reply out of time, the substitute allocator may still act on this and match the positive response to the request, e.g. after the currently texted player has replied in the negative or timed out.

Instead of assigning players to a substitute request based on order of responding positively to the alert, the substitute allocator 64 may assign players to the substitute request based on the best match between players responding positively to the alert and the substitute request.

An Instant Service alert process may also be provided to teams or may be provided only to an administrator, e.g. to the organisers of a sports league, website 30 or the like. In this method, an administrator may enter an initiation CAP fial spe 18 page, e.g. as shown in Fig. 10, which is similar to Fig. 6, but provides for extra 0 options. Thus, an administrator may initiate a Standard or Express Search as discussed above, e.g. if asked to do so by a team, and may also initiate an ZInstant Search. In the instant search, the site 14 may again serve up a C\ 5 preferences page for the administrator to input team and match details. The

(N

administrator may need to input the team name, as this may not be picked up from the requesting party's details, but once input, the system may (Ni automatically populate match data and the like into the preferences fields as before. The player matching engine 62 will search the database 26, and create r- 10 a list of potential substitutes and then the message sender 60 will contact all of the substitutes on the list at the same time through SMS. The message receiver 58 will receive replies and the substitute allocator 64 will select a player, e.g. the first to respond. The message sender 60 will then notify all parties of the match up and the organisation may be billed for the required SMS messages.

As can be seen, the Standard Service can be free and used for nonurgent substitution requests made more than 24 hours (or another predetermined period of time) before a match, whilst the paid for express service can be used in the final 24 hours before a game, and the Instant Service can be used when a player is needed very urgently, including for example straightaway, e.g. when a team turns up, without a player or after a second predetermined period of time before the match.

As shown in Fig. 10, the system may be used to provide a substitute official service to find a referee, umpire or the like. This may take the form of any of the other services, e.g. broadcast email, rolling SMS or broadcast SMVS, and is shown as a rolling SMS option. It will generally be used by the organizing body of a league rather than by the league teams.

The above processes are of course only examples of how the system may be put into effect, and they may be modified as necessary. For example, the substitute allocator may allow for a requesting party to confirm a matched substitute before the substitute is informed of their selection, and emails and SMS messages may be used by the message sender as deemed appropriate, e.g. in a broadcast or sequential manner. The system may also be used to make a substitute request for more than one sports match.

C Afnal sped 19 The alerted players may reply to an alert in any suitable manner, e.g. in a reply email or by SMS or the like, and the alert message may include response data or links for responding to the alert. The player may for example reply to Z specific links, emails or phone numbers to accept or reject an alert, and could send a reply message, e.g. SMS or email, with "yes" or "no" text that may then be parsed by the system, or may reply by pressing an accept or decline button on an email or by phoning a yes or a no telephone number. The user may also ci reply through a website acceptance page or the like.

The message sender could also provide the alerts and notifications through other means, e.g. using automated voice recordings or the like, without the need for a web-based system.

Fig. 11 shows a further process, in which the interfaces and mesage receiver are based around SMS messaging. Thus a party requesting a substitute will dial a telephone number associated with the message receiver, and will text "Emergency" to it. The message will be passed via the SMSC 42 to the server 20 or the like, and the system will then enact the process of Fig.

11, in which, at step 130, the message receiver 58 first will receive the SMS message. At step 132, the message receiver 58 will identify the caller from their telephone number, which is registered with the system at the same time as a player registers with a sports league or the like. The text of the message is parsed by the player matching engine 62 at step 134 to determine the message type, e.g. that it is a call for a substitute player as it uses the word "Emergency".

An Express Alert as discussed above in relation to Fig. 4 is then initiated, in which the player matching engine 62 searches the substitute database 26 in step 136 and the message sender 60 contacts substitutes with a rolling SMS message alert in step 138. The message sender 60 advises the results of this process to the relevant parties at step 140, and the requesting party is billed at step 142, e.g. through their phone account through the message telephone number being a premium message or the like).

The requesting party may initiate another search by dialling the same number and issuing the same text message, e.g. if the first search failed to find a player or if a second player is also needed. The player matching engine can determine which of these is required by noting the success or not of the previous search.

CAP 0"n S~o" The process may also be modified in a number of possible ways. For

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0example, the requesting party may text for a Standard search or an Instant Search instead of an Express search by using suitable keywords, and the text

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Z message may include other information, e.g. the number of players needed, a message to be forwarded to potential players and the like. Assuming a set format for this information, the message receiver can parse the message and take the appropriate action.

N As well as the above searching and alert features, the system may also include other functionality. For example, it may issue reminders to team 10 captains and or to other players of the next game that they are to play in, and 0 0 may request confirmation of attendance, so that the player matching engine can initiate a search for a substitute, should a player advise of their unavailability. A designated team captain may be advised of a player's unavailability and may also be asked if a search should be made for a substitute.

During a player search, players may be ranked according to one or more of availability, likelihood that the player will respond positively to the alert, eligibility for playing in the sports match and requesting party preferences. For example, the highest ranked players may be those who are of the same grade as the requesting team and who are playing immediately before or after the requesting team. The ranking then diminishes with grade mismatch, game-time incongruence and the like.

As well as being used to identify substitutes for matches, the system may also be used for non-substitute applications. For example, the system could be used to identify generally participants willing to play a sporting match. For example, the message sender could send out a notification of a short-notice match that may be open to anyone, and may set-up the match if sufficient people respond positively. The substitute allocator may select players from the positive responses in accordance with any appropriate criteria, if the match is over-subscribed. For example, the message sender could send out a notification to a number of potential participants that a 5-a-side sports match is being considered on a certain time and date, and the first ten or 12 people replying positively could be assigned to the game. The initial identification of potential players could be taken from a database of players who have CAP flnal sped 21 registered their interest in a "Public" game, and matching could occur through availability, skill levels and the like.

The system may provide a general participation management system in Zwhich people register as potential participants for a time-slotted event, and in which the system can generate or receive participant requests for people to participate in a time-slotted event. The participant matching engine can then match one or more registered potential participants to a participant request ci based on registered potential participant data, the message sender can alert them of the event, and the message receiver can obtain their replies and the participant allocator allocate the event accordingly, e.g. to the first participants to respond positively and/or using other criteria.

The system may also be applied to areas outside of sports matches, and may be used to find replacements, substitutes or participants in a number of other areas, e.g. in employment areas, leisure activities and generally to any area of event participation.

The system may for example allow workers to swap shifts with one another, or for employers or employment agencies or temporary personnel agencies to fill a temporary position or place in a shift, e.g. caused by sickness or the like. It could also provide extra staff for a time-slot rather than substitute staff. The system may be integrated into an employer or agency management system, and may automatically change personnel payment details and the like to reflect substitutions. The system may have especial use in situations where there is a homogeneous pool of workers, and may provide substitutes or replacements for teachers, nurses, and supermarket and department store workers.

The data used to match persons with opportunities with change according to the application, e.g. skills required, hourly rates and the like.

The system may be applied generally to the filling of timed slots and reservations with preregistered potential users of the slots or reservations, e.g.

to fill an unsold or re-available seat on a plane or at a venue, e.g. restaurant, concert or sporting event. The potential users could be registered to receive notifications when they originally apply for a reservation or the like and e.g. if they are initially unsuccessful in their application, and matching may occur based on any appropriate predefined criteria.

WA flnal sped 22 r- As for a potential sports game, the system could also be used to trigger 0 an event in general, e.g. a potential event could be notified to potential participants, and if sufficient interest is received, e.g. above a threshold number z of people confirm their interest, then the system may confirm the event and allocate places to all or some of the people confirming their interest. If the event is over-subscribed, then the allocator may select people according to preset criteria. The criteria may be selection based on the first people to reply, or may be based on the other criteria, e.g. preferences set by the event organisers, personal abilities and the like. If there is not enough interest in an event, the matching engine may identify additional people to contact, or may cancel the proposed event.

It is to be understood that various alterations, additions and/or modifications may be made to the parts previously described without departing from the ambit of the present invention, and that, in the light of the above teachings, the present invention may be implemented in software, firmware and/or hardware in a variety of manners as would be understood by the skilled person.

CAP final sped

Claims (33)

1. A player attendance management system for a sports match 0 Z implemented over an electronic communications network, including: a message receiver for receiving a substitute request for one or more substitute players for a sports match from a requesting party over the network; q a substitute database containing data relating to players registered as In N substitute players; q a player matching engine for matching one or more registered substitute players to a substitute request based on the registered substitute player data; and a message sender for sending an alert to the one or more matched players of the substitute request over the network.

2. The system of claim 1, further including a substitute allocator for assigning one or more players to a substitute request, the message receiver being configured to receive responses to the alert from the matched players; and the substitute allocator being configured to assign one or more matched players to the substitute request based on the responses received from the matched players.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the alert includes response data or links for responding to the alert.

4. The system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the message sender is configured to alert the one or more matched players to the substitute request simultaneously. The system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the message sender is configured to alert the one or more matched players to the substitute request sequentially.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the player matching engine is configured to rank the matched players based on one or more of availability, likelihood that CAP ila spw 24 the player will respond positively to the alert, eligibility for playing in the sports match and requesting party preferences and alert the matched players to the substitute request sequentially in order of rank.

7. The system of either one of claims 5 or 6, wherein the message sender is configured to cease sending alerts to matched players after the substitute allocator has assigned the required number of matched players to the substitute ci request.

8. The system of any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the message sender is configured to alert matched players to the substitute request simultaneously when the substitute request is received before a first predetermined period of time before the match; and alert matched players to the substitute request sequentially when the substitute request is received after the first predetermined period of time before the match.

9. The system of any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the message sender is configured to alert matched players to the substitute request sequentially when the substitute request is received before a second predetermined period of time before the match; and alert matched players to the substitute request simultaneously when the substitute request is received after the second predetermined period of time before the match. The system of any one of claims 2 to 9, wherein the substitute allocator is configured to assign players to a substitute request based on order of responding positively to the alert.

11. The system of any one of claims 2 to 9, wherein the substitute allocator is configured to assign players to a substitute request based on the best match between players responding positively to the alert and the substitute request. CAP flna sped

12. The system of any one of claims 2 to 9, wherein the message sender is 0 configured to send positive responses to the alert to the requesting party for the requesting party to select one or more substitute players to play in the sports z match.

13. The system of any one of claims 2 to 12, wherein the message sender is configured to notify the requesting party of the assignment of one or more matched players to a substitute request.

14. The system of either any one of claims 2 to 13, wherein the message 0 sender is configured to notify the one or more matched players of the assignment of the one or more matched players to a substitute request. The system of any one of claims 2 to 14, wherein the message sender is configured to notify other alerted players that a substitute is no longer required when the required number of matched players have been assigned to a substitute request.

16. The system of any one of the preceding claims, including a player registration storer, wherein the message receiver is configured to receive registration data from a substitute player over the network; and the player registration storer is configured to store the registration data in the substitute database.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the registration data includes one or more of personal data, team data, availability data, preferences data, skill levels and skill levels that the substitute player is prepared to play at.

18. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the substitute request includes request data including one or more of team data, match data, eligibility requirements and substitute preferences, and wherein the player matching engine is configured to match one or more registered substitute players to a substitute request based on the request data. CAP finol sped

19. The system of any preceding claim, and further including a team 0 database containing data relating to requesting parties, wherein the player matching engine is configured to retrieve request data from 0 Z the team database based on the identification of the requesting party when a substitute request is received by the message receiver, and the message sender is configured to send the retrieved request data to the requesting party q for verification. In ri 20. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the substitute request is for (-i 10 more than one sports match. (-i

21. A method of identifying a substitute player for a sports match using an electronic communications network, including the steps of: receiving a substitute request for one or more substitute players for a sports match from a requesting party over the network; matching one or more registered substitute players to the substitute request based on registered substitute player data; and sending an alert to the one or more matched players of the substitute request over the network.

22. The method of claim 21, further including the steps of: receiving a response from one or more of the alerted matched players; and assigning one or more matched players to the substitute request based on the responses received from the matched players.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the alert includes response data or links for responding to the alert.

24. The method of any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein the alert is sent to the one or more matched players simultaneously. The method of any one of claims 21 to 24, wherein the alert is sent to the one or more matched players sequentially. CAP flna sped

26. The method of claim 25, including the step of ranking matched players based on one or more of availability, likelihood that the player will respond z positively to the alert, eligibility for playing in the sports match and requesting party preferences and wherein the alert is sent to the matched players sequentially in order of rank. (Ni27. The method of either one of claims 25 or 26, including the step of ceasing to send alerts after the required number of matched players have been assigned to the substitute request.

28. The method of any one of claims 25 to 27, wherein sending an alert to the one or more matched player includes: sending the alert to the one or more matched players simultaneously when the substitute request is received before a first predetermined period of time before the match; and sending the alert to the one or more matched players sequentially when the substitute request is received after the first predetermined period of time before the match.

29. The method of any one of claims 25 to 28, wherein sending an alert to the one or more matched player includes: sending the alert to the one or more matched players sequentially when the substitute request is received before a second predetermined period of time before the match; and sending the alert to the one or more matched players simultaneously when the substitute request is received after the second predetermined period of time before the match.

30. The method of any one of claims 22 to 29, wherein one or more players are assigned to the substitute request based on order of responding positively to the alert. CAP final SOWd d 28

31. The method of any one of claims 22 to 29, wherein one or more players 0 are assigned to the substitute request based on the best match between the players responding positively to the alert and the substitute request.

32. The system of any one of claims 22 to 29, including the step of sending positive responses to the alert to the requesting party for the requesting party to select one or more substitute players to play in the sports match.

33. The method of any one of claims 22 to 32, further including the step of r- 10 notifying the requesting party of the assignment of one or more matched players to a substitute request.

34. The method of any one of claims 22 to 33, further including the step of notifying the one or more substitute players of the assignment of the one or more matched players to a substitute request. The method of any one of claims 22 to 34, further including the step of notifying other alerted players that a substitute is no longer required when one or more matched players are assigned to a substitute request.

36. The method of any one of claims 22 to 35, further including the steps of: receiving registration data from a substitute player over the network; and storing the registration data in a substitute database.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the registration data includes one or more of personal data, team data, availability data, preferences data, skill levels and skill levels that the substitute player is prepared to play at.

38. The method of any one of claims 21 to 37, wherein the substitute request includes request data including one or more of team data, match data, eligibility requirements and substitute preferences and the step of matching one or more registered substitute players to the substitute request is based on the request data. CAP final sped A 29

39. The method of any one of claims 21 to 38, further including the step of: Safter receiving a substitute request, retrieving request data from a team database containing data relating to the requesting party based on the 0 z identification of the requesting party; and sending the retrieved request data to the requesting party for verification. The method of any one of claims 21 to 39, wherein the substitute request Sis for more than one sports match.

41. A participation management system for a sports match implemented over 0 an electronic communications network, including: a message receiver for receiving a participant request for one or more participants in a time-slotted event from a requesting party over the network; a participant database containing data relating to persons registered as potential participants; a participant matching engine for matching one or more registered potential participants to a participant request based on the registered potential participant data; and a message sender for sending an alert to the one or more matched potential participants of the participant request over the network. CAP flnl sped