About 4n6 Tournament Manager

About

Me:

I'm a high school / junior high teacher of 5 years and have been coaching Forensics for 2. Up to my first day coaching, I had absolutely no experience in Forensics, and I owe my survival to the very open and helpful community of coaches in my area. They have helped me immeasurably - from coaching and teaching tips to spending a day with me at my school to help me set up my own tournament - I truly couldn't have done it without them. 

In addition to being a Forensics nerd, I am also a technology nerd. I am a self-taught hobby programmer. While I've written a number of programs for myself, and a few for my school, 4n6 Tournament Manager is by far the largest and most ambitious program I've ever created. 

The Program:

4n6 Tournament Manager is the culmination of two years of work to simplify and automate much of what it takes to host a Forensics tournament. My first year as a Forensics coach, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of tasks associated with managing a tournament and the lack of an inexpensive modern computer application to automate many of those tasks.

First I built a spreadsheet to do the math associated with tabulation. I used it for my first tournament, and had a handful of compliments about its ease of use... but some negative reviews about the "hideous color scheme." I kept what worked, but ditched the colors. 

After that I did a lot of studying to learn as much JavaScript as I could manage. My first few attempts at the Tournament Manager were met with mixed success. As I learned more, though, I realized how powerful scripting with Google Apps can be. 

I had a fellow coach beta test for me last year - and she helped me identify many bugs and failings of the program. I reworked most of it, then used it at my own tournament - even that early version of the program saved me hours of work! (Of course, it cost me many many more hours of programming... but I try not to think about that.) With each run through I improved the program again and again. Now, finally, I am comfortable enough with it's design and functionality that I am making it publicly available.

Thank you for considering using 4n6 Tournament Manager - the more use it gets, the more worthwhile my hours of programming become! 
I'm not trying to make a whole lot of money off this program, I wish to give back to the coaching community that has helped me so much. At the same time, though, making some money on my hours of work will help justify future projects to improve the program.  Please consider donating; you can do so on the right side of the page.