The simplest form of an event would be something like a single distance road race. Within such an event there will likely be awards based on sex and age. These constructs are available without adding any structure to the event.

There are many events that are not so simple and need to be configured with one or more structures. Fees are then sometimes based on the structures selected on entry.

Structure Types and Typical Purpose

Phases

Think of Phases as events within an event. Here are some typical examples:

• A multi-day ultra. Each day of the event is represented by a single phase. Runners enter the event – the Ultra Race – and select the days they will compete in.
• An orienteering weekend. The event consists of three phases: an urban race on the Saturday, a social dinner on Saturday evening and a forest event on the Sunday.
• A series of 8 weekly training events. Each week can be defined as a Phase. When someone enters the series they can choose one or more of the training sessions to enter and make a single payment.

Categories

Categories can be used to differentiate entry categories for all sorts of purposes. Categories can be given an additional fee. Let’s say you need to charge a parking fee for drivers. You can set up three categories: Driver; Passenger; Public transport, and assign the parking fee to the Driver category.

Courses

Courses represent the unique courses or distances on offer. A road race that has a 10K, a 5K and a 2K Fun Run would have those as three separate courses.

Classes

Classes can be used for any further segmentation that is required for your event. Classes can be assigned to Courses and so are useful when the entries to a Course need to be classified differently. They are also used specifically for orienteering age class competitions.

Structures and Fees

Quite often the fee that is charged for an entry is defined by one or more of the Phase, Category, Class and Course entered.

Fee Bands can be assigned to any combination of one Phase, one Category, one Class and one Course.

You should strive to create as few Fee Bands as possible to meet your requirement. Remember that Fee Bands have Senior, Junior and Novice fees. Novice fees are applied to entries to any Course defined as novice.