How the import wizard works, step by step

This walks the import screen from the first click to the final report, in order. Short version up front: you do not need to rename, reorder, or delete any columns in your export. LeagueRun reads your headers as they are and asks you to match them up on screen.

Before you start

• Export from SportsEngine as CSV. Export everything — extra columns are fine and are left out automatically.
• Include the parent/guardian email if you possibly can. It is what LeagueRun uses to recognize a child it has seen before, so re-importing a grown export updates families instead of duplicating them.
• Include date of birth if it is available. It is how children land in the right age group when your file has no program column.

Step 1 — Open the importer

1. Go to Registrations.
2. Click Import CSV. A window opens on the first of up to four steps.

You do not pick a division first. The importer runs across your whole season and works out where each child belongs at Step 4.

Step 2 — Give it the file

Two ways in, and they do the same thing:

1. Choose a .csv file from your computer, or
2. Paste the text of the CSV straight into the box.

Click Continue. The first row of your file is treated as the header row.

Step 3 — Match your columns

This is the screen that decides everything else. You get a table with one row per column in your file:

• Source column — your header, exactly as it appears in the file
• Sample — the value from your first row, so you can see what is actually in there
• Status — whether it is coming in or not
• Maps to — the LeagueRun field it goes into

What the statuses mean

• MAPPED — matched automatically from the column name. Coming in.
• MAPPED (SAVED) — matched the way you mapped it last time. Your choices are remembered between imports.
• EXCLUDED — no confident match. Nothing from this column is written anywhere.
• EXCLUDED (SAVED) — you excluded it last time, and that choice was remembered.

Excluded is the default for anything not recognized. That is deliberate: LeagueRun would rather leave a column out than guess and store something you did not intend. An excluded column is not read, not stored, not shown, and not exported.

The one line to check before you continue

Underneath the table is a count reading "N of M column(s) excluded — nothing from them is written." If N looks too high, something you wanted did not match. Scan the table for the field you are missing and pick it from the Maps to dropdown.

The most common one to miss is the guardian email, because SportsEngine names that column differently depending on how the registration form was built.

Badges you may see

• LOOKS LIKE DIVISION — the values in this column look like your division names. SportsEngine names this column after the registration form, so it cannot be matched by name. If it is the one, map it to Division / program.
• SENSITIVE? — some rows in this column mention medical, health, or similar detail. Hover it to see how many rows and what was spotted.
• MEDICAL? — the column name itself reads as health information. LeagueRun has no field for this and does not store it.

These warn, they do not block. LeagueRun stores whatever you map, so the judgment stays yours — but a column left excluded is genuinely never read.

Fields you can map to

Player full name · player first name · player last name · date of birth · birth year · experience (1–5) · gender · available nights · guardian name · guardian first name · guardian last name · guardian email · 2nd guardian email · jersey size · shorts size · coach/volunteer interest · requested coach (by name) · practice can't-start-before · practice has-to-be-done-by · practice scan-comments-for-a-time · division/program.

Three worth calling out:

• Coach/volunteer interest ("I'll coach") is a different field from Requested coach ("please put my child with this coach"). They read alike in a spreadsheet and do opposite things.
• Practice: scan comments for a time reads only a time out of a free-text comments column. The text itself is never stored, shown, or sent anywhere. Use it when parents typed practice constraints into a general comments box.
• If your export has one undifferentiated apparel-size column, there is no automatic match on purpose — only you know whether it is jersey or shorts.

Click Next: check divisions — or Run import if your file has no program column.

Step 4 — Confirm your divisions

This step only appears when you mapped a column to Division / program.

You get every distinct program name found in your file, and you say which LeagueRun division each one belongs to. The parent's own choice at registration decides where the child goes; it is not inferred from age.

A program you do not assign leaves its children unplaced, with the reason named in the report. LeagueRun never invents a division for them.

Step 5 — Read the report

The last screen tells you what happened:

• Added — new children created
• Updated — children already on file whose details were refreshed
• Skipped as duplicate — the same child appearing twice inside the file you just uploaded
• Errored — rows that could not be read, each with its line number and the reason
• Warnings — things worth knowing that did not stop the import

Common error reasons: a missing player name, a birth year that is not four digits or falls outside 2005–2026, or a date of birth that could not be parsed.

Fix those rows in your file and import again. You do not need to delete anything first.

How LeagueRun recognizes a child it has seen before

Worth understanding, because it decides whether a second import updates your league or duplicates it.

1. Guardian email + player name. The main way. If both match a child already on file, that child is updated.
2. Division + player name. The fallback, used whenever the email is missing on either side. So an export without an email column still matches up rather than creating a second copy of everyone.
3. A name appearing more than once in one division will not be matched. Two children genuinely can share a name, and silently merging them is worse than a duplicate. That row is added and flagged for you.

Re-importing the same file is safe. Re-importing a grown file is safe. The one thing that needs your eye is a repeated name inside a single division.

If something went wrong

• Half my league is missing. Usually a column that did not map. Check the excluded count at Step 3.
• Everyone came in twice. See Fix duplicate or missing registrations.
• Everyone's skill level looks the same. Check that your experience column is mapped, and see Understand registration fields for how blanks are treated.
• Children are in the wrong age group. Your file likely had no date of birth and no program column. Add either one and import again.