Game Day

Game sessions, managing multiple games

Each game is saved as a named session. The session bar at the top of the Game Day tab shows the current session and lets you switch between past games or create a new one.

• Tap + New Game to open the new game form, set the opponent name, date, half length (minutes), and shift length (minutes).
• The session dropdown lists all saved games, newest first. Switching sessions loads that game's shifts and absent list.
• Tap Lock to lock the current session, locked sessions are read-only; role dropdowns and auto-assign are disabled. A red banner appears to confirm the game is locked. Tap again to unlock.

Tip: Lock a game after it's over to preserve the rotation history without accidentally editing it.

Shift locking, mid-game adjustments

Each shift card has its own Lock button. Lock individual shifts to preserve them while continuing to edit later shifts. This is useful for:

• Late arrivals – lock shifts 1-2 that already played, then add the late player and re-run Auto-Assign for shifts 3+
• Mid-game injuries – lock completed shifts, mark the player absent, and Auto-Assign redistributes remaining shifts

Locked shifts show an amber border and are skipped by Auto-Assign and Clear. Players who were active in locked shifts but later marked absent show as Injured in later shifts.

Note: Need to correct a locked shift? Tap the shift's Lock button to unlock it, make your edits, then re-lock. Pins are preserved when you Clear with locked shifts, so your GK pin (for example) will still apply on re-Auto-Assign.

Dynamic shift count

The number of shifts is calculated automatically from the session's half length and shift length:

Shifts per half = floor(halfLength ÷ minsPerShift)

Example: 48-min half ÷ 8-min shifts = 6 shifts

Example: 30-min half ÷ 8-min shifts = 3 shifts

The shift cards update immediately when you change these values. Any remainder minutes (e.g. 2 min left over from a 26-min half at 8 min/shift) are shown as a note, you can use that time for a final quick burst or ignore it.

Marking players absent

At the top of the Game Day tab is the Absent panel, a row of chips, one per player. Tap a chip to mark that player absent (shown with strikethrough and red highlight). Absent players are excluded from auto-assign and appear faded in the statistics.

Warning: Mark absences before running Auto-Assign. If you run auto-assign and then mark someone absent, you'll need to re-run it or manually adjust the affected shifts.

Running Auto-Assign

Tap Auto-Assign to let SquadRotate fill all shifts automatically. The algorithm balances:

• Power ratings, no shift should be stacked all 3s or all 1s
• Position preferences, players go where they prefer when possible
• Prior shift counts, players who've sat the bench more get prioritized for field time
• Goalkeeper rotation, the GK role rotates among players who have it as a preference

See Under the Hood for the full scoring breakdown.

Shift change summary

Between consecutive shift cards (2 through N), SquadRotate shows a compact subs summary banner describing what changes between that shift and the previous one:

This gives you a quick at-a-glance view of the substitutions to make at each shift change, without having to compare two full cards side by side.

Chalkboard view

Each shift card includes a chalkboard, a green-pitch diagram showing where each player is positioned for that shift. Player chips are color-coded by position (purple = GK, blue = DEF, amber = MID, red = STR). Bench players are listed below the pitch. The chalkboard updates live as you change role dropdowns.

Manual adjustments & swap suggestions

Each player in a shift card has a position dropdown. When you change a player's role to a field position, SquadRotate opens a swap modal, a ranked list of other players you might want to trade positions with to keep the shift balanced.

• Candidates are ranked by how well their position preferences match the vacated role
• Field players (non-bench) appear above bench players since a swap has more tactical impact
• Tap any candidate to execute the swap, both players switch roles in one action
• Tap outside the modal or the X button to dismiss without swapping

The dropdown options are: GK, DEF, MID, STR, Bench.

Shift validation, red and green outlines

Once you start assigning players to a shift, SquadRotate checks that the formation is correct against your configured formation counts. A green outline means the shift is valid. A red outline means something is off, the error message tells you exactly what to fix (e.g. “2 goalkeepers assigned, only 1 is allowed.”).

Validation only fires once at least one role has been assigned. Empty shift cards stay neutral.

Traffic light quality indicator

Each shift card header shows a small colored dot, the quality indicator for that shift's power balance:

• 🟢 Good balance, power ratings are well distributed
• 🟡 Acceptable, slight imbalance, but workable
• 🔴 Imbalanced, consider swapping players between shifts