Tryon’s Maxim: “I don’t mind typing anything — once!”

By carefully entering your skiers into a spreadsheet at the beginning of the year, you can then make sure that names are spelled correctly, nobody is forgotten, and your entries are placed where you want them, all with very little typing.
This is how I would do it, having been responsible for entries for many years back in the ’80s… Carefully maintain this spreadsheet with all of the skiers on your team, whether they are currently eligible or not. Whether you expect them to ski in a given race or not. Make sure that you have the names spelled correctly. Once they are entered, you should never have to type them again.

Instructions for the careful coach who doesn’t like to ‘type anything twice’:

• Carefully maintain the MasterRoster_Schoolname.xls spreadsheet with all of the skiers on your team, whether they are currently eligible or not. Whether you expect them to ski in a given race or not. Make sure that you have the names spelled correctly. Once they are entered, you should never have to type them again.
• I only need/use the data in columns A-E, but you might use other columns for information tied to each skier. I put in a sample attendance block with auto-calculation for counting practices (I’d be happy to talk you through custom changes to this type of thing.) You can delete them if you don’t want them.
• Save the file as MasterRoster_Schoolname.xls This name IS CASE SPECIFIC. Your school name must be exactly like it is in the Results spreadsheet. (same as last year)
• For the first race of the season, place your entries in column A of this spreadsheet and email it to me.
• For all subsequent races, download the results of the previous race (or use the copy that I email to you). Make sure that both files are open. Make sure to Enable Macros on the Results file. (You don’t need to on this one). Enter your school name in cell G1 of the main results page. Spelling and capitalization matter! The cell should turn dark green. Click on the ‘ALL IN ONE’ button.
• What should happen is that all lines except your skiers should disappear. Then all skiers in your Master Roster file should appear below all of your racers.
• Compose your entries as you see fit, using the sort buttons as needed. Click on the ‘Check Seeds’ button to see how your teams are filled and to make sure that there are no duplicates (they are flagged, try it to see.) Note that you can enter ‘xxx’ for skiers who will not be racing. Every time you click the ‘Check Seeds’ it will also fill the ‘Entries’ worksheet with a clean copy of your entries.
• Save the results file and email it to me as your entries for the next race.
• And if something doesn’t work or you need help, give me a call. This is a hobby of mine and I’d be happy to help.

Pete Tryon