Overview
When you build a league or tournament in Bond, you organize your divisions, age groups, and skill levels one of two ways: as groups inside a single session, or as separate sessions. In almost every case, groups are the better choice—they keep setup condensed, let you schedule every division at once, and give players one clean place to register. Create a new session only when pricing, registration structure, or timing actually changes.
How a league is structured
Program → Session → Group
Program is the permanent home for your league (for example, an adult soccer league).
Session is a specific run of that league, such as a Fall or Winter season.
Group is how you split players within one session—divisions, age groups, skill levels, days, or teams. Players register directly into groups.
A "new season" for a different age or skill level should almost always be a new group, not a new session. For setup steps, see Creating a New League or Tournament and Divisions and Grouping.
Why use groups
Simpler setup—build the session once and add divisions inside it, instead of rebuilding a session for every level.
Schedule every division at once—the multi-division league scheduler handles all divisions in one pass; separate sessions must be scheduled one at a time.
One registration page—players see one session and pick their division, instead of a long list of near-identical sessions.
Per-division rules—set capacity, age, and gender restrictions on each division.
Move players freely—shift a player or team between divisions in the same session (for example, recreational to competitive) with no refund. Moving between sessions is far more limited.
When to create a new session instead
Create a separate session only when one of these is true:
New time of year—a new run with its own dates (for example, Fall then Winter).
Different pricing—pricing is set per session, so different prices per division require separate sessions.
Different registration structure—for example, one division is team-only and another is individual-only.
If none of these apply, use groups.
Real-world examples
⚽ By age—one session, a group per age band (U8, U10, U12), each with an age restriction.
🏒 By skill—one session with a recreational and a competitive division.
🏀 By gender—one session with a coed division and a men's division, each with a gender restriction.
📅 By day—a Monday division and a Wednesday division in the same session.
🧑🤝🧑 Teams and free agents—one session offering both a team product and a free agent product.
Groups vs. a new session at a glance
Use groups when… | Use a new session when… |
Splitting by division, age, skill, gender, or day | It's a new time of year |
Every division is the same price | Divisions need different prices |
Divisions share the same registration structure | A division needs a different structure (team-only vs. individual) |
Need help structuring your league? Reach out to our support team via chat or email!