Knowledge Base — Entries and payments

Start here

Start here

This guide walks a swim team from "we just heard about MeetDirector" to "our meet is over and the money is in the bank." Every step says where to click and what you should see. You don't need to read it all — find your job in the table and jump to that part.

Most teams do both over a season, so most coaches end up using every part.

The whole season in eight steps

1. Set up your team — one coach creates the team and becomes its team admin (Part 1).
2. Add your staff — invite your other coaches, your meet director and whoever handles the money (Part 1).
3. Connect a bank account — so entry fees paid by card land in your club's account (Part 2). Hosts only.
4. Put your meet online — upload the event file from Meet Manager, set fees and the entry deadline, open entries (Part 3). Hosts only.
5. Teams enter — visiting teams upload their entry file from Team Manager and pay (Part 4).
6. Teams fix their entries — re-upload or edit any time before the deadline (Part 5).
7. Entries close — the host downloads every entry in one file and loads it into Meet Manager (Part 6).
8. Swim the meet, post the results — the host uploads the results file and every team's times appear (Part 7).

What to have ready

• An email address you check. Everything starts with a link sent to it.
• Your team's code — the short abbreviation you use in Hy-Tek Team Manager (for example RSR). Using the same code everywhere is what keeps your swimmers' times together.
• Your LSC (USA Swimming) or, for high school, your governing body.
• Hosts: your meet's event file exported from Meet Manager, and your club's bank details for card payments.
• Visiting teams: Hy-Tek Team Manager, or a list of swimmers and events.

The website is meetdirector.online. Wherever this guide says "your team dashboard," it means the page you reach by signing in and clicking Open on your team's card (or choosing your team from the Team list at the top of the Coach portal). Its address is /coach/{your-team}.

Part 1

Part 1 — Set up your team

Applies to: every team, once
Where: /register, then /coach

One coach does this once, in about ten minutes. That person becomes the team admin and can add everyone else.

Step 1 — Create your account

1. Go to meetdirector.online and click Create your team account.
2. Enter your first name, last name, email and a password. The phone number is optional.
3. Open the email we send you and click the link to verify your address. Nothing else works until you do this. No email after a few minutes? Check your spam or junk folder.
4. Sign in. You can use your email address or your username.

Step 2 — Get your team

Until you're on a team's staff, the Coach portal is titled Claim your club. Pick the line that fits you:

Creating a team asks for:

• Team name — the full name, for example Riverside Riptide.
• Team code — your short abbreviation. Use the exact code that is in Hy-Tek Team Manager. If they don't match, your entry files and results won't line up with your team.
• LSC / affiliation — your USA Swimming LSC. High school teams pick their governing body here instead.
• Head coach name, Coach email and Coach phone — all optional.

Click Create team. You'll see a green "Team … created" message.

Step 3 — Learn your team dashboard

Sign in and click Open on your team's card. The top of the dashboard shows what needs attention, upcoming meets and recently published results; everything you do for that team starts from the Actions tiles below them:

A tile you don't have the access for simply isn't shown. If you coach more than one team, each has its own card and its own dashboard. Always check which team's name is at the top of the page before you upload anything.

Step 4 — Add your staff

Open Staff & club info (other coaches: Roster) and the Coaches & staff tab. Any coach of the club can add, approve and deactivate coaches; the rest is the team admin's. Then:

• A coach who already has an account: type their email under Add a coach (account email) and click Add coach.
• A coach with no account yet: type their email under Invite a coach (no account yet) and click Send invitation. When they sign up from the link, they join your team automatically. Until then the invitation is listed under Invitations sent.
• A coach who asked to join: they appear under Requests to join. Click Approve or Turn down.
• A meet director (team admin only): type their email under Add a meet director (email) and click Add meet director. If they have no account yet, we email them a sign-up link. A meet director can create your meets, open and close entries, and manage payments, but can't see your roster.
• Your treasurer (team admin only): in Roles & payouts access, click No in the Payouts column next to their name to switch it to Yes. That lets them connect the bank account and see payments. The team admin always has it.

The team admin also uses the Role dropdown in that table to mark each person as Assistant coach, Age group coach, Senior coach and so on, then clicks Save. Someone who leaves? Click Deactivate next to them in Current coaches. They move to Former coaches, and Reinstate brings them back.

Step 5 — Check your roster

Open Roster. Your swimmers arrive the first time you upload an entry file or someone posts results with your team in them. You can also click Add athlete to add one by hand.

For every swimmer, try to have a date of birth and USA Swimming number. They are how MeetDirector tells two swimmers with the same name apart. Missing them is the number-one cause of duplicate swimmers.

There is no delete button. Click Deactivate for a swimmer who has left; their past times stay put.

Part 2

Part 2 — Get paid by credit card (hosts)

Applies to: host clubs that want card payments
Where: team dashboard → Payouts (/coach/{your-team}/payouts)

Card payments go straight into your club's own bank account through Stripe, a payment company. MeetDirector never holds your money. Set this up once, at least two weeks before your first meet opens, so Stripe has time to check your details.

You don't have to take cards. If you skip this part, teams pay you by check or cash the way they always have (see Paying by check or cash).

Who can do this

The team admin, or anyone the team admin has given payouts access (Part 1, Step 4). Everyone else won't see the Payouts tile. Usually this is your treasurer.

Step 1 — Connect your bank account

1. On your team dashboard, click Payouts.
2. Click Set up payouts. You leave MeetDirector and go to Stripe's own secure pages.
3. Stripe asks for your club's details, the name of a person responsible for the account, and the bank account you want deposits in. Have these ready:
   • Your club's legal name and address
   • Your club's EIN (tax ID), if it has one
   • The contact person's name, date of birth, home address and last four of their SSN — Stripe is required by law to verify a real person
   • The bank routing and account number for deposits
4. When you finish, Stripe sends you back to MeetDirector. You'll see "Thanks — Stripe is reviewing your details."

Step 2 — Check that you're ready

The Payouts page shows one of three badges:

The line under the badge shows Charges, Payouts and Details. You want a check mark on all three.

To change the bank account later, come back here and click Update payout details. You can also sign in to your own Stripe Dashboard at stripe.com with the email you used to set it up.

Step 3 — Turn on card payments for each meet

Cards are switched on meet by meet, not for the whole club.

1. On your team dashboard, click Hosted meets.
2. Find the meet. In the Online payments column, tick On.
3. Decide who pays the card fee (below), then click Save.

Who pays the card fee

Stripe charges a fee on every card payment — roughly 2.9% plus 30¢. You choose who covers it with the Pass fee box:

Visiting teams always see the extra amount before they pay, on a line called Card processing.

When the money arrives

• A team pays by card → the payment shows on your Meet payments page right away, and your team admin and anyone with payouts access get a "Payment received" email.
• Stripe collects your card payments and sends them to your bank once a week, on Fridays.
• Your bank usually shows the deposit 1 to 2 business days after Stripe sends it.
• Your very first payout takes longer. Stripe holds a brand-new account's first payout for about 7 to 14 days. After that, it's weekly.

So for a meet whose entries close on a Wednesday, expect most of the money in your bank about one to two weeks later. Your Stripe Dashboard shows every payout and its expected arrival date.

Refunds

On Hosted meets, click Payments next to the meet, then Refund next to a team's payment and confirm.

• Refunds are all or nothing — the team gets the whole payment back. You can't refund part of a payment.
• The team gets a refund email automatically.
• Stripe keeps its original card fee on a refunded payment, so a refund costs your club that fee.
• Any of your coaches or meet directors can issue a refund, so agree among yourselves who does it.

Paying by check or cash

If you leave Online payments off, teams see "This meet isn't taking online payments — pay the host directly." Tell them where to send it: open the meet's Details page, go to the Fee schedule tab and fill in Make payable to, Send payment to and Notes under On each team's statement. Those print on each team's statement.

MeetDirector can't record a check as paid, so those teams keep showing Unpaid on your Meet payments page. Track checks the way you do now.

Part 3

Part 3 — Put your meet online (hosts)

Applies to: host clubs, their meet directors and timing companies
Where: team dashboard → Host a meet, then Hosted meets

You build the meet in Hy-Tek Meet Manager the way you always do, then upload its event file. MeetDirector reads the events, fees, deadline and limits from that file, so the better the file, the less you type.

Before you start: is hosting switched on?

Meet hosting is being turned on team by team. Click Host a meet on your team dashboard. If you see a yellow box that says "Meet hosting is in early access," your team isn't switched on yet. Open a support ticket asking to turn on meet hosting for your team (see the last section). You'll also need to have verified your email address.

Step 1 — Get the meet right in Meet Manager first

These come only from your event file. You can't change them on the website later, so check them before you export:

• Every event, with its event number, age group, distance and stroke
• Entry limits — the most events per swimmer, per meet and per session, and relay alternates
• Qualifying times, if your meet has them

These also come from the file, but you can fix them on the website: meet name, dates, course, entry deadline, entry fees and surcharges, the age-up date, and the pool's address.

Then export the event file from Meet Manager (File → Export → Meet Events). You'll get an .ev3 file or a .zip — either one works.

Step 2 — Create the meet

1. On your team dashboard, click Host a meet.
2. Under Event file, choose your .ev3 or .zip.
3. Under Who is hosting?, leave One of my teams selected.
4. Under Where is it?, pick a pool from Use a venue you've used before or type the pool's name and address. Visiting teams use this to find the meet.
5. Click Create meet.

You'll see: "Your meet has been created as a draft." A draft is private. Nobody else can see it or enter it yet.

Step 3 — Check the details

Click Hosted meets, then Details next to your meet. The page keeps each part of the meet on its own tab. On the Details tab, check:

• Entry deadline — the last day visiting teams can enter or change entries. Entries stop automatically at the end of that day, in the meet's time zone. If this is blank, entries never close, so always set it.
• Name, Course, Lanes, Start, End — should match your meet announcement.
• Venue and address — what visiting teams see.

Click Save at the bottom of the tab when you're done. Then:

• Meet setup tab — meet style, class, sanction number and age-up date. Click Save meet setup if you change anything.
• Officials tab — your referee and admin referee. Only your own staff see these. Click Save officials.

Step 4 — Check the fees

Still on the meet's Details page, open the Fee schedule tab. Your file's fees are already filled in; check them against your meet announcement.

Click Save fee schedule. The As entered right now box beside it shows what teams owe so far.

• One event priced differently? Open the Event fees tab, change it in the Fee by event table and click Save event fees. To give many events the same price, use Set every event at once: type the fee, choose All events, Individual events only or Relay events only, and click Apply.
• Anything else to charge? The Custom fees tab adds a fee per entry, per swimmer or per team.

Step 5 — Turn on card payments (optional)

On Hosted meets, tick On under Online payments, decide on Pass fee, and click Save. Make sure your Payouts page says Ready to accept payments first (Part 2).

Step 6 — Open entries

On Hosted meets, click Open for entries. The meet's badge changes from Draft to Open for entries.

Your meet now appears on the public meet list and in every team's Enter a meet list. MeetDirector doesn't email visiting teams for you. Send your usual meet announcement and tell teams: "Enter online at meetdirector.online — look for [your meet name] under Enter a meet."

The meet's three states

The deadline stops visiting teams on its own, even if the badge still says Open for entries. Click Close entries when you want the badge to match.

Part 4

Part 4 — Enter a meet (visiting teams)

Applies to: any team swimming in someone else's meet
Where: team dashboard → Enter a meet, then Upload entries

There are three moves: sign your team up for the meet, send in your entries, then pay. Most teams send entries straight from Hy-Tek Team Manager, the same file you'd email to a host.

Step 1 — Sign your team up for the meet

1. On your team dashboard, click Enter a meet.
2. You'll see Meets accepting entries, with each meet's dates and entry deadline.
3. Find your meet and click Enter [your team name].
4. You'll see: "[Your team] is registered. You can submit entries before the deadline."

Don't see the meet? The host may not have opened it yet. If the row says Restricted — contact host, call or email the host.

Step 2 — Send in your entries from Team Manager

1. In Team Manager, import the host's meet events and enter your swimmers the way you always do. Team Manager checks your entry limits, ages and qualifying times here, so fix anything it flags now.
2. Export your entries (File → Export → Meet Entries). You'll get a .zip. Leave it zipped.
3. On your team dashboard, click Upload entries. Each meet you signed up for has its own box.
4. In your meet's box, choose your zip under Entry file (HY3, CL2 or SD3).
5. Click Review & upload.

Step 3 — Check the review page, then apply

The Review entries page compares your file with what's already on file for your team:

Read the Removing list every time. Then click Apply these changes.

You'll see "Your entries have been applied," and a confirmation email goes out listing every swimmer, event and entry time, plus what you owe. Check that email. If something on it is wrong, fix it now (Part 5) or tell the host.

Entering on screen instead

No Team Manager? In your meet's box on Upload entries, click Edit. Under Add an entry, choose a Swimmer, an Event and a Seed time, then click Add. Leave the seed blank for no time (NT). A swimmer who isn't on your roster yet? Add them in the Add a swimmer box first.

The screen checks each entry as you add it: the right gender, the right age group and the meet's entry limits.

Relays can't be entered on screen yet. If you have relays, send them in a Team Manager file, or ask the host to add them.

Step 4 — Pay

1. On Upload entries, click the green Pay button in your meet's box.
2. The Pay entry fees page shows your entry fees, any surcharges and the Amount due to the host. If the host passes the card fee on to you, you'll also see Card processing (only if you pay by card) and the Total charged to your card.
3. Click Pay $…. You go to Stripe's secure checkout page.
4. Pay with any credit or debit card.
5. Back on MeetDirector you'll see "Thanks! Your payment is being confirmed," then Paid $… on [date]. A receipt goes to your email.

If the page says "This meet isn't taking online payments — pay the host directly," the host wants a check. Your confirmation email has the Make payable to and Send payment to details.

Part 5

Part 5 — Change your entries before the deadline

Applies to: visiting teams
Where: team dashboard → Upload entries

You can change your entries as often as you like until the end of the deadline day. After that they're locked, and only the host can change them.

There are two ways to make changes. Pick one and stick with it for a meet, because they don't mix well.

Way 1 — Upload a new file (best if you use Team Manager)

1. Make your changes in Team Manager — add swimmers, scratch events, change entry times.
2. Export your entries again, the same way as before.
3. On Upload entries, choose the new file in your meet's box and click Review & upload.
4. The review page shows exactly what will change: Adding, Seed time changes and Removing.
5. Click Apply these changes. You'll get a fresh confirmation email.

Way 2 — Change entries on screen (best for one or two quick fixes)

On Upload entries, click Edit in your meet's box. You'll see Current entries:

• Change an entry time — type the new time in the Seed box and click Save.
• Scratch an entry — click Drop and confirm.
• Add an entry — use the Add an entry box.

On-screen changes don't send a confirmation email. If you use Team Manager, make the same change there too, so your next upload doesn't undo it.

What about money I've already paid?

This is why we suggest paying once, after your entries are final.

After the deadline

The upload and edit pages lock and say "The entry deadline has passed." Need a late change or a scratch? Contact the host. The host can still add, change and remove entries for you (Part 6). Entries the host adds after the deadline are marked late, and the meet's late fee applies unless the host waives it.

Part 6

Part 6 — After entries come in (hosts)

Applies to: host clubs, their meet directors and timing companies
Where: team dashboard → Hosted meets

Your job between the deadline and meet day: handle late changes, collect the money, and get every entry into Meet Manager in one file. No more retyping entries from emailed files.

While entries are open: keep an eye on things

• Nightly report email. Every evening around 9 pm, your meet director gets "[Meet] — entries and session estimate". It lists every team's entries, what each owes and has paid, and an estimate of how long each session will run.
• Entries page. On Hosted meets, click Entries next to your meet. You'll see each team with its number of swimmers, entries and relays.
• Payments page. On Hosted meets, click Payments. You'll see Outstanding, Collected and Total entry fees, and each team's status: Paid, Awaiting, Unpaid or Refunded.

Step 1 — Close entries

The deadline stops visiting teams automatically at the end of the deadline day. On the morning after, click Close entries on Hosted meets so the badge says Entries closed and the meet drops off every team's Enter a meet list.

Step 2 — Make late changes for teams

After the deadline, teams can't change their own entries — they'll ask you. You can still change anything, right up to meet day:

1. On Hosted meets, click Entries, then Manage next to the team.
2. Click Edit next to a swimmer to open their entries.
   • Add an event — in Add an entry, pick the Event, type the Seed time, click Add entry.
   • Change a time — type it in the seed box and click the check mark.
   • Scratch — click the trash can.
3. A swimmer who isn't on the team's list? On the team's page, use Add a swimmer, then add their events.
4. Entries you add after the deadline are marked Late and charged the late fee. To let one off, change its Late fee box to Late, fee waived and click the check mark.

Every change you make is recorded in the Change log on the Entries page — who, what and when.

Step 3 — Collect the money

• Card payments come in on their own (Part 2). Check the Payments page for anyone still Unpaid.
• Check payers stay Unpaid on that page, because MeetDirector can't record a check. Use the Fees by team report — the button at the top of the meet's Details page — to see exactly what each team owes, then match it against the checks you receive. Click a team to see the charge for every swimmer.
• A team added entries after paying by card? Their card payment covers only what they had when they paid. Collect the difference by check, or refund the payment and have them pay again.

Step 4 — Download every entry for Meet Manager

1. On Hosted meets, click Entries file next to your meet. (The button appears once the meet has entries.)
2. Check the counts under What's in this file — teams, athletes, entries and relays.
3. Click Download entries zip.
4. In Meet Manager, import it the same way you import a team's emailed entries (File → Import → Entries). The zip has the same entries three ways (.hy3, .cl2, .sd3) — use whichever your Meet Manager prefers. MDO Swim Meet Manager reads it too.
5. Relays sent with no swimmers named come in as empty relays. Fill in the legs in Meet Manager at the meet.

Do your late changes before this download. Any change after you've imported, make it straight in Meet Manager.

Step 5 — Check entry times (optional)

If your meet requires proof of times, use the Proof of times report. Export the SWIMS times file from Meet Manager and upload it; the report flags any entry time that MeetDirector can't find on record. The Meet Directors guide has step-by-step instructions.

Then run your meet. When it's over, go to Part 7.

Part 7

Part 7 — After the meet: post the results

Applies to: the host uploads; every team receives
Where: team dashboard → Upload results

Only the host posts results. One results file holds every team's swims, so the host (or the host's timing company) uploads it once and everyone's times appear. Visiting coaches: you don't upload anything — you get an email when it's done.

Hosts: upload the results file

1. In Meet Manager, export results the usual way. The zip it makes is fine as-is — MeetDirector reads .hy3, .cl2, .sd3 and .zip files.
2. On your team dashboard, click Upload results.
3. Choose the file.
4. Choose the Meet LSC for a USA Swimming meet. Leave it as none for high school or rec-league meets.
5. Click Upload & import.

The import may stop and ask one question first:

• "Which meet is this?" — pick your meet from the list so the results join the meet you set up for entries.
• "Which of your clubs hosted this meet?" — only if you coach more than one club in the file.

When it finishes you'll see a summary of what was added. Found a mistake after posting? Fix it in Meet Manager and upload the corrected file. It updates the meet; it does not make a second copy.

Everyone: what happens next

• Within about an hour, every coach of every team in the meet gets an email titled "Results posted: …" with a Download your team's results button.
• That download is a zip with just your team's swims as .hy3 and .cl2 files, ready to import into Team Manager. You can also get it any time from Meets on your dashboard → Download results.
• Swimmers and parents see the new times on their profiles straight away.
• Results posted for your team also show under Results uploaded, with who uploaded them and how many of your swims arrived. If something looks wrong, open a support ticket naming the meet.

Part 8

Part 8 — If a timing company runs your meet

Applies to: host clubs that hire a timing company
Where: Coach portal (/coach) → Timing vendors and Requests tabs

Many clubs hire a timing company (MeetDirector calls them timing vendors) to run their meets. Once you connect them to your club, the timing company can do most of Parts 3, 6 and 7 for you. Your club still owns the bank account and the money. The timing company's MeetDirector fee is billed to them, never to your club or your families.

Step 1 — Connect your timing company to your club

Pick whichever fits:

Step 2 — Agree who does what

Write this down with your timing company before entries open. It stops two people doing the same job, or nobody doing it.

The meet appears on your Hosted meets page either way, so you can always see its entries and payments.

Things to know

• Who gets the nightly report. It goes to the meet's meet director. If the timing company created the meet, that may be them. To get it yourself, open Hosted meets → Details → the Meet director tab and hand the meet to yourself. Your timing company can also email the report to you, or a confirmation to every entered team.
• One way in for each visiting team. If a team emails its file to the timing company and uploads its own, whichever arrives last replaces the other. Tell visiting teams in your meet announcement which one you want.
• Teams the timing company enters by file don't get a confirmation email automatically. Ask your timing company to send the confirmation to every entered team once entries close.
• Ending the relationship. The team admin can click End relationship on the Timing vendors tab at any time. The timing company can finish any meet already in progress, but can't start new ones for you.

Troubleshooting

When something goes wrong

Common problems

Getting help

Open a support ticket at support.meetdirector.online.

1. Sign in with the same email address you use on MeetDirector. That lets us find your team straight away.
2. Click Submit a ticket and pick the topic that fits.
3. Tell us your team name and code, the meet, the page you were on, what you expected, and what happened. A screenshot of the error helps.
4. Replies come by email. Reply to that email to add more.