Pickup matches
Start a match without a fixed roster — Pulse Tactical creates ad-hoc teams on the spot, with fun auto-generated names and a roster size capped to what each sport actually fields at once.
What is a pickup match?
A pickup match is a one-off game between two ad-hoc teams created just for that match — no need to have a real, persistent team set up beforehand, unlike Pulse Tactical's own regular team-vs-team matches.
Each ad-hoc team gets a fun, auto-generated name (an adjective plus an animal, from a fixed local list — no external service involved), and you can reroll it if you don't like the result.
How it works
When you create a pickup match, both sides start as ad-hoc teams with generated names you can reroll before confirming.
Each sport has its own roster cap for ad-hoc teams, matching how many players that sport actually fields at once — for example 11 for soccer, 7 for society (futsal), 5 for basketball, 6 for volleyball or ice hockey, 2 for tennis, 11 for American football, and 9 for baseball.
The first time players are added to a side with no formation set yet, Pulse Tactical assigns a default formation automatically so the board doesn't look empty.
A "Sortear times" button splits every confirmed-but-unassigned player into balanced sides for the current match. Any full extra group left over becomes a new prepared ad-hoc team, ready for a rematch later in the same session.
Owned ad-hoc teams that haven't played a match yet show up under a "Times avulsos" tab in My Teams, so you can find and reuse them.
Who this is for
Anyone organizing an informal game — a pickup soccer match, a casual 3x3 — where the players show up first and the teams get decided on the spot, rather than a season with fixed rosters set weeks in advance.
Key features
Auto-generated team names
An adjective + animal name for each ad-hoc side, rerollable before you confirm.
Per-sport roster caps
Capped to what each sport actually fields at once, e.g. 11 for soccer, 5 for basketball.
Auto-formation
A default formation is set automatically the first time a side gets its players.
Sortear times
Randomly splits confirmed players into balanced sides for the current match.
Auto-prepared rematch teams
A leftover full-size group becomes a ready-to-play team for next time.
Times avulsos tab
Find your own unused ad-hoc teams under My Teams.
How this fits into Pulse Tactical
Pickup matches use the same Match Center, live clock and event-recording tools as any other match — the only difference is how the two teams themselves came to exist. Everything happens at board.pulseup.io with your regular PulseUp account.
Start a pickup match in seconds
No fixed roster needed — Pulse Tactical generates the teams for you, free at board.pulseup.io.