There are times when you need to get a specific athlete into your event outside of the normal registration flow — whether registration has closed, the event has sold out, or you simply want to let someone in before registration officially opens. Competition Corner gives you a few ways to handle this, with Special Registration Links being the cleanest and most controlled option.
Option 1 — Special Registration Links (Recommended)
Special Registration Links give a specific person a private door into your event without touching your public registration settings. Each link is unique, single-use, and tied to one email address — so even if the link gets forwarded, only the intended person can use it to register.
This is the recommended approach for most exceptions because it keeps you in full control without reopening registration to the public or manually adding athletes on their behalf.
Common use cases:
Registration is closed — let a specific athlete register without extending your close date for everyone
Event is sold out — reserve a spot for a specific person without reopening a division and risking an oversell
Registration not yet open — give key athletes early access before your public registration window opens
VIP or late invites — send a direct invite to a sponsor athlete, staff member, or last-minute addition
How to Create a Special Registration Link
From your event dashboard, go to Registration > Special Registration Links
Click Create Registration Link
Enter the athlete's email address
Select the division you want them to register into
Set an expiration date for the link
Click Generate — a unique private link is created
Copy the link and send it directly to the athlete
The athlete clicks the link and completes registration through the normal flow — but bypasses the public registration requirements entirely. Once the link has been used, it automatically expires. You can monitor the status of all active, pending, and used links from the Special Registration Links page at any time.
Option 2 — Add the Athlete Manually
If the athlete has confirmed they're coming and you just need to get them into the system quickly, you can add them directly without them going through the registration flow:
Go to Participants > Athletes (or Teams for a team event)
Click the + icon to add the athlete or team
Fill in their details and save
Option 3 — Extend Your Registration Close Date
If you'd like to allow athletes to register themselves but registration has closed, you can extend your registration close date to reopen the window:
Go to Registration > Registration Settings
Update the Registration Close Date to a new date
Save your changes
⚠️ This reopens registration to everyone, not just a specific athlete. If you want to limit who can register during the extended window, set the relevant division to Private and share the division password only with the intended athlete.
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