Instead of adding athletes one at a time, you can add several (or all) athletes at once using the Import CSV tool. You will find the tool on the left-hand side of the Details page.
Please note: The import CSV feature cannot be used if registration is enabled.
This guide is divided into a few sections below:
- Creating the CSV file
- Importing the CSV file
- Codes for EventCode, EventStage, and AgeGroup fields
- How to open a CSV file in Excel?
Creating the CSV file
You can create the CSV file by organizing your athletes in an Excel spreadsheet. You will need the following columns (the ones in red are mandatory columns):
- EntryId - All athletes and relay teams are numbered sequentially for each meet/meeting (see example below).
- StartListId - All start lists can be numbered in groups with a unique number for each event list. This column is only relevant for mixed start lists and events with multiple age groups or relays.
- RelayTeamName - The name of the relay team.
- FirstName - The athlete's first name.
- MiddleName - The athlete's middle name.
- LastName - The athlete's last name.
Please capitalize the first letter only in first, middle, and last names, except where needed. Example: John Joseph McDonald.
- Gender - The athlete's gender (the only options are Male or Female). Please see below if you would like to add a mixed relay or mixed-gender competition.
- LicenseType (currently relevant only for World Athletics, Greece, and the UK countries) - The federation's name (the only options are WorldAth, GreekAth, EnglandWalesAth, ScotlandAth, and NorthernIrelandAth).
- LicenseNumber (currently relevant only for World Athletics, Greece and the UK countries) - The athlete's license number.
- CountryCode - Three-letter abbreviation of the country (e.g., USA, FRA, CHN, SWE). You can find the abbreviations for all countries here in the World Athletics column: https://admin.rosterathletics.com/admin/country-codes (link is available for users with access to Roster Athletics CMP).
- SchoolGrade - The athlete's grade (only for school meets in the United States). You can find the grade's codes below.
- DateOfBirth - The athlete's date of birth must be in the format of YYYY-MM-DD. Note: The date format is very important! You can use Excel's formatting functionality.
- YearOfBirth - The athlete's birth year in four digits (e.g., 1995).
Please do not add a fake date of birth (e.g., YYYY-01-01) for your athletes. If you only know the birth year, add it to the YearOfBirth column instead.
- TilastopajaId - The athlete's ID for the Tilastopaja Database.
- RelayId - If a RelayTeamName is added, then you can add the names of the individual runners on the team. Each name must have a number referring to the EntryID next to the Relay team name (see the example below).
- EventStart - The start time of the event. This can be left blank and set after import in Roster Athletics. If added, the format must be YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (e.g., 2020-02-14 15:55:00).
- EventCode - Event code. See the list of event codes below. You can use the Roster Athletics event codes or complete event names (100m Hurdles or 3000m Steeplechase) as the EventCode.
- EventStage - Add event stage, which can be Qualification, Preliminary, Heat, SemiFinal, or Final. This can be changed after the import.
- AgeGroup - Athlete's age group. Available age groups are listed below (you can select Auto if you want to automatically assign athletes to the age group based on date/year of birth).
- ClubName - The name of the club or school for which the athlete competes.
- TeamName - The team's name (if it is a team competition).
- TeamGender - The team's gender (the options are Male, Female or Mixed).
- TeamName2 - If the meet/meeting includes several team competitions (optional).
- TeamGender2 - If the meet/meeting includes several team competitions (optional).
- TeamName3 - If the meet/meeting includes several team competitions (optional).
- TeamGender3 - If the meet/meeting includes several team competitions (optional).
- BibNumber - Bib or start number for the athlete.
- PersonalBest - The athlete's personal best. Dividers between cm and meter have to be a ".". The same goes for dividers between seconds and 1/100s. Dividers between hours and minutes and between minutes and seconds must be a ":".
- SeasonBest - The athlete's season's best.
- Title - The title for an event. Note that when specifying Title, a new event will be created with this title, even if another untitled event exists or otherwise specified in the same file.
Please note:
- An example of a CSV file is attached to this article at the bottom of the page.
- If you use the PZLA or HyTek uploading functionality, use the CSV file directly from PZLA or HyTek.
Remember not to use special characters in the CSV file (i.e., , /comma/, ; /semicolon/ or “ /quotation mark/).
After all the athletes are saved in your Excel spreadsheet, save it to a CSV format.
Please note: You must save the file in the UTF-8 CSV format.
We have prepared a list of the most important things you must remember when preparing a CSV file for uploading entries. You can find it in the Checklist for importing CSV entries guide.
Importing the CSV file
Please note: if you already have a schedule set in the web admin platform for events and leave the EventStart field blank for those same events during the .csv upload, the previous schedule will be changed to default values. To keep the same schedule (or any specific schedule), please use the EventStart field in the .csv or change the schedule starts in the web admin platform after loading the .csv.
You can add the saved CSV file by clicking the Import start lists button and then choosing Auto or Roster format. You can also drag and drop the file.
Once you have imported a CSV file, you will see a new CSV Import menu option on the far left-hand side. This option will be visible until you change a meet/meeting, upload another file, click the Finished button, or reload the page.
After the import, you will see four different marks next to the names of the athletes or relay teams:
 | athlete/relay already exists in the Roster Athletics database, and an exact match has been found, |
 | athlete/relay does not exist in the database but will be automatically created, |
 | athlete/relay matches with one or multiple athletes/relays in the database but isn't an exact match, so you have to select the correct athlete or relay team, |
 | there is a conflict, so you will need to select the athlete that is the correct athlete/relay to match with or remove (in case of a doublet). You must create a new one if the correct athlete/relay is not found. |
Action is required by the user if there are yellow or red marks! See below.
If there is a conflict (yellow or red mark), you can try to manually find the athlete or relay team in the Roster database by clicking on the Select a profile from the list and selecting Search & select. You can also create a new athlete or relay team (with data from the CSV file) by clicking Select a profile from the list and selecting Create new athlete profile or Create relay team profile.
For example, you uploaded a CSV start list with two relay teams named "Roster Relay Team", but one team is number 1, and the other is number 2. For purposes of this example, let's say that there is only one "Roster Relay Team" relay team in the Roster database. Therefore, both of your teams will be matched to the existing "Roster Relay Team", resulting in a conflict. To resolve this conflict, you must create two new relay teams named "Roster Relay Team 1" and "Roster Relay Team 2". See the screenshot below.
Remember to resolve all conflicts and save the start list by clicking the Import button. After this step, click the Start list button to go to the start list.
Please note: you cannot save the start list until all conflicts have been solved (i.e., selecting the correct athlete).
Regular Relay Events
When specifying relay teams using the input file, follow these rules, which are shown in the example:
Relay definition line: set an EntryId line with StartListId, RelayTeamName, Gender, CountryCode, EventCode, EventStage, AgeGroup, ClubName (or school name), TeamName (can be assigned when importing).
In the following lines, list each athlete on this team on their own line. They must have the RelayId field set to the EntryId value above. This allows the association between the athlete and team.
Please note: in the CSV file, relay members may NOT be in a line above the relay to which they are assigned.Each athlete must have the same StartListId value as the team value set in the Relay definition line.
Each team that is competing in the same relay event must have the same StartListId set in the Relay definition line and following athletes lines. This groups each team into the same relay event. Otherwise, separate events will be created.
SPECIAL CASE for mixed-gender relay events (separate male and female teams in one event)
If you have an event where separate female and male teams are running in the same event, simply set the StartListId to be the same value for all the teams, and they will all appear in the Start list under the same event.
SPECIAL CASE for 4x400m MIX TEAM mixed gender relay teams and event (male and female athletes together on the same relay team)
The special 4x400m MIXED TEAM relay (or any other mixed team relay, 4x___m MIXED TEAM, with male and female athletes on the same team) designates a relay event where teams are comprised of both male and female athletes on the same relay team (e.g. Bella, Wendy, Steven, and Tom on one relay team). Specify in the CSV upload:
EventCode is 4x400m MIXED TEAM (or other applicable 4x___m MIXED TEAM event code)
Gender for RelayTeamName row is Mixed
Each athlete is Male or Female as appropriate
Set the same RelayID for each athlete as described above for regular relays
SPECIAL CASE for mixed gender individual events
If you want to upload an event which is mixed gender, you will need to add Male or Female for each athlete and give all athletes the same Start List ID (StartListId). In doing so, the start list will be uploaded as a mixed event. See the example below.
Codes for EventCode, EventStage, and AgeGroup fields
Use the following codes for events and age groups:
Event Codes (EventCode)
Event name = code for the CSV file
Please note that either the full Event name or code notation can be used as the EventCode in the CSV file. See the upload sample files for examples on EventCode.
The full list of events and their names is available in the List of events guide.
| 40m | = | 40 |
| 50m | = | 50 |
| 55m | = | 55 |
| 60m | = | 60 |
| 80m | = | 80 |
| 100m | = | 100 |
| 100yd | = | 100Y |
| 120m | = | 120 |
| 150m | = | 150 |
| 200m | = | 200 |
| 300m | = | 300 |
| 400m | = | 400 |
| 500m | = | 500 |
| 600m | = | 600 |
| 800m | = | 800 |
| 1000m | = | 1000 |
| 1200m | = | 1200 |
| 1500m | = | 1500 |
| 1600m | = | 1600 |
| One Mile | = | Mile |
| 2000m | = | 2000 |
| 3000m | = | 3000 |
| Two Miles | = | 2M |
| 5000m | = | 5000 |
| 5km | = | 5K |
| 10000m | = | 10000 |
| 10km | = | 10K |
| 15km | = | 15K |
| Ten Miles | = | 10M |
| 20000m | = | 20000 |
| 20km | = | 20K |
| Half Marathon | = | HM |
| One Hour | = | 1H |
| 25000m | = | 25000 |
| 25km | = | 25K |
| 30000m | = | 30000 |
| 30km | = | 30K |
| Marathon | = | Mar |
| 100km | = | 100K |
| 24 Hours | = | 24H |
| 1500m Steeplechase | = | 1500S |
| 2000m Steeplechase | = | 2000S |
| 3000m Steeplechase | = | 3000S |
| 50m Hurdles | = | 50H |
| 60m Hurdles | = | 60H |
| 80m Hurdles | = | 80H |
| 100m Hurdles | = | 100H |
| 110m Hurdles | = | 110H |
| 200m Hurdles | = | 200H |
| 300m Hurdles | = | 300H |
| 400m Hurdles | = | 400H |
| High Jump | = | HJ |
| Standing High Jump | = | HJS |
| Pole Vault | = | PV |
| Long Jump | = | LJ |
| Long Jump (Zone) | = | LJZ |
| Standing Long Jump | = | LJs |
| Triple Jump | = | TJ |
| Triple Jump (Zone) | = | TJZ |
| Standing Triple Jump | = | TJs |
| Shot Put | = | SP |
| Discus Throw | = | DT |
| Hammer Throw | = | HT |
| Javelin Throw | = | JT |
| Weight Throw | = | WT |
| 1000m Race Walking | = | 1000W |
| One Mile Race Walking | = | MileW |
| 2000m Race Walking | = | 2000W |
| 3000m Race Walking | = | 3000W |
| 5000m Race Walking | = | 5000W |
| 10000m Race Walking | = | 10000W |
| 10km Race Walking | = | 10W |
| 20000m Race Walking | = | 20000W |
| 20km Race Walking | = | 20W |
| 30km Race Walking | = | 30W |
| 35km Race Walking | = | 35K |
| 50km Race Walking | = | 50W |
| 4x40m | = | 4x40 |
| 4x40m MIX | = | 4x40m MIXED TEAM |
| 4x60m | = | 4x60 |
| 4x60m MIX | = | 4x60m MIXED TEAM |
| 4x80m | = | 4x80 |
| 4x80m MIX | = | 4x80m MIXED TEAM |
| 4x100m | = | 4x1 |
| 4x100m MIX | = | 4x100m MIXED TEAM |
| 4x200m | = | 4x2 |
| 4x200m MIX | = | 4x200m MIXED TEAM |
| 4x300m | = | 4x3 |
| 4x300m MIX | = | 4x300m MIXED TEAM |
| 4x400m | = | 4x4 |
| 4x400m MIX | = | 4x400m MIXED TEAM |
| 4x800m | = | 4x8 |
| 4x800m MIX | = | 4x800m MIXED TEAM |
| 4x1500m | = | 4x15 |
| 4x1500m MIX | = | 4x1500m MIXED TEAM |
| 4xMile | = | 4xMile |
| Sprint Medley Relay | = | 4xSPRMED |
| Distance Medley Relay | = | 4xDISMED |
| Medley Relay | = | 4xMED |
Event stage (EventStage)
Possible values:
Qualification
Preliminary
Heat
SemiFinal
Final
Age groups (AgeGroup)
Age group = code for the CSV file
Age group = Auto (select if you want to automatically assign athletes to the age group based on date/year of birth)
Youth and senior U8 = Meeting_8 U10 = Meeting_10 U12 = Meeting_12 U14 = Meeting_14 U16 = Meeting_16 U18 = Meeting_18 U20 = Meeting_20 U23 = Meeting_23 Senior = Senior | Master M30 = Master_30 M35 = Master_35 M40 = Master_40 M45 = Master_45 M50 = Master_50 M55 = Master_55 M60 = Master_60 M65 = Master_65 M70 = Master_70 M75 = Master_75 M80 = Master_80 M85 = Master_85 M90 = Master_90 M95 = Master_95 M100 = Master_100 | School 1st grade = School_1 2nd grade = School_2 3rd grade = School_3 4th grade = School_4 5th grade = School_5 6th grade = School_6 7th grade = School_7 8th grade = School_8 9th grade = School_9 10th grade = School_10 11th grade = School_11 12th grade = School_12 Frosh/Soph = School_Frosh_Soph Junior Varsity = School_Junior_Varsity Varsity = School_Varsity |
Grades (SchoolGrade)
School grade = code for the CSV file
Kindergarten = K
1st grade = 1
2nd grade = 2
3rd grade = 3
4th grade = 4
5th grade = 5
6th grade = 6
7th grade = 7
8th grade = 8
9th grade = 9
10th grade = 10
11th grade = 11
12th grade = 12
Freshman = FR
Sophomore = SO
Junior = JR
Senior = SR