def METHOD_NAME(players):
    # input file is JSON data with the following keys: rating, name, in_slack, account_status, date_created,
    # prefers_alt, friends, avoid, has_20_games.
    with open(players, 'r') as infile:
        playerdata = json.load(infile)
    return playerdata
    # print("This data was read from file.")
    # put player data into Player objects