Outside The Lines

SportsSignup Supports Coaches Curing Kids Cancer

SportsSignup is proud to support and endorse Curing Kids Cancer, a unique way to help fund pediatric cancer research and treatment. Here's more detail about the program:

Curing Kids' Cancer is a non-profit organization inspired by the life of Killian Owen. Killian loved sports. The five-year-old was active in baseball, basketball and swimming when the unthinkable happened. He was diagnosed with leukemia. The disease and the chemotherapy treatments took their toll, but did not keep him from playing when he was well enough. One coach was so moved by Killian’s bravery that he asked his team to make a donation to the Aflac Cancer Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at the end of the season instead of buying him a traditional gift. 
 
Killian fought leukemia for four and half years, losing the battle when he was 9 years old.  A year later in August, 2004, his parents, Grainne and Clay Owen, remembered the coach’s idea and created Curing Kids’ Cancer, Inc. to raise money for pediatric cancer research. Through the Coaches Curing Kids' Cancer program, youth sports teams around the nation are making donations in honor of their coaches.  Using the same money they normally collect for a gift certificate or other traditional gift, the team honors the coach's dedication and inspiration with a meaningful gift and teaches the children on the team the concept of "giving back" at the same time.  In return, the charity sends an original gift (t-shirt, hat or whistle) and a personalized certificate for the team to present to their coach, who also gets the great feeling of helping Kids Kick Cancer!
 
The money raised through this program goes to fund cutting edge pediatric cancer research, which is severely under-funded.  Teams all over the United States are honoring their coaches in this way, and important research efforts in various states are being funded by these donations.  Everything can be done online by going to www.curingkidscancer.org.  Packages with gifts and certificates are shipped directly to the Team Parent, or other individual making the donation, for presentation to the coach.  Donations are tax-deductible.
 
Curing Kids Cancer also has a Teachers Curing Kids' Cancer program which honors teachers in the same fashion.  A great way to recognize someone who also works hard to inspire and teach our children.
 
For more information, please visit www.curingkidscancer.org, or call toll-free 1-866-933-CURE.

Florida Youth Soccer Association Partners with SportSignup to Streamline Criminal Background Screening

Company to Provide Online Management System to Administer Annual Background Checks for over 15,000 Coaches, Volunteers and Staff

 

Latham, NY—October 15, 2008 —  Florida Youth Soccer Association (FYSA), one of the largest state soccer associations in the United States, today announced that they will utilize SportsSignup’s KidSafePlus™ service to administer and manage criminal background checks for all coaches and volunteers throughout the state. KidSafePlus is an online background check management system that facilitates background check processing, case tracking and communication with applicants. The system combines an easy-to-use, sports-centric online interface with one of the most comprehensive, nation-wide criminal background checks available.

'With over 15,000 coaches and volunteers throughout the state of Florida, one of our key requirements is to process a high-volume of background checks while providing timely, accurate results in a manageable way,” said Tommy Thompson, president of FYSA. “The SportsSignup system exceeded this requirement, and so far has dramatically changed the way we manage our screening process. Using KidSafePlus, we can deal with adverse cases more efficiently, and at the same time maintain the utmost respect for the privacy of our volunteer applicants,” continued Thompson.

The backbone of the KidSafePlus system is a National Criminal File (NCrF) Search provided by SportsSignup’s partner ChoicePoint®, Inc., a LexisNexis® company. The National Criminal File is a comprehensive data file of over 100 million criminal conviction records from multiple criminal record repositories covering all 50 states. The NCrF database includes but is not limited to data from the Department of Corrections (Prison, Parole & Release Files), Fugitive File/Government Watch Lists, Department of Public Safety (DPS), Administrative Office of Courts, and Sex and Violent Offender Register/Predator Records. All searches conducted through KidSafePlus are compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

"One of the most challenging aspects for sports organizations managing background check screening is dealing with large volumes of individual applicants and providing fast and accurate results, all while maintaining a process that is in compliance with applicable laws,” said Anthony Bruno, CEO of SportsSignup. “With KidSafePlus, we have overcome these and many of the obstacles associated with the intimidating task of managing background check processing. As a result, more comprehensive background screening is being adopted by sports organizations around the country, with the intent to increase the safety and welfare of children involved in their sports programs.” 

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For more information, visit http://www.sportssignup.com or http://www.fysa.com

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About Florida Youth Soccer Association
Established in 1974, the Florida Youth Soccer Association is the largest body of its kind in the state, with approximately 6,900 teams comprised of 107,000 players from 4 to 19 years old and 15,000 coaches/volunteers. A non-profit organization, it is an affiliate of US Youth Soccer and the United States Soccer Federation. 

About SportsSignup
SportsSignup, a division of League Sports Services LLC, provides sports organizations with fully-integrated online sports registration, roster management, and coach and volunteer background checking solutions. Since 2002, the company has enabled administrators from hundreds of soccer, baseball, lacrosse, hockey, and many other youth sports organizations to spend more time on the playing field by automating many aspects of their duties.

 

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Media Contacts:

For SportsSignup
Megan Reisig, Public Relations Account Executive, Canyon Communications
mreisig@canyoncomm.com Tel. (866) 867-6639

For FYSA
Jennifer Slattery, Director of Communications
jslattery@fysa.com Tel. (407) 852-6770

©2008 League Sports Services LLC and Florida Youth Soccer Association. ChoicePoint is a registered trademark of ChoicePoint Asset Company in the United States and other countries. LexisNexis is a registered trademark of Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc. in the United States and other countries. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. League Sports Services LLC and Florida Youth Soccer Association shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

New: Custom User Alerts Now Available

Communicating important, time-sensitive information with your members, coaches, and volunteers is easy with SportsSignup's new User Alerts feature. E-mail is a great communication tool, but for a variety of reasons beyond your control (users changing their address, spam blockers, ISP issues, etc.) e-mail is not ideal for last-minute notifications and special time-sensitive messages. Also, most web-site creation sites have a way to create "Alerts" or special messages, however, these tools are typically limited to webmasters and those with access to your website.

Advantages of User Alerts (vs. email or other communication method(s)):

• User Alerts is a "pull" style of communication, that is, your members can self-serve the information, all they need is an internet connection.
• Changes to the User Alert can be modified in real-time. This is unlike an email or phone message, where once you send it, it cannot be edited.
• Alert message is available 24/7.

The new User Alerts feature lets authorized administrators post an "Alert" on your registration Welcome Page. Click on the graphic to see what this looks like.

User Alerts can be used to notify your members that the "Deadline for registration is approaching," or that "space is limited for certain programs," or "Field XYZ is closed," etc. The User Alerts can be fully customized.

Here's how to implement User Alerts:

1. Log in as Administrator and go to: Admin Main | Manage Account | User Alerts | Create Alert(note that you must have appropriate privleges to post an alert, only a "full access" administrator can grant access).

2. Create a Title for the alert, and add body text for the details.

3. Set the Start/Stop times for the Alert. The Alert will automatically removed at the stop time. (This will be based on the time zone setting on your account, read this blog post for more information on time zone configuration).

4. Click Save. You can Edit/Delete your User Alert at any time, changes will be reflected in real-time.

Your Alert will now appear on the registration Welcome Page.

 

Important Notes: The User Alerts feature will not display on legacy welcome page URL's. For User Alerts to appear, your registration links should point to the Account Website (To view your Account Website, go to Manage Account | Manage Organization). Click herefor more information best practices for linking to your SportsSignup account from your organization's website.

Implementation Suggestions: If your organization plans to use the User Alerts feature for cancellation information, it is recommended to set up another permanent link on your website, e.g. "Cancellations & Notices" and point it to the registration Welcome Page URL. This will be a more direct and intrinsic way for your members to access the information (they don't have to go through your registration link). Alternatively, you can communicate this method to your members and simply have them bookmark the registration Welcome Page URL.

Questions? Please email support@sportssignup.com, our support staff would be happy to assist you. To learn more about SportsSignup, visit www.SportsSignup.com.

New: Setting Your Account Time Zone

Setting the time zone on your SportsSignup account is important for two reasons: First, by default your registration Sessions are set to end on a certain date, at 11:59:59 PM EST (Eastern Time). If your organization is in a different time zone, you can change the default setting. Second, User Alerts are posted and removed based on your local time zone.

To verify/set the time zone on your account:

1. Login as administrator and go to Manage Account | Manage Organization | Organization Info

2. Select the appropriate time zone for your organization from the drop-down box.

3. Click Save.

Questions? Please email support@sportssignup.com, our support staff would be happy to assist you. To learn more about SportsSignup, visit www.sportssignup.com.

New: Add Conditional Custom Questions

There are many cases where new custom questions are only needed if a registrant answered a previous question a certain way. For example, if you ask a Yes/No type question for "Would you like to make a donation," and the user answers "Yes," the next step for the users is answering the question: "How much would you like to donate?"  In this case if the user answered "No" to the question, the question about donation amount is irrelevant, and should not be displayed. There are many other instances where this type of control is useful - we are sure you can think of several examples that apply to your organization.

SportsSignup's new Conditional Custom Questions feature allows administrators to set up "conditional questions," that is, questions that only appear if the user answers a previous question a certain way. This feature can be applied to Yes/No, List, and Surcharge type questions.

Here are the basic steps how to implement Conditional Custom Question(s):   

    

1. Create all of your custom questions as normal, including questions that will only be shown based on the answer of a previous question. (Click on the images above to enlarge).

2. For questions that you would like to display based on the answer of a previous question, click on Add Condition.

3. Select the question and answer that will "trigger" the display of your conditional custom question. Click Save.

4. View/Re-order your questions as necessary. Conditional custom questions work regardless of the question order, for example, you can have a question that appears at the bottom of the list based on the answer to one of your questions.

Questions? Please email support@sportssignup.com, our support staff would be happy to assist you. To learn more about SportsSignup, visit www.sportssignup.com.