Launch Registration in 7 Days or Less

Registration can be one of the most stressful times of the year as a sports organization admin. Between preseason communications, collecting information and fees from hundreds of athletes, setting your registration up online can feel daunting. To help you find your north star in the midst of all the chaos, we broke down the key components of registration building to help you open registration in 7 days, so even when you’re behind the eight-ball, you can still find your way to opening day.

 

Day 1: Appoint Your Online Form Builder(s)

Too many cooks in the kitchen can even happen in the sports world and nothing is worse than realizing at the eleventh hour that you forgot to decide who is building your online registration form. Connect with the key stakeholders in your organization to decide who will be responsible for building your registration form in TeamSnap. Bonus points if they’ve built a registration form online before or have previous TeamSnap registration experience so you can launch in a snap. If your organization has used TeamSnap’s registration tool before, a quick win is duplicating your previous season’s registration form. You can then make your updates in your duplicated form and breeze through your registration for this season.

 

Identify Your Training Resources

You don’t need to go it alone on this adventure, especially if it’s your first time using TeamSnap registration. We have plenty of online resources from self-paced registration webinars, guided tutorials, plus an entire section of our help center dedicated to online registration at your fingertips. Leverage your organization’s customer success manager and schedule some time to strategize building your form online, or reach out to our customer experience team and also standing by to help via chat or email for quick questions you need answers to. 

 

Day 2: Map Out Your Registration Process

Before you begin building your registration form online, make sure you identify what information you need to collect from your members.

Do you need to collect emergency contact information, uniform requests, specific documents or waivers? Knowing this in advance will help you set up your custom fields faster in your online registration form.

Because fee collection is just as important as collecting information from your members, talk with your treasurer as soon as you start thinking about registration to confirm your fees for the season. Consider what concessions you’ll be offering for this registration period if any, and make sure your fee structure makes sense in practice. 

 

Days 3 and 4: Build Your Form 

Once you’ve come to a consensus on what your registration process will include, it’s time to build it online. Log in to your TeamSnap account (or other sports management platform) and mock-up what you’ve mapped out. Do you need to make any adjustments to your form structure or fee structure? 

Do you want to have everyone register with one form and choose the fee that applies to them? Or would you rather break your registration forms up by programs, for example registering by team or level of play? Consider what will be the easiest to manage when it comes to assigning players to teams, or consult with your customer success manager on the best way forward based on their industry expertise. Don’t forget to utilize your registration resources as you go for guidance along the way.

 

Day 5: Review and Test What You’ve Built

Once your form is completed, it’s time to test it out. Most registration softwares include a preview option for you to check your work. If you’re using TeamSnap’s registration builder, you can launch “Preview Mode” to go through the form as if it’s live. It’s a great way to make sure it’s working exactly as you planned.

 

Day 6: Market Your Registration

Promoting and sharing your registration is just as important as building the form and structure. Start communicating your registration opening dates and deadlines through social media channels, blog posts, emails and word of mouth. Make sure your online registration is easy to find and accessible on your website or social pages. It’s important to remind current and prospective members that it’s almost time to register so they can secure their spot in your program. 

 

Day 7: The Big Launch

Once your form has passed all the tests with flying colors and you’ve decided where and how you’d like to market your form, it’s time for it to go-live. Activate and share your online form by opening your registration dates and times. In TeamSnap, can do this in advance or the day of, depending on your preference. Hyperlink the registration URL on all the channels you flagged in advance to market your form and let the registration period begin!

 

A safe return to sport means a lot of moving pieces, and opening registration is just one component of that. A registration roadmap like this can help your organization stay on track and meet your registration deadlines with fewer hiccups along the way. If you’re in the market for a new registration system, you’ll love TeamSnap’s registration solution, which allows you to collect online payments, issue credits and much more!