Overview

Welcome Members to the area of the website that provides users with an unparalleled suite of interactive tools to facilitate every facet of league participation, including:

• Registration, scheduling and rosters;

• Entering game scores and player stats;

• Updating schedules, rosters and contact info;

• Each team's full set of divisional standings on a single page with each standings linked to information for its applicable sanctioned National Championship Tournament Series (NCTS);

• Tools to find extra games, dates for make-up games, free agent players seeking teams and available open tournaments sponsored by ENYTB and others; and,

• Online game reporting to all local newspapers.

Once signed in, each user is uniquely identified by the system according to its franchise and team as well as by type of user: team/franchise owner, team manager and player/other. The website operates from the perspective of each owner and team. Each is provided its own home area on the website, where all information unique to that owner or team's participation in the league is entered and/or displayed. See OWNER HOME and TEAM HOME on the left-hand menu. Each of these HOME areas will be discussed below.

Each type of user - team/franchise owners, team managers and player/other - also has a different level of access privilege.

TEAM/FRANCHISE OWNERS

Owners have full read/write access to all menu items, including exclusive access to the OWNER HOME area, where all information on each of its home fields is maintained, including field availability, directions and a Master Field Use schedule. The Master Field Use schedule shows all scheduled games for all league teams assigned to that field (even teams owned by a different owner) as well as any "unreserved" field time. Each Master Field Use schedule is updated automatically as league teams update their online schedules. When such teams postpone or cancel a game in advance, and enter the change on their online game schedule, the Master Field Use schedule makes the field time available again. Similarly, when a game is rescheduled or added as new, the field time is automatically reserved on the Master Field Use schedule. The Master Field Use schedule can be a very useful management tool for field owners with several teams using a single field. They can be used to confirm umpire assignments and grant teams' in-season requests for field time, provided each team using the field keeps its online game schedule up to date.

OWNER HOME includes other important functions as well.

• It allows the owner to add/revise his contact info.

• It maintains a record of the login codes for each of his teams.

• It provides a record of each team's total league registration bill (itemized invoices for individual teams are available in TEAM HOME).

• The system automatically emails game reports created by each team in TEAM HOME to a list of newspapers selected by its team owner in OWNER HOME.

Each owner also has master access to all information and website functionality for any of its teams. For example, when a user signs in as a team or player and clicks My Schedule, the system brings up the schedule for his team only. When a user signs in as an owner and clicks My Schedule, he has access to the schedule for each of his teams. Because of this master access capability, it is convenient for owners to always sign in under their owner codes, rather than their individual team codes.

Every league member, existing or new, must activate his franchise with the League Director and identify its teams for the upcoming season (activation). Thereafter, it is each owner's choice whether he or his team manager will be responsible for providing all other team registration information. Team managers may even delegate this responsibility to another individual. (It is strongly recommended that the person with the responsibility for providing all registration information also maintain the team website throughout the season e.g., enter changes to game schedule and roster as well as scores, player stats and game reports.)

TEAM MANAGERS

Team managers have full read/write privileges for their own teams but they are not allowed into the OWNER HOME area and they are not allowed to release players. (Only the franchise owner has the authority to release a player, consistent with our league Constitution and By-Laws.)

Each team's HOME area (TEAM HOME) is divided into a REGISTRATION CENTER (pre-season information requirements) and a GAME CENTER (regular season activities).

REGISTRATION CENTER allows each team to add/revise the contact info for the manager, his coaches and a business manager or other contact person. Each team should designate a primary contact person. Usually it will be the manager or a coach. That person should be linked twice, once in his coaching role and once as the team's primary contact. It is the primary contact that will be contacted first by the league or other teams for any business such as schedule confirmations and/or changes.

Team registration is paperless. MY REGISTRATION CHOICES/OPTIONS & FEES provides each team with a customized list of registration options. Each team, or its owner, must contact the League Director to have its registration selections recorded. Once its choices are recorded, a team invoice, with payment record, is automatically created (MY TEAM INVOICE). When payment is received by the league it shall be recorded on the team invoice and fully paid teams shall be marked as such, automatically, on the team activation board.

Following registration, each team must provide the League Director with its team availability schedule i.e., its "no play" dates/times (no later than April 15th). The League Director will enter these data to a website calendar to represent each team's availability for the entire season. Until the league schedule is officially released, teams will be able to view this calendar but not edit it. Once the league schedule is officially released, this edit capability is enabled, and teams will be able to edit their availability calendar themselves. (See League Intro/Scheduling for a discussion of the rescheduling "grace period" and rescheduling rules/restrictions.) Teams also have the capability to update their online game schedules for postponements/reschedules etc. (MY SCHEDULE, found in GAME CENTER). It is important that teams keep their online team availability and game schedules up to date as this information is used by other website tools, such as the Master Field Use schedule noted above, and the GAME FINDER tools. The results for both depend on accurate availability (team and field) as well as accurate game schedules for all teams.

Even STANDINGS (found in GAME CENTER) could be computed incorrectly if teams don't update their online schedules. This could happen if two teams were scheduled to play more than the minimum required number of times and the games were played in a different chronological order than they were originally scheduled. All games will count as must-play games, in chronological order, until the must-play requirement is satisfied. All remaining games will counted as extra games, or exhibition. Thus, if games are postponed and played out of order, it is essential that they be postponed and rescheduled on the website. It is the responsibility of each team to record all its postponement/reschedules to avoid this error.

During the regular season, it is each team's responsibility to enter its game scores and player stats (optional) game-by-game. Each game on its schedule includes a link for entering scores and player stats as well as for edits. Teams can even add their practices or games with non-league teams to their online schedule if they wish (select add new game and write in "Practice" or the name of non-league team). Schedule updates, scores and player stats are all entered in GAME CENTER (MY SCHEDULE).

Registration is not complete until a team has entered its roster online, printed it out on the official roster form of each sanctioning body its team is registered with and submitted to the League Office with all required signatures. Returning teams can have their prior year's rosters and coaching staff carried forward when their teams are activated. Teams can add new players to its roster after it has been carried forward. Players carried forward can be deactivated or released (only owners can release a player). Teams also may add players to the league's Free Agent pool and they may claim players from the pool. Claimed players are automatically added to the team's online roster. Teams should not claim a player until the player has made a commitment to join the team. Team rosters can be printed on the official roster forms of each sanctioning body. Stats can not be entered for any player not listed on the team's roster. Online game schedules can not be viewed until a team lists at least nine players on its online roster.

MY GAME REPORTS, MY TEAM MESSENGER and MY DIVISION MESSAGE BOARD are all located in GAME CENTER, along with MY SCHEDULE, MY PLAYER STATS and MY STANDINGS. A further word about MY STANDINGS. Each divisional winner receives a berth in a sanctioned national championship tournament series (NCTS). The number of berths available to each division is posted at the top of each standings. Teams can be in as many as six divisions (including wildcards) competing for berths in a as many as three NCTS. Each team's full set of divisional standings is presented on a single page and each individual standings has a link to all necessary information on the applicable NCTS.

PLAYERS/OTHERS

Players/others have read only privileges. They have access to each of the areas inside TEAM HOME as well as the League Directory and Free Agent Pool for their age division. They can obtain field directions in several different ways, including by clicking on the field name on their game schedule. They also have access to the league's special schedule for opening weekend. They also have access to the league leaderboard (player stats) and other results for the entire league through the Front Page.

SUMMARY OF INFORMATIONAL FLOWS FROM START TO FINISH

FROM MID-NOVEMBER ON.......

In mid-November of each year, the website is initialized for the upcoming season. This is the starting point for the whole system. At this point, the League can begin activating new teams for the upcoming season. Team activations are shown on the website as they happen, classified by team age and power rating. Activated members have the instant capability to add and revise their own contact information on the website. About the same time, the League Director begins posting sanctioned tournament information on the website as it becomes available. Each sanctioning body has its own timetable for releasing such information. NABF information is available as early as November. AABC and PONY information usually isn't complete until March. Sanctioned tournament information is used by teams to make their registration choices. All teams are required to make their registration choices by about April 1st.

UP UNTIL APRIL 1st .............

Teams can register with the league. Each team, or its owner, must contact the league director to have its registration selections recorded. All tournament information is available by clicking its tournament link, either in SANCTIONED TOURNAMENTS (Front Page) or REGISTRATION OPTIONS & FEES (Team Home). As teams register, they are further classified by sanctioning body and listed on the website registration boards, located just under the activation board. Registration boards also are provided for each Open tournament sponsored by ENYTB. Once league registration closes, the League Director has sufficient information to create all League Divisions, including wildcards, and assign specific teams and tournament berths to each division. At this point, every team's regular season competition is fully defined.

UP UNTIL APRIL 15 (TEAMS) and MAY 1 (FIELDS).............

The next step is to collect all team and home field availability information and develop each team's game schedule which is posted online for each team.

NO LATER THAN MAY 15th .............

Before regular season action begins, each team also needs to enter its roster on the website. Until nine players are listed on a team's online roster, it will be unable to view its game schedule. These rosters can be printed out on the official roster forms of each sanctioning body directly from the ENYTB website (you will want to use legal size paper). Teams need to have these completed forms signed by players and the team manager and submitted to the League before they are eligible to play league games.

REGULAR SEASON...............

The League scheduled more than 2,000 games in 2004. This is likely to increase to about 2,500 games in 2005. Keeping tabs on all the regular season action requires a significant and continuous flow of information. The ENYTB website is designed to enable members to enter much of this information themselves. For example, members have the capability to make changes to their contact info, availability schedules, game schedules and team rosters. They can also enter their own game results, player stats and game reports. A significant amount of this capability was available in 2004 and member response was tremendous. Most members posted their game results on the day the game was played. (Go to your game schedule, click "enter score" for that game, and enter the score.) All standings as well as the league leader board update in real-time as game scores and player stats are posted. The standings page in each team's home area is customized to show all its standings on a single page. Each team can also message its players and coaches through a pop-up messenger and prepare online game reports that are automatically emailed to its local newspapers. This is a truly interactive website, where users are provided the necessary tools to supply the system with required information throughout the pre-season and regular season.