Open sign-ups

Seed article

The structure and the worked example below are settled. The product owner writes the rest. Anything marked TODO needs a real answer before this page ships.

Two things have to exist before anyone can sign up:

1. A form — what you ask families for.
2. A registration window — the dates the form is open, and the price.

You need a season first. If you have not made one, copy last season instead of starting over.

Build the form

1. Open your registration windows in the sidebar. The sidebar calls them Registration Periods.
2. Choose New.
3. Pick the season it is for.
4. Add your questions.

Ask for as little as you can. Every extra question loses you sign-ups, and you can always ask later. A good short form is:

• The player’s name and date of birth
• A parent’s name, email, and phone
• One emergency contact
• Anything your insurer actually requires

Do not ask for things you will never read. “Favourite position” feels friendly and then sits in a spreadsheet forever.

Set the dates and the price

Worked example. Spring runs March to May. You want teams picked by 20 February so coaches have two weeks before the first game.

• Opens: 6 January
• Closes: 13 February
• Price: $180
• Late fee after 30 January: $20

That gives you five weeks of sign-ups, a week to chase the stragglers, and a week to build teams. Closing the window the same week your first game is played is the single most common scheduling mistake — do not do it.

Add the form people have to sign

Most leagues attach one. See forms people have to sign.

Open it

Change the status to open. It goes live at once. Anyone with the link can sign up until the closing date.

TODO — product owner to confirm where the shareable link appears and whether it can be posted publicly.

After it opens

• New sign-ups appear in the sidebar under Enrollments.
• Payment happens at the end of the form. If you have not connected Stripe, nobody can pay you.
• You can still edit the price. It only affects people who sign up after you change it, never people who already paid.

Common mistakes

• Opening sign-ups before connecting Stripe. Families reach the payment page, it does not work, and they do not come back.
• Setting the closing date after the first game.
• Two windows open at once for the same season. People sign up twice and pay twice.