Late teams…I will get to you in the order received…

Teams that completed their pre-reqs after September 30th are now my focus.  I will review teams’ entries based on the latter of the payment or jotform submitted.   I will update in the comment section of this article which date that I am working on so that you have a sense of where I am in the list.

While you are waiting OR if you have a “Fix Needed” issue,  take a look at your entry – when you submitted your jotform, the email address that was entered will receive a copy of your entry.  You can compare and check all of these things and fix them so that you get enabled to register as soon as I get to your team.   Here are the top issues that coaches are having with their entries:

1. Jotform lists X number of adult coaches/mentors but Roster lists Y number.  Make your jotform match your roster – so if your roster has 8 team members, 2 coaches and 2 mentors, there should be 8 team members listed on your jotform AND 4 (2+2) coaches/mentors listed on your jotform.
2. Missing Consent by Assistant Coach or Mentor.   This one appears to be more common than expected.  I think what is happening is that so many of you are also parents of a team member and accept consent for their child but forget that they are people too.  🙂   Adults login to TIMS to accept consent and login to STIMS (Youth Team Member Registration) to accept consent for their child.
3. The number and names of team members entered in the jotform do not match what is on the roster (in the preprinted section or written in at the bottom).  Similar to #1 – just make the jotform match what is currently on your roster!  And don’t forget to accept the team members on to the team – that is separate from inviting the team member onto the team (don’t ask me why this is so,  I don’t know…. but it is that way). And yes, you can update your team’s jotform and roster through most of October…
4. Added names not on the preprinted roster missing on jotform and/or no paper form submitted – this includes team members too young,  all Youth Mentors or any adults or team members that are not able to do the electronic consent.  Any time that someone on the roster has not accepted consent, we need a form. And any time you have a name that you have to add to the roster by hand, there needs to be a form.  there are 2 forms – I prefer you to scan/email to teaminfo at playingatlearning dot org OR if you must, you can send postal mail.   Team Member Forms (2 pages) are different from Mentor / Coach Consent Forms (1 page).
5. The next most common problem is that the demographic / gender data does not add up to the number of students on the team.  Seems easy enough but it is happening way too often  – I am trying to figure out how to make this easier.  We need good data to be able to accurately understand in aggregate who we are serving… granting organizations require this.
6. Another problem is that the coach uploads a file that is not the FIRST TIMS Team Roster – it could the Team Member Summary page or a copy of the Team’s Dashboard or some other thing that is not the defined Team Roster.   Here is what a completed Team Roster should look like.  Any Red text or an “X” on the form means that something is wrong.  Instructions on how to create and access the Team Roster in TIMS is here.  Do your parents’ need help with how the “Youth Team Member Registration (aka STIMS) works – FAQ for STIMS here
7. Another problem is with the team’s volunteer – it can not be a coach.  I also need a valid email address for that team volunteer – they must have a unique email address.   Each person in the FIRST system is tied to a specific, individual email address.
8. The last issue is an odd one – where you have to remove a name from the jotform.  The way to do this is to edit your form, remove the name first and then change the count.  If you decrease the count first, the form tries to be helpful and not show you the “extra” entry box, which means that the name is still there but hidden from you.  I am trying to figure out how to change that behavior but no luck so far…