Background

Located in Southwest Michigan, the Caledonia Baseball Softball League (CBSL) is comprised of 55 teams with players ranging in ages from 4–16 years old. CBSL offers T-Ball, Machine Pitch, Minor, Major, Junior & Senior levels of Little League® play to approximately 650 athletes. To help manage all these players and get more kids on the field, the league has been using Active Network’s online league management software—automating registration and scheduling—since 2006.

Up to bat with Dave Teitsma, President, Caledonia Baseball Softball Little League

Q: Why did CBSL begin using online registration?

A: When I joined the Board about six years ago, we were using a completely manual, paper-based process. Caledonia is a fairly wired community and everyone has a computer, so CBSL was behind the times. We needed to automate the registration process and get rid of the paper. It was counterproductive to use manual registration—as volunteers we don’t have time to do things the long way.

Q: Why did you choose Active Network over other companies?

A: We chose Active based on a referral from our Board Treasurer, who knew of another local youth sports league using the system. They were happy with it, and Active has a pretty well-known name in the industry.

Q: What features of Active’s online league management software do you appreciate the most?

A: A league website and online registration are obviously crucial to how we run our league. After first setting up an eteamz web site, it was natural to integrate online registration. But I would say the biggest benefit of the software is the improved communication. We really rely on the ability to email everyone quickly with schedule changes, cancellations, weather updates, etc. The fact that you can segment by league, division, individual team or even volunteers/personnel is great. Especially now that everyone has a smartphone, people expect to get information on the go, and no phone tree can compete with the efficiency of email. It’s so easy.

We also really like the roster formation tool. Essentially, everything is so much easier because all the information you need is in one place.

Q: Is there some function of the online league management software that you implemented recently that has helped you operate more efficiently?

A: We recently began offering families a three-month payment plan to help with the cost. With the economy the way it is, some parents need a way to spread out the registration fee and CBSL never wants to turn anyone away based on financial barriers. It was easy to set up the payment plan within the software, and a lot of people took advantage of it this spring.

Q: How has processing payments improved by using Active’s system?

A: We went from manually handling 500+ checks each spring to getting one check from Active every two weeks. Our Treasurer goes to our P.O. box twice a month for one check vs. daily trips to gather and deposit handfuls of checks. Our Board doesn’t want to mess around with handling all that mail ourselves, so not only does this save us a bunch of time, but it’s much more secure.

Q: How many fewer hours do you spend managing registration and volunteers?

A: I can’t even quantify the time and effort we’ve saved by automating registration and volunteering. It’s countless. Registration takes care of itself and Board members just run the pre-configured Registration Report to get up-to-date numbers by division. That report is key for us.

We also rely on the pre-configured Volunteer Reports. We require every parent to volunteer in some way, so we have a lot of volunteer participation to track. The software makes it easy; when a parent registers their child, they must select at least one volunteer job. We also added a custom question to solicit voluntary donations, which we apply toward the registration fees of families who are struggling due to job loss, etc.

Q: How does the online registration set-up help you manage player age and residency requirements?

A: The software is set up to provide only the division in which to register the player based on his or her birth date, and Little League’s cut-off dates. This makes registration simple and smooth for the parent and eliminates confusion.

Q: What special Little League® requirements does the online league management software help you manage?

A: We are required to send an extensive report to Little League® Data Center each year that lists all of our player information by division. The software exports the data in the format that Little League® requires, so it’s really easy. It’s huge for us to automate what used to be such a painful, tedious process!

Q: Does CBSL have a listing on Active.com directory?

A: Our league does have a listing on Active.com and a few people have found us that way. Even if they contact us after our season is under way, CBSL keeps their contact information so we can reach out to them with reminder notices when we open registration the following January.

Q: How do you use your eteamz site?

A: We use our eteamz site to post game schedules, updates such as weather cancellations, and all of our handouts. Parents can download game schedules, our league’s rules cheat sheet, field directions, maps, etc. We also update league standings there, as well as maintain a league sponsor page. Our eteamz site is essentially the public face of our organization.

Q: How do your parents and players like the online registration system?

A: When we first switched to online registration, the predominant response was, “Cool, this is great.” Every year after, parents really appreciate how quickly they can register again, because all of their family info is already in the system—they love it that they do not have to re-enter it all every year! Plus, we include the convenience fee in our registration fee, so people don’t even notice it. It’s really so much easier and convenient for parents than filling out a paper form—and people are already used to online shopping— so they expect you to have online processing! It really projects an image that our league is up with the times.

Q: What has your experience been like with customer support?

A: The support team is awesome! Because our registration happens in the first quarter of the year, it is easy to forget 9 months later when it is time to start it up for the next season. So, Active’s support team are our life-savers; they know how our league works, and help us out whenever we call. I feel like I have some good friends – and phenomenal remote CBSL Board members—out in San Diego; I’d love to meet them someday!

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