Core Website Functionality

The RML league management website provides authorized users with an unparalleled suite of interactive tools to facilitate every aspect of league participation and/or enhance each team's total baseball experience.

The website has so many features that it is almost impossible to describe them all in one place but the best place to begin is the REGISTRATION menu because all information required from the team prior to the start of the season for registration and scheduling purposes is identified on this menu. Team managers and coaches have full access to this menu.

• Registration > Team Directory - allows each team to add/revise the contact info for its manager, coaches and team contacts;
• Registration > Options/Fees - provides each team with a customized list of registration options. Team registration is paperless;
• Registration > Invoice - once a team's registration choices are recorded, a team invoice, with payment record, is automatically created . When payment is received by the league it is recorded on the team invoice and when fully paid, the team names turn green on the league's activation board;
• Registration > Team Availability - each team must provide the league with its scheduling inputs via a team availability schedule i.e., its "no play" dates/times (no later than April 1). The league or the member will enter these data to a website calendar to represent each team's availability for scheduling purposes. Once scheduling begins, teams will be able to view this calendar but not edit it. Once the league schedule is officially released, this edit capability is re-enabled, and teams will be able to once again edit their availability calendar themselves;
• Registration > Home Fields > Field Availability - this provides a similar online capability for representing field availability;
NOTE: Online team availability, field availability and game schedules are used as input to other website tools, such as the Master Field Use schedule noted below, and the PICK-UP Game tools, also noted below. The results for both depend on accurate availability (team and field) as well as accurate game schedules for all teams.
• Registration > Roster - registration is not complete until a team has entered its roster online. When initializing a roster from the prior year, individual players that will not be back in the current year should be released. Teams can also add new players after the current year's roster has been initialized. 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.
Teams w/o at least nine players on their online roster by May 15 shall be blocked from the website.
• Registration > Insurance - provides a direct link to the insurance application forms for each carrier associated with each national sanctioning body.

Once teams are ready to play ball, the spotlight shifts to a different section of the website:

Main > Team Home
Main > Club Home

Each club and team has its own home area on the website where all information unique to that owner and team's participation in the league is entered and/or displayed.

Club owners and club reps have exclusive access to Main > Club Home where all information on, among other things, each of of the club's 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. It 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.

Other important CLUB HOME functions include:

• It lists all of the club teams and links to the team directory for each team.
• It maintains a record of the login codes for each of his teams.
• It maintains a consolidated bill for the entire club. The billing record shows the total fee for each team and includes links to the itemized invoices of each team (the latter also is available for individual teams in TEAM HOME.
• Upload club logos, with link thru to club's own website.
• Authorize additional persons for club-level log-ins.
• The system automatically emails Game Reports created by each team in TEAM HOME to a list of newspapers selected by its team owner in CLUB HOME.

Each club owner/rep also has master access to all information and website functionality for any of its teams. For example, when a user signs in as a manager or coach or player and clicks My Schedule, the system brings up the schedule for his team only. When a user signs in as a club owner/rep 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 club owner/reps to always sign in under their club level codes, rather than any individual team codes they may have.

Team managers and coaches are not allowed into the CLUB HOME area and they are not allowed to release players (all player releases require club level authorization.)

Team managers, coaches and team contact persons have full access to Main > Team Home, the heart of the website during the season because it includes the SCHEDULE, which includes all of the various game functions:

• a set of editing tools used to update a team's online schedule for postponements, reschedules, cancellations and even the addition of new games and practices;
• a comprehensive GAME REPORT package that includes an online lineup card, inning-by-inning game scores, inning-by-inning scoring summaries (who did what when to score or drive in key runs), and complete player stats via a box score. Each game report is displayed online and can be emailed with a single click to all local newspapers from a preset list customized to each owner.
• click on opposing team name to obtain contact info; and,
• click on field name to obtain directions to field.

Main > Team Home - maintains each team's full set of divisional standings on a single page [Main > Team Home > Standings]. Each standings includes a link to the sanctioned National Championship Tournament Series earmarked to it by the League. Click the tournament berth link on any standings and a list of the tournaments for the corresponding NCTS appears. Click the individual tournament desired and an informational pop-up appears.

Main > Team Home - also provides various tools to help teams communicate with their players and the league. Each team has its own team email function as well as team online messaging function. Whenever a team member, player or coach, logs-on, the team message pops-up on his screen. Also, there is a an age division news board corresponding to your team's age. Lastly, the scores moving by on the scoreboard have been filtered to include only the teams in your age division and competition level.

Tools > GAME FINDER - a package of several powerful search functions that finds competitively matched opponents who are available to play extra games. One of these functions also finds all available make-up dates for postponed games. Also included is a bulletin board where teams actively seeking extra games can post their requests.

Perhaps our most popular feature, this interactive search tool is easy to use and gives teams three different ways to find desired opponents for extra games. Let's say your opponent postpones or cancels an upcoming game with you and you still want your team to play on that date. You have two options. First, you can go to the Game Request Board, and search for other teams, members or non-members alike, of the age and ability you would like to play, that are actively seeking games on the same date. If there are none, you leave your request and another team may contact you. But you still have another option. You can search our team database to find all teams of whatever age and ability level you prefer, to find all such teams that are available to play and do not have a scheduled game on the date you are seeking a game. (Note: For these functions to yield accurate results, teams need to keep their online availability calendars and game schedules current throughout the season.) Finally, let's say you have played a team and it was a good match-up for both teams and you want to play them again or, maybe it's a team from another division that you aren't scheduled to play. Game Finder will find all possible available dates for your two teams to play based on both teams' availability, existing game schedules and field availability.

Players/Free Agents - this menu helps teams find players in four ways:

• league maintains a pool of free agents who are actively seeking a travel team to play for. Teams have the capability to claim players from the free agent pool and to add players to the pool. When a player is added to teh pool, his player bio is emailed to all age-eligible teams;
• teams can advertise for players on the league website;
• teams can advertise their tryouts on the league website; and,
• teams can search the league's proprietary player database for free agents that match their criteria e.g., age, place of residence, position played.