Many of you lamented losing the ability in 2007 to enter your own team availability data directly to the website. The reason this was done was that the old forms were confusing to some members and as a result, we were not getting accurate information for a good number of teams. Solution: The website forms for collecting team availability informatio... read more

Tournament Manager (TM)Piece-by-piece, over several years, we have been assembling an online tournament management capability. (1) We have an online tournament board listing all tournaments available through ENYTB. Basic pre-tournament information is available as well, including a tournament contact person, entry fees, awards, field directions, and hotel deals for out-of-town teams as well as an overall list of local hotels. This tournament list is fully integrated to ENYTB's online team registration page, where member teams are provided a customized list of all tournaments that their team is eligible to register for based on its age and power ranking. These include sanctioned tournaments as well as league sponsored tournaments.(2) Last year we added tournament brackets to the website for the LCS and LMS tournaments as well as all sanctioned tournaments hosted by ENYTB.(3) This year we will expand our online tournament management capability for league sponsored tournaments in two important ways:(A) Teams will be able to create online game reports, including a full box score and write-up of the game. This capability will be fully integrated with the current player stat package in enytb.com. Statistical player rankings will be available for each tournament separately. In addition, the game reports for each tournament will be available online and can be emailed by each participant to its local newspapers via the website. The same capability will be available for all regular season games as well. (B)A separate online registration capability will be available for all league sponsored tournaments e.g., LCS and LMS. It will allow teams to register online for these tournaments through early July and it will create a real-time detailed website report of all tournament entries by status of entry (see below).What to Expect re: LCS and LMS in 2008.Last year's experience demonstrated that there is great demand for league sponsored tournament play through the end of July, as a supplement to sanctioned tournament play. More than 60 teams participated in the LCS and LMS tournaments during 2007. Participation was concentrated in the 13U through 16U age divisions with some minimal participation at 12U. With the continued increases in gas prices as well as improvements in methods of tournament registration and administration, we expect the popularity of these tournaments to be even greater in the future.We learned several things operationally from our first year's experience with the LCS and we have used those lessons to guide us in making numerous changes for 2008. (1) We should not host three sanctioned tournaments in any age division. We did that last year in the 14U division and as a result, our top 14U teams were burned out by the time the LCS rolled around around. Solution:(i) Host a maximum of two sanctioned tournaments in each age division.(ii)For the Championship Division only, allow more time off between the end of the last sanctioned tournament in an age division and the start of the LCS. Teams will benefit from having a recovery period. NOTE: Having a second division LCS, called the Silver Division, proved to be extremely popular. Also, entries were much more stable since these teams tended not to qualify for sanctioned tournaments and/or not last as long when they did, and therefore were hungry and ready to go. We had no trouble filling 6 team silver division tournaments and there was much less jockeying around by the teams. Thus, Silver Division will continue to be scheduled to begin immediately following the conclusion of the last sanctioned tournament in that age division. By staggering play in the two divisions, it will produce secondary benefits as well in terms of relieving pressure on field availability and tournament coverage by league reps. (2) Popularity of Tournament Tee Shirts Was a Mixed Bag - More than 50% of the tournament entry fee went to pay for 15 tournament tee shirts for each team. Because we used a new tee shirt vendor who worked very hard to ensure the tournament tee shirts were really impressive, they were not ready until just after the tournaments were completed, causing a hassle to deliver tees to 60 plus teams.Solutions:(i) Since the vendor did such an excellent job (teams that have picked up their tee shirts were seemingly quite pleased with them), we will use the same vendor and teh same design going forward. Consequently, the tee shirts will be available well in advance this year.(ii) Also, since many teams made no effort to pick up their tee shirts (I still have about 20 teams), I am questioning the value-added of making the entry fee inclusive of the tee shirts. Thus, in 2008, tournament tee shirts will be available to teams on an optional basis. They will be offered separately in the online registration module and teams will be able to enter their specific order by size and number and they will be priced on a per shirt basis.(3) The biggest problem with tournament administration last year was team registration - too many teams went back and forth between whether they were in or not. This problem was exacerbated by me not enforcing the prepayment rule before adding a team to the tournament list. The clerical work associated with keeping track of and reporting all these changes is not something I care to go through again. Also, I think this uncertainty hurt participation somewhat even among the paid teams as we had several teams tell me AFTER the tournament schedules were announced and often as little as a day or two before the tournament was scheduled to begin that they would not be available to play. Solutions:(i) Entries will continue to be available on a first come first served basis. For each LCS and LMS, there will be a Championship Division and a Silver Division. (ii) Each LCS/LMS tournament (level and division) will include three registration lists:(A) a registered and paid list i.e., teams that are definitely in(B) a waiting list (also registered and paid)(C) a registered and payment pending listWhen teams register online, they will be immediately added to the C list. When payment is received, they will move up to the A list IF there is room i.e., limit = 6 teams per tournament. If the tournament is full, teams will be added to the B list (waiting list) in the order that payment is received. NOTE: If the waiting list is large enough, we will add additional tournaments. We will attempt to offer as many tournaments as their are sufficient entries but the extra tournaments will not be added until the period for accepting all entries closes and the A List entries are all confirmed.(iii) Teams will be able to register for league sponsored tournaments in either of two ways: they can register when they register for ENYTB regular season and sanctioned tournament play (closes on April 1) or they can use the new separate online registration especially form for league sponsored tournaments only. The latter will remain open until early July. Obviously the earlier you register and pay, the more likely your team will get on the A list. (iv) Tournament registrations will be displayed online for all three lists.(v) Refunds:(a) Sanctioned Tournament Winners - We will honor full refunds of entry fees for teams unable to participate in the LCS or LMS because of conflicts caused by their continued participation in a sanctioned national championship tournament series. (b) We will also honor full refunds of entry fees for A list teams that pull out IF they can be replaced by a team on the B list (waiting list). Once A list teams have confirmed and extra tournaments are added to accommodate the waiting list teams, no further refunds will be available.(c) Also, ALL teams on the B list (waiting list) that don't get into a tournament shall be given a full refund. (d) The team name of all waiting list teams will be included on the tournament tee shirts, same as the teams on the "definitely in" A list.(vi) Tournament Coverage/Awards Presentation - It is our goal to have a league representative present for the championship game of each tournament for a small awards ceremony. This was not the case in 2007 but in those that I was present for, the players and coaches seemed to genuinely appreciate the recognition. With the expansion of the board to 7 members and with better planning, it is our intention to be present at all tournament championship games in the future.Any other suggestions you may have are welcome.

Many times our protocols on player restrictions don't get followed because telephoning a fellow manager to request a release for one one of his top players is not a fun thing to do. Beginning in 2008, years will be able to request player releases via the website. Roster Players - When you use ADD PLAYER to add a player from another team's roster to... read more

The Free Agent Claim function has been available to teams for several years but in the past, this search function has been limited to free agents actively seeking new teams i.e., players listed on our Free Agent Board. Beginning 2008, this function will provide teams with access to ALL free agent player's that are age eligible for their teams. Beca... read more

2007 was a banner year for ENYTB in many regards but if there was a disappointment, it was with schedule reliability. ENYTB has always enjoyed an excellent reputation for schedule reliability but the league experienced a noticeable decline in 2007. Schedule reliability is of crucial importance to member satisfaction. Much time, effort and resources... read more

Gentlemen: Below are the 2008-2009 rates for Officials from 12 and under to College Levels. All tournaments are $5 per official more per game. The Assaigning fee is $4 per game. As is the past 1 1/2 fee for one official when two were scheduled. 1/2 fee for any weather related problem when the game is not started and no call before 1 1/2 h... read more

Last year, ENYTB began offering rebates to its larger club members based on the number of teams they registered as well as for registering multiple teams in the same age division. ENYTB is announcing six different rebates for 2008:(1) UABA Members - UABA includes Utica Area teams at 13U, 14U and 15U. With the creation of UABA, these teams are payin... read more

When an ENYTB club/team is activated, much of the website content that each club/team sees is customized to that club/team. Part of this customized content includes a registration page that is fully customized to each team. The availability of each ENYTB program is specific to team age and power rating. For example, NABF sanctioning is available to... read more

I recently attended both the PONY and NABF national meetings. Below is a list of important changes that will affect us in 2008.PONY(1) Player eligibility in all age divisions has been redefined as "And Under" i.e., no more age minimums. For example, 12 year olds can now participate on 13U teams. NOTE: This change goes through the Zone level. At the... read more