Skip to main content

Search

Welcome to Support

How to run background checks only on approved coaches (private background-check program)

  • Updated

TeamSideline requests a Protect Youth Sports background check whenever someone registers for a volunteer role that has one. To check only the coaches you approve, put the check on a volunteer role in a separate, hidden program, send that program's private link only to approved coaches, and leave the check off the volunteer roles in your season programs.

Applies to: Admins · Organizations with Protect Youth Sports (PYS) background checks · Youth Registration programs

Where: Programs > Manage Programs > Add Program, then (program) > 2 Configuration > Volunteers and Program Access

How it works

  • A check is requested when a volunteer registers for a role whose Background Check is Protect Youth Sports, on your registration page or when you register them with Place Order. Volunteer Quick Add doesn't request a check.
  • The background-check program stays hidden, so only people who have its private link can register in it.
  • A registration can be put on a team only in its own program. To coach a season team, the coach also needs a volunteer registration in that season's program (Step 6).
  • Someone whose earlier check is still in progress, or completed and not failed or expired, isn't checked again when they register.

Step 1: Create the background-check program

  1. Go to Programs > Manage Programs and click Add Program.
  2. In Registration Type, choose Youth Registration, and keep Pricing Type at Standard Pricing.
  3. Choose the Sport and click Next.
  4. On 1 Setup, enter a Program Name, for example Coach Background Checks.
  5. In Program Duration, set Ends far enough out to cover the seasons you'll use it for, such as the end of the year. The program closes when that date arrives.
  6. Complete the other required fields and click Save.

New programs start hidden: the eye icon on Manage Programs is red. Leave it that way.

Step 2: Add an offering

  1. On the program's 2 Configuration page, under Offerings, click Add Offering.
  2. Enter an Offering name, such as Coaches, and the Regular Reg. Fee. Volunteers aren't charged the offering fee.
  3. In Reg. Duration, set Starts to now or earlier and Ends to the last day coaches can register. Times must be on the hour.
  4. Click Add.

Step 3: Add the volunteer role with the check

  1. On 2 Configuration, scroll to Volunteers and click Add Volunteer.
  2. In Volunteer Type, choose Coach, or another role you want checked, such as Assistant Coach.
  3. In Background Check, choose Protect Youth Sports.
  4. Click Add. Repeat for each role you check.

What you'll see: the role in the Volunteers list with Protect Youth Sports in the Background Check column. To change a role's check later, delete the role with its red X and add it again.

Step 4: Create the private link

  1. On 2 Configuration, scroll to Program Access and click Add Access.
  2. In Access Code, type a name for the link, such as Approved Coaches.
  3. Click Add.

Step 5: Send the link to approved coaches

  1. Go to Communications > Send Communication, select the approved coaches and click Next.
  2. Click in the message where the link should go, open Links, point to Program Access and then the program, and click the access code.
  3. Finish the message and send it.

Each coach signs in, opens the link, chooses themselves as the Enrollee, Volunteer as the Enrollment Type, the offering, and their role in Enrollment Selection. They complete the background check information on the enrollment page and place the order, and the request goes to Protect Youth Sports.

Step 6: Put approved coaches on teams

  1. In the season program, add the team roles (Coach, Assistant Coach, Team Parent, Manager) on 2 Configuration > Volunteers with Background Check left at Select, so registering there doesn't start a check. If you copied the program from last season, check the Background Check column: copies keep it.
  2. Have approved coaches register as volunteers in the season program, or add them with Place Order or Volunteer Quick Add (Enhanced plan and higher). You can also move a coach's background-check registration into the season program with the Transfer tab on the enrollment; that cancels the original registration.
  3. Check the coach's result (below), then assign them on the season program's 4 Rosters > Assign To Roster.

If your organization uses the background check coach filter, Assign To Roster lists a volunteer only once their check has passed: the check on that registration or, when that registration has none, a passed check from another of their registrations in your organization that hasn't expired. Admins with a background check role see every volunteer.

Check results

  1. Go to Reports > Report Dashboards > Background Checks.
  2. Click Dashboard Configuration, choose the background-check program in Program and the role in Volunteer Type, and click Apply.

What you'll see: each coach with their Service Status, Result Status and Final Status.

Use the same program every season

  • Keep it hidden. The link works for as long as the program is open.
  • Before each season, make sure the Program Duration Ends date on 1 Setup and the offering's Reg. Duration Ends date are still ahead, and move them out if not.
  • Don't archive it: an archived program isn't open for registration.
  • If you copy it instead, add a new access code to the copy. Access codes aren't copied.

If it doesn't work

  • "Program is not open for registration." No offering's Reg. Duration has started yet, the Program Duration has ended, or the program is archived. Fix the dates or un-archive it.
  • "There are no available offerings to enroll in for the enrollment type and program selected." The offering's Reg. Duration has ended. Move its Ends date.
  • "Program access code is not valid." The access code was deleted. Add a new one and send its link.
  • Volunteer isn't in the coach's Enrollment Type list. The coach chose a player as the Enrollee. They choose themselves after opening the link.
  • The coach wasn't asked for background check information. They already have a check in progress or a valid one, or the role's Background Check column is blank.
  • Protect Youth Sports isn't in the Background Check list. Your organization doesn't have Protect Youth Sports set up, or your admin role doesn't include it. Contact TeamSideline Support.
  • "To add a Volunteer, you need to make a 'Volunteer Type' selection." Choose a Volunteer Type before you click Add.
  • An approved coach isn't listed on the season program's Assign To Roster. They have no volunteer registration in that program yet, they registered under a role other than Coach, Assistant Coach, Team Parent or Manager, or, with the coach filter, their check hasn't passed or has expired. If the Background Checks dashboard shows a current pass and they still aren't listed, contact TeamSideline Support.

Good to know

  • To collect a fee for the check, add a volunteer add-on to the background-check program; see the related article.
  • Volunteer Quick Add never requests a check, even for a role that has one, so register coaches who still need a check through the link or Place Order.
  • Putting the check on your season program's roles instead checks everyone who registers for those roles.

Related articles