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How to restrict registration by address with Boundaries (cities, zip codes or a map)

  • Updated

Boundaries check whether a family lives in your area when they add a registration to their cart, using the primary account holder's address (not the player's). You define the area with a list of cities, a list of zip codes or a map you draw, then choose which programs are checked and whether an address outside the area does nothing, gets a warning, or is stopped.

Applies to: Org admins · Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise (Non-Resident Fee: Elite and Enterprise) · Player, adult and team registrations (volunteer and sponsor registrations aren't checked)

Where: Programs > Configurations > Boundaries (General, Cities, Zip Codes, Visual Boundary)

Choose how your area is defined

  • Visual Boundary (a map): once a map is saved, only the map counts and the Cities and Zip Codes lists are ignored.
  • Cities and Zip Codes: with entries on both lists, an address must match a listed city and a listed zip code. With only one list filled in, only that list is checked.
  • With no map and empty lists, every address counts as inside.

Set up one method. A zip code list is usually the simplest; a map fits an area that doesn't follow city or zip code lines.

How to set up the checks

  1. Go to Programs > Configurations > Boundaries. The General page opens.
  2. In Validation On, choose All Programs, or Specific Programs to check only the programs whose Boundary Check is set to Enabled on their 1 Setup page.
  3. In Validation Action, choose what happens when an address is outside: Nothing (no message), Warn (a warning, and the registration is added) or Prevent (an error, and the registration isn't added).
  4. Click Save. You see "Boundary configurations have been saved."
  5. For Specific Programs: open each program's 1 Setup, set Boundary Check to Enabled and click Save.

How to list cities or zip codes

  1. On the Boundaries page, click Cities (or Zip Codes).
  2. Enter a City (or a five-digit Zip Code) and click Add. It's added to the list below.
  3. Repeat for each one. To remove one, click its red X and confirm.

A city must match the family's city exactly, apart from capital letters, so add every spelling families use (for example Saint and St.). A zip code must match the family's five-digit zip code.

How to draw a Visual Boundary

  1. On the Boundaries page, click Visual Boundary.
  2. Zoom with the mouse wheel and center your area.
  3. Click on the map to place the first corner, then keep clicking to add each corner along the edge of your area.
  4. Click the first corner again to close the shape. The area turns shaded.
  5. To adjust it, click the shape and drag any corner. To start over, click Clear/Restart.
  6. Click Save. The saved map shows your area in red.

To check an address, enter it under Test Address (Address, then City, State, Zip) and click Test. You see "Address is within the boundaries." or "Address is NOT within the boundaries." To change a saved map, click Remove Map and draw it again. Remove Map deletes the map at once, with no confirmation.

If your city or county publishes GIS boundary coordinates, TeamSideline Support can load them as your map instead of drawing it. Send them as latitude and longitude pairs written like { lat: 39.123456, lng: -104.654321 }, separated by commas; see the GIS article below.

What families see

  • Warn: "The primary account address is not in the organization boundaries." They can continue.
  • Prevent: "The primary account address is not in the organization boundaries. You cannot enroll in this program." The registration isn't added.
  • TeamSideline Support can set your own wording for these two messages.
  • If the offering has a Non-Resident Fee, a family outside the area is charged it when they register, even with Validation Action set to Nothing. See the Non-Resident Fee article below.

How to let one family past the check (Boundary Check Override)

  1. Open the family's account and click Account Settings.
  2. Set Boundary Check Override to Enabled.
  3. Click Save. You see "The Account has been updated."

That family's registrations then skip Warn and Prevent. The override doesn't make them a resident: a Non-Resident Fee is still added. If they do live in your area, fix your boundary or their address instead. You can also register a family yourself with Place Order, where an outside address only warns you, even with Prevent.

If it doesn't work

  • A family inside your area gets the message or the fee. Check the primary account holder's address on the family's account (Edit Member on Account Overview). With lists, their city or zip code may be missing or spelled differently: add it on Cities or Zip Codes, and remember that with both lists both must match. With a map, test the address: "Invalid Address - unable to identify coordinates." means Google couldn't find it as a street address (a new or misspelled street, for example), and it counts as outside.
  • Every address tests as outside, and the saved map shows no shape. The map was saved before a shape was drawn. Click Remove Map and draw it again.
  • The Cities or Zip Codes lists seem to be ignored. A Visual Boundary is saved, and it replaces them. Click Remove Map to go back to the lists.
  • Nothing happens for an outside address. Validation Action is Nothing, or Validation On is Specific Programs and the program's Boundary Check is Disabled, or the family has Boundary Check Override.
  • "City is a duplicate entry." or "Zip code is a duplicate entry." It's already on the list. "Invalid zip code." Enter five digits.
  • "Unable to process address." (Test) Google returned nothing for the address, or didn't answer. Check the address and try again.

Good to know

  • Your organization has one boundary, and it applies to whole programs. There's no boundary per offering, so offerings that need different rules belong in separate programs.
  • The check runs when the registration is added to the cart, and its result is saved with the registration. The Within Boundary column in the Enrollment Information and Roster Enrollment exports shows In Bounds, Out of Bounds, or N/A (not checked). Changing your boundaries doesn't re-check earlier registrations.
  • To let families check their address before registering, add a Boundary Check page to your website.

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