Overview

When an Offering (or Program) reaches its Max # of Enrollments, TeamSideline automatically places new registrants on the Waitlist. During busy registration periods, admins may see situations that appear unexpected, such as:

• A registrant completing checkout after other customers were already placed on the Waitlist, making it appear that they "jumped the line."
• A spot opening in a full division after an admin moves or cancels an enrollment, allowing a new registrant to claim the spot before waitlisted players are accepted.

Important Note: Cart activity does not reserve enrollment spots. Adding an Offering to a customer's Cart does not hold their place or guarantee an available spot. Enrollment capacity is only updated when the customer completes checkout. Multiple customers may have the same Offering in their cart at the same time, but the first customer to complete checkout receives the available spot. Once the Offering reaches its Max # of Enrollments, any additional customers completing checkout will be placed on the Waitlist.

This article explains why these situations occur and provides the recommended admin process for moving players between full divisions without unintentionally opening spots for new registrations.

How the Waitlist is triggered

The Waitlist is triggered only when the Max # of Enrollments is met — it is not based on age, prior-year status, or any other group. You can set the limit at either level:

• Program level: Programs > Manage Programs > select the Program > 1 Setup tab > set Max # of Enrollments.
• Offering level: Programs > Manage Programs > select the Program > 2 Configuration tab > edit the Offering > set Max # of Enrollments.

To waitlist a single division, that division must be its own Offering with its own Max # of Enrollments. See How to Enable and Manage Waitlists for full setup.

Why a registrant can register after others were waitlisted

When someone appears to register after others have already been waitlisted, it is typically due to the following scenario:

A spot opened up. An admin increased the Max # of Enrollments, or an existing enrollment was canceled or moved to another division, freeing a slot that the next registrant claimed.

The problem: moving players out of a full division reopens spots

Divisions fill quickly, and admins often need to move a player from a full division into another (for example, from 10U to 8U). Moving a player out of a full division reduces that division's enrollment count below its Max, which immediately makes a spot visible to anyone registering — so a brand-new registrant can grab it before your waitlisted players are accepted.

Recommended workaround: accept waitlisted players first

If a division is already at Waitlist capacity and you need to move players out of it, accept your waitlisted players before you move anyone out. This intentionally puts the division over capacity for a moment, so that when you then move the other players out there is no gap for a new registrant to slip into.

1. Accept the waitlisted players you intend to keep. Go to Reports > Report Dashboards > Enrollments (or Team Enrollments), click Dashboard Configuration, choose the Program and Enrollment Type, set Enrollment Status to Waitlisted Enrollments, and click Apply. For each player, click Edit Enrollment > Accept Enrollment > Confirm Accept. (This emails the customer unless you uncheck that option.) The division is now temporarily over its Max — that is expected.
2. Move the players who are changing divisions. If the player is in the correct Program but the wrong division/Offering, go to Customers > Account Management, open the account, go to the Enrollments tab, click the pencil for the enrollment, and change the Offering to the new division. (If the player is in the wrong Program entirely, use Transfer Enrollment instead.)
3. Balance the fees if needed. If the new division costs more or less, add a Misc-Debit or Misc-Credit. If the order was on a Payment Plan, note that transferring to another Program cancels the existing Payment Plan and you will need to set up a new one.

Prevention tip: build in a buffer

To give yourself time to accept waitlisted players before new registrations "sneak in," set the Max # of Enrollments to a value slightly lower than the true maximum. This keeps a small buffer so that when you cancel or move players you can accept your waitlisters first without immediately exposing an open spot.

A note on account balances after accepting waitlisted players

When you accept a player off the Waitlist with the Collect Fees option, a balance is created on the enrollment and the account may show as Pending until the customer pays. Payments made on a family account are applied to the specific enrollment they were made for, so a payment on one child will not automatically clear a sibling's newly accepted waitlist balance.