Overview

When a coach, manager, or parent creates a team directly in the TeamSideline app (or at the Team Site sign-in), they are creating a standalone Team Site. A standalone Team Site is independent of your organization's TeamSideline site and is not tied to a TeamSideline registration program or to customer/registrant accounts.

This is different from an org-linked (program) team, which is created by an administrator through a registration program and whose Team Site is published from the organization's site. Confusion between these two types is common, so this article explains what each one can do, how they differ, and how to move to a linked setup if that is what you need.

What Is a Standalone Team Site?

• Created by an individual (coach, manager, or parent) inside the TeamSideline app or via the Team Site sign-in — not by an organization administrator through a program.
• You add people to the roster by email. Anyone you add gets access to that team's information through the TeamSideline app only.
• Any schedules, rosters, or other information you enter do not sync back to your organization's TeamSideline website. The organization's admins generally will not see this data in their admin view.

What Is an Org-Linked (Program) Team Site?

• Created by an organization administrator through Programs > Manage Programs (any Program Type supports Team Sites).
• Rosters are built by assigning staff and players in the program's Rosters step, and the Team Site is published from the organization's site. See How To Create Team Sites.
• Data stays connected to the organization: registration, customer accounts, league schedules, and standings all tie together.
• A Team Site must have at least one staff member and at least one player on the roster before it can be published. (Exception: override functionality available at the organization level).

Key Differences at a Glance

• Who creates it: Standalone = an individual coach/manager/parent in the app. Org-linked = an organization admin via a registration program.
• Connection to the org site: Standalone = independent, does not sync. Org-linked = fully synced with the organization.
• Accounts used: Standalone = people added by email, app access only. Org-linked = tied to registrant/customer accounts.
• Admin visibility: Standalone = organization admins typically do not see the roster/schedule in their admin view. Org-linked = visible to admins.
• Linking to league schedules: Standalone Team Sites can link to a TeamSideline league schedule so games appear as Events. See How to Link Your League Team Sites to Any TeamSideline League Schedule.

Features Available on a Team Site (Standalone and Linked)

Both standalone and org-linked Team Sites, viewed in the app, generally provide the core team features:

• Team Chat 
• Announcements
• Roster (view team members and contact information)
• Events & Schedules (games and practices, with the option to sync to a personal calendar)
• Attendance
• Files, Links, Pictures, Stats, and Payments (where enabled)

For a full feature overview, see What is the TeamSideline App and TeamSideline Mobile App vs. Browser Experience.

Limitations of Standalone Team Sites

• No sync with the organization. Rosters and schedules you build in a standalone site will not appear in the organization's admin view, and admin data will not appear in your standalone site. This is the most common source of "we see different rosters" confusion.
• Cannot be linked to a program. At this time there is no option to link a team a customer created in the app to an organization's registration program. To have a team correctly tied to a program, the team must be created by the organization through the program, and managers should add rosters via their Manage Rosters (through their account), not by creating a new team in the app.
• App-only access. People added to a standalone roster get access through the TeamSideline app; the data is not published to the organization's public website.
• App Features. There are some features like group chats and direct messages not available on standalone sites.

If You Meant to Join Your Organization's League Instead

If you created a standalone Team Site but your team is actually part of an organization's registered program or league, the recommended path is:

1. Contact your organization's administrator and confirm whether a registration program/league exists for your team.
2. If it does, do not build the roster in a standalone app team. Instead, log in to your linked Team Site from the organization's home page and use Manage Rosters to add your players there. This ensures you are using the linked Team Site.
3. If you want your standalone Team Site's games to reflect a TeamSideline league schedule, use the linking feature described in How to Link Your League Team Sites to Any TeamSideline League Schedule.