Hello friends,

Yesterday we noticed intermittent errors when users attempted to login to the USAV Academy from their SportsEngine accounts. A support ticket was submitted to Litmos and was acknowledged – we are awaiting another response as to the status of this issue.

This morning we have noticed that Region Team Administrators access to some information is not working properly. We have submitted another support ticket and are awaiting a response. Please know that single sign-on from SE appears to be working and that users can currently access their coursework in the USAV Academy.

Monthly IT maintenance was performed by Litmos on Friday, Jan. 27. It is unclear if these recent issues are related. We will keep you posted as we learn more. If you need assistance with administration, please contact me. Thanks,

Matt Podschweit

If you are running into a profile(s) where profile data will not display for you, please try clearing your cache and/or using an incognito browsing window. 

If this does not resolve the issue for you, please submit a helpdesk ticket to SportsEngine. 

USAV has asked SportsEngine to disable account owners ability to merge profiles within their account due to a trend where profiles were being merged incorrectly as members attempted to access the USAV Academy. 

If you have a profile that needs to be merged, this can be done through a helpdesk ticket. 

SportsEngine is aware of an issue  where an "Application Error" message is presented when accessing member details in the directory. The development team is currently investigating and anticipate the issue will be resolved shortly.

UPDATE: This issue should now be resolved.  

The "Club Director MMS Season Process - 2022-23 USAV Season" document has been updated to reflect the new help desk article links in the SportsEngine HelpDesk. 

If you've posted the document or links to HelpDesk articles anywhere, please make sure you update the document and the HelpDesk article links. 

Please let the membership team know if see any issues with the document or if you have any questions.

Hi Region Leaders,

We hope things are going well for all of you and you are enjoying the holidays as much as possible.

Our Marcomm department worked very hard to clip the 17-minute video into segments we believe to be important.  This will also narrow down help to specific problems your clubs might be having. 

Here are the links to the SportsEngine Walkthrough videos:

Membership Eligibility and Club Assignments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxC5KdYNVPs

Adding/Removing Club Admins from Your HQ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYv47Y7HSK8  

Rostering (Import or Manual Add): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXs5vQIeXw0  

Rostering (Sync for SE Customer Clubs): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uBulD1cjzQ  

Starting a New Club in the MMS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwfjnVj93wk  

The USA Volleyball Club HQ Tab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4gCBn6GSjM  

Hope these help your members in the future!

Thank you,

Chrissy

USAV staff is aware of the update to the profile page display in SportsEngine. We are working with SportsEngine to understand potential issues with verified data. 

If you are noticing other issues, please email membership@usav.org with details and screenshots. 

UPDATE: This issue should now be resolved.  

The Member Services team has worked with the USAV IT team to create an Emergency Reporting Form:

https://fs28.formsite.com/USAVolleyball/MemberServices/index.html

The purpose of this form is to report MMS system wide outtakes and high priority issues that require our team’s assistance outside of business hours. Our team will be alerted when the form is filled out.

Examples of emergency situations are:

• MMS system is down outside of working hours
• Member traveling to or on the ground at a travel event is unable to be rostered due to a technical issue

This form is NOT intended for use:

• During business hours
• Reporting technical difficulties that can be submitted elsewhere
• As a HelpDesk link

SportsEngine is aware of an issue where Governing Season is displaying a "No affiliate Governing Seasons" message. The development team is currently investigating and anticipate the issue will be resolved shortly.

Update: This issue has been resolved. 

Member Services has now released a club “getting started” video with a tutorial of club processes through SportsEngine. 

We know that there are a lot of steps that get overwhelming or overlooked this time of year and we believe this video will help all your club directors, but especially the new ones get started or troubleshoot through SportsEngine. 

Some things addressed in the video are:

• SportsEngine HQ access and troubleshooting
• Membership process including direct club assignments
• Eligibility requirements and troubleshooting
• Rostering
• Governing seasons

Currently the video is one full length video, however, we are planning to cut it into specific sections that will help your members get to solutions faster. 

We want you to be able to utilize the video immediately, so we have included a YouTube link HERE.

As with anything please view the whole video to make sure it aligns with your Region's procedures before sending it out to your members. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us.

USAV/SE are aware that the physical address has been temporarily removed from member profiles. Updates are being pushed to the profile page and address should be restored to the profile page with the next update. 

In the meantime, if an address is needed, address can be added to the directory view using the "edit columns" functionality. 

Sports Engine is working to resolve an issue that is preventing clubs from being able to OBO (on behalf of) memberships in their club HQ.

Update: A fix has been pushed for this issue and it should now be resolved. 

We are experiencing what we believe is a system wide issue with the Region Quizzard and Public Club Assignment links.  When going through the quizzard it is getting “stuck” at 75%.  SE is working on the issue now and they hope to have it resolved soon.

If you are contacted by a member about this issue we recommend you send them the direct club assignment or membership link.  If it is not urgent they can try again later as we hope to have resolution to this issue shortly.

As always you are welcome to reach out to membership@usav.org for additional assistance.

Member Services Team

Update: 

The issue with the purchase of memberships has been resolved.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The U.S. Center for SafeSport Learning Management System will be offline on October 19, 2022, for course updates.    Please share this email with your club directors, coaches,  staff and anyone who may be affected by this downtime.  Please see the below statement from the Center.

Hi Region Leaders,

Those of you who are using the new MERGE REQUEST FORM that SportsEngine has put together, we’ve been made aware of an issue where the “Notes/Comments” section is not making it to the help desk agents assisting with the problem.

Until this is resolved, we recommend only using the form for simple merges that do not require an explanation. As you know, once a merge is completed, fixing/separating the accounts becomes very difficult.

We will let you know when this issue is resolved and you can use the form as intended.

Update: This issue should now be resolved. 

Please use the form to request merging two accounts together (separate email addresses) and use the notes field to clarify in detail what you are looking for from the merge.

Helpful details to include in your request:

• Primary (login) email address after the merge
• Account owner after the merge
• Sub-profiles (child profiles) after the merge
• Any relevant credential information

USA Volleyball is aware of an issue where some SafeSport completions are not being sent from the US Center for SafeSport LMS back to member SportsEngine profiles.

If you have a member claiming to have completed SafeSport, but there is no completion displaying, please have them submit a HelpDesk ticket to the SafeSport Center at this link: https://safesport.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/4/group/9/create/40. Please do not “connect” the accounts using the connect functionality on membership eligibility unless the situation is an emergency.

Below is a document created to cover basic club administrative processes in the MMS for this season. We hope that you can use this document as a resource for your clubs to give them guidance on basic processes in the MMS. 

Please note that the document uses USAV recommended processes. We did not cover every way to do each process as we wanted to keep the document as simple as possible while still providing the essentials. This includes:

• Using the public club assignment link
• Building rosters in governing seasons

We recommend double checking the document to make sure it works for your Region’s recommendations/policies before sending it out. If you are using a different process, you will need to provide your own documentation/guidance to clubs.

Hi Region Leaders,

Below are the USAV membership categories for the 2022-23 season.

USA Volleyball will be reaching out to Regions who have filled out the 2022-23 Season Preparation Survey to plan their memberships for the coming season. If your Region has not filled out the survey, please complete the survey at this link: https://usav.sportngin.com/register/form/109677719

The “22-23 USAV Tryout – July-Dec” membership is now available for Regions to utilize. If you are interested in having this membership setup for your Region, please complete this Region Membership Request registration: https://usa-volleyball.sportngin.com/register/form/019958549

Thank you,

Daniel

New updates to the eligibility search have been released by SportsEngine to allow Regions easier access to search for member eligibility across the system. 

See the SE May and June newsletters for more information. 

This could be useful for Regions looking to hire officials from another Region for an event or needing to check eligibility for a member of another Region attending an event. 

Hi Region Leaders, 

I am reaching out to make you aware of two important items for the upcoming season: 

Tryout Membership 

Due to the current trend of Regions allowing tryouts for the upcoming season during the summer, USAV will offer a “22-23 USAV Tryout – July -December” membership option for the coming season.  

This membership will be valid from July 1 – December 31 of 2022 and will be upgradable to a full 2022-23 membership. We will make this option available to Regions once the insurance rates for the 2022-23 season have been approved.  

Age Definitions 

The USAV age definition document for the 2022-23 season has been attached to this email. Feel free share this document with your clubs so that they can begin to plan their teams for the coming season.  

This language was added to the 18 and Under Division to add clarity to the definition: Players who were born on or after July 1, 2004 (including high school graduates eligible based on the above paragraph). Please see the full document to view this language addition in context.  

If you have any questions, please email us at membership@usav.org.  

Thank you, 

Daniel 

Regions can review the enhancement request list from USA Volleyball Member Services and the status of those items at THIS LINK. 

This document will not be updated as changes are made (look for SE newsletters to stay on top of enhancements as they are released). The only updates we will make is to further define functionality that will help with the duplicate issue. 

Dear Region Leaders:

This one more friendly reminder of the April 20 updates to SafeSport training.  Please see THIS UPDATE regarding courses and please complete the in-progress course by April 18.   These course updates are happening at the Center level, and thus, are outside of USAV’s control. Please encourage your members to complete their in-progress training before the shutdown so as to avoid losing any progress.

-Liani Reyna

Dear Region Leaders:

Please see THIS REMINDER regarding SafeSport training courses. The courses will be down for updates and progress will be deleted on 4/20/2022. These course updates are happening at the Center level, and thus, are outside of USAV’s control. Please encourage your members to complete their in-progress training before the shutdown so as to avoid losing any progress.

-Rachael Stafford

SportsEngine is aware of an issue causing members to get 401 errors when they try to launch SafeSport Training. They are looking into the issue to determine a cause. 

Update: SportsEngine has resolved the issue of users getting 401 errors when accessing SafeSport Training.  Please send additional issues to the HelpDesk. 

We have seen that some merges and moves of profiles between accounts have resulted in SafeSport Training being disconnected from member's Absorb accounts. 

When admins request a merge involving a SafeSport Training credential, we recommend checking the SafeSport status after the merge and re-connecting the SafeSport account after the merge if needed. 

If assistance is needed with this topic, please email safesport.general@usav.org. 

Sports Engine is aware of issues with the directory search parameters returning too many (unrestricted) results. The search setting is currently keying off of either "keyword" being entered instead of both First + Last and has removed the 2 character requirement. They are working to resolve the issue.

Update 3/14: This issue has been resolved, please submit further issues to the Help Desk. 

Clicking the USAV Academy button in SportsEngine is returning an error this morning.

SE reports that they are receiving a 503 error when they submit SSO, We've submitted an incident report with Litmos support. 

Update: We've heard from SAP Litmos support, they are having issues with API availability, are aware of the issue and working on a solution.

Update: It appears that SAP Litmos’ API availability has been restored and members are reaching the USAV Academy. We will be checking on course completions that may have failed to convey credentials and re-completing them. Thanks for your patience.

Sports Engine is aware of and working on a bug that is impacting the functionality for some users. It appears most when a profile or page is opened and you are then unable to click any other fields in the screen. Refreshing resolves this issue in the short-term. 

Please continue to reach out to the NEED HELP tab and membership@usav.org with questions. If you see new issues you think are related, please submit to SportsEngine so they have documentation.

*UPDATE: This has been resolved as of 2/3

Sports Engine is aware of the issue with eligibility loading/reading on memberships/rosters is diligently working to correct the problem. This issue is currently their highest priority. 

Update: This issue was resolved on 1/13. Please submit any continuing issues through the Help Desk. 

Please see the dates below that are part of the Sports Engine Holiday Schedule in 2022. The help desk will not be manned on these holidays. 

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Monday, January 17
• President’s Day: Monday, February 21
• Memorial Day: Monday, May 30
• Juneteenth: Monday, June 20
• Independence Day: Monday, July 4
• Labor Day: Monday, September 5
• Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 24
• Day after Thanksgiving: Friday, November 25
• Christmas Eve: Friday, December 23
• Christmas: Monday, December 26

Please see the image below for the dates Sports Engine will be close for the holidays and the help desk will not be staffed. 

Hi Region Leaders,

We have been notified of the following two issues identified for some users when taking their SafeSport training. 

1. Person completes their SafeSport training, but it is not showing up in their account.
2. The member receives an error message when accessing their coursework (this is happening because of a missing date of birth) 

Please forward those items to membership@usav.org for resolution.

We will update you when those issues are resolved.

The Membership Team

A confirmed AWS (Amazon Web Services) outage is causing some issues accessing SportsEngine HQ and/or help tools with SE, as well as some tools and access in AES.  The SE team is actively engaged and working with AWS to resolve the issue and will provide updates as the issues get resolved.

Update 12/8/2021: The AWS platform issues were resolved yesterday afternoon.  If you are still experiencing issues or challenges please reach out. 

Dear Region Leaders:

Happy Monday afternoon!

This is a final communication to remind you all that the SafeSport training transition is happening TOMORROW morning, approximately 8:00 MST/9:00 CST/10:00 EST.

Here are some last minute things to be aware of:

1.           As explained in my weekend email, we are expecting a rougher than hoped transition. Region offices can be the first line of defense to help your members. Below are two document links with answers to common scenarios and some troubleshooting tips.

SafeSport Absorb LMS Troubleshooting

SafeSport Absorb LMS User Scenarios and Workflows

2.           If you are unable to assist your member, please reach out or have them reach out to membership@usav.org Janice, Daniel, and the member services team are ready to assist as rapidly as possible and to direct issues to the next level as needed. We are NOT encouraging of having your members reach out to the Center directly as we are really not sure what the response time will look like.

3.           This is the last chance to get those “in-progress” members to complete their SafeSport training before tomorrow. As a reminder, all progress will be lost once the transition occurs in the morning. As of today, our records show just over 4,000 people still “in-progress”.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. We will get through this together.

Rachael Stafford

Dear Region Leaders:

Happy Sunday (or Monday). Please allow this email to serve as an update and reminder of the SafeSport training platform change.

By direction of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, USA Volleyball WILL be changing training platforms on Tuesday, December 7th at approximately 8:00 am MST.

To be perfectly candid, despite USAV’s and SportsEngine’s best efforts, the transition will not prove as smooth as we desperately had hoped. The Center has been unable to deliver on some significant data cleanup, resulting in issues such as duplicate records, incomplete data merges, etc. While we debated pushing off the transition, we have been advised that no amount of delay will likely resolve the issues. Therefore, we are prepared to work the issues as they come and blow up the SafeSport training help desk as necessary. The Center intends to do another data upload and clean up after the go-live transition occurs.

As a reminder, with the transition, this means that anyone currently “in progress” with their SafeSport training will lose their progress and need to start all over. As of Friday, the number of “in progress” was around 5,000 members. Please, please make one last push to encourage your members requiring SafeSport training to complete that training NOW.  The USAV membership department has been reaching out to those “in progress” but your communications would help tremendously. Once the transition occurs, there will be nothing anyone can do to recover prior training progress.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly.

Rachael Stafford

CLICK HERE to watch the video

11/10 USAV staff and AES/Sports Engine are aware of an issue clubs are experiencing with USAV imports into AES. 

AES/Sports Engine are searching for a solution to the problem. In the meantime, the solution for clubs is to submit a Help Desk ticket in AES and the support team can run an import on their behalf. 

11/17 AES has released updates that address all know bugs with the import process. Please submit a ticket if you run across further issues with club import failures with a club that has been setup correctly in AES. 

• As of today, the Center believes they will be able to switch our SafeSport training platform from 77 Media to Absorb on or about Monday, November 15th. From a technology side, SportsEngine is already set to make this change within our systems, so we have simply been waiting on the dates from the Center. Right now the projection is that the new Absorb system would be LIVE on or about Tuesday, November 16th.  All existing training data will be migrated to the new system. This means that if someone has already completed their SafeSport requirements for this season, those records will be reflected in their membership. Those users will recognize no changes or effects.  Anyone taking the training on or after November 16th, will notice little to no changes as they will access the training platform through their SportsEngine account as usual.

The only people truly affected are those that are currently in the process of taking their SafeSport training. If a person is in mid-training when the changeover occurs, he/she will lose their progress in the new system and be required to start over. We are most concerned about this group. For that reason, we have begun running reports identifying those “in progress” individuals, and we will be sending communications to encourage completion of their training prior to November 15th. 

While we are poised for a smooth transition, we all know the potential for issues in these kinds of scenarios. We ask for your patience and assistance as we work through this conversion together.

• Check out Carl’s overview of upcoming features (as of October 2021), when to expect them, and the benefits of these enhancements. The video is a little over 11 minutes.  Watch the video >
• Sports Engine released an update today that should improve your ability to manage administrators in your own HQ. You can now access the administrators for your HQ in the “Admins” tab of your directory:

Access levels can be seen/edited by clicking on an individual administrator:

Access levels include: full access, limited access, no access and USAV administrator. You can find more information about this change in this SE video (made for clubs using SE for club management/websites): https://sportsengine.wistia.com/medias/v6gsusdf33

• Managing permissions is made much easier by creating a dedicated area where an admin can set specific roles for their staff.  See how it works >
• Membership Requests appear in Region SportsEngine HQ’s for a variety of reasons. Please use these instructions as a guide for processing membership requests and please feel free to reach out to membership@usav.org with any questions! Please reference the attachment.
• Sorting your "My Organizations Tab" will make it easier to find and access club HQs. use your browser's “Find” function to locate a club quickly—just type [Control + F] on a PC or [Command + F] on Macs.
  • It is now easier for the RVA administrators to speak with the SE help desk. Here’s how to do it:
    
    1. Click the blue "Need Help?" button and select Contact Help
    2. Choose between opening a Live Chat or Scheduling a Call
    
    Instead of scheduling a call in the Need Help tab, you can now do it directly from the live chat.

Clicking the “Need Help” tab in your SportsEngine HQ is the best and quickest way to get assistance. Make sure to include the following information:

• Account email addresses
• Description of issue
• Links to pages causing issues
• Screenshots/video recordings (if applicable)

• A friendly reminder all of the MMS updates can be found on the USAV communication portal. This includes club newsletters, USAV process and product updates, and frequently asked questions. Please bookmark the communication portal for easy and quick reference.

Dear Region Leaders:

As promised, I wanted to give you the latest updates about the migration to the new LMS platform, Absorb, by the U.S. Center for SafeSport. Please be aware of important dates and reminders below.

As of this morning, the Center believes they will be able to switch our SafeSport training platform from 77 Media to Absorb on or about Monday, November 15th. From a technology side, SportsEngine is already set to make this change within our systems, so we have simply been waiting on the dates from the Center. This would mean that the new Absorb system would be LIVE on or about Tuesday, November 16th for your users.

All existing training data will be migrated to the new system. This means that if someone has already completed their SafeSport requirements for this season, those records will be reflected in their membership. Those users will recognize no changes or effects.

Anyone taking the training on or after November 16th, will notice little to no changes as they will access the training platform through their SportsEngine account as usual.

The only people truly affected are those that are currently in the process of taking their SafeSport training. If a person is in mid-training when the change over occurs, he/she will lose their progress in the new system and be required to start over. We are most concerned about this group. For that reason, we have run reports identifying those “in progress” individuals, and we will be sending communications to encourage completion of their training prior to November 15th.

Although we will be communicating to those in progress individuals, we would highly encourage you to communicate with all your participants about these changes. While we are poised for a smooth transition, we all know the potential for issues in these kinds of scenarios. We ask for your patience and assistance as we work through it together.

-Rachael Stafford

10/27/2021: USAV is aware of the issue where "edit roles and permissions" times out for the admin edit interface. We have submitted this issue to Sports Engine and their development team is  working hard to resolve.

10/28/2021: Sports Engine has released a fix for this issue. Please submit any continuing issues to the Help Desk. 

Hi Region Leaders,

Sports Engine released an update today that should improve your ability to manage administrators in your own HQ. You can now access the administrators for your HQ in the “Admins” tab of your directory.

Access levels can be seen/edited by clicking on an individual administrator.

Access levels include: full access, limited access, no access and USAV administrator. You can find more information about this change in this SE video (made for clubs using SE for club management/websites): https://sportsengine.wistia.com/medias/v6gsusdf33

Hello wonderful Regions,

I am reaching out today to give an update on the transition of the U.S. Center for SafeSport from their old learning management system (LMS) of 77 media to their new one through Absorb. After discussions with the Center and Sports Engine, we are currently trying to get the transition completed in early November before the holidays. We still do not have a definitive date as we are waiting on the Center to let us know when all the data is ready for that transition. As soon as we learn of that date, we will communicate with all of you.

I’m sorry I do not have more information, but as soon as we learn more, we will send it out. Once we have a better timeline, we will be working with all of you to communicate to your members/clubs on the transition so that we minimize the number of learners who lose progress through their coursework when the LMS change is made. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Very respectfully,

Cody Thill

Some issues have been reported to Sports Engine that assignments to second clubs are being prevented by the system (instead of going through the normal membership request process). Developers are looking into the issue. 

10/1/2021:

Sports Engine has identified an issue where club assignments are being made on tryout memberships instead of prompting members to upgrade to an assignable membership. This is a top priority problem and developers are researching the issue.

Until the issue is resolved, the fix when your members run across this is to have the member go through the club assignment process again (so that the appropriate membership can be purchased/assigned) before clearing the club assignment on the tryout membership.

Updates on this issue will be provided on our communication portal.

10/4/2021

9:00 AM MT: Sports Engine believes that the issue with club assignments occurring on tryout memberships not shared to clubs has been resolved. Please reach out to membership@usav.org if you see this issue continuing. 

10/5/2021

4:00 PM MT: It appears the club assignment issue has been resolved for those using the public club assignment link, but not for direction club assignments. Sports Engine is working to resolve this issue. 

10/7/2021

12:00 PM MT: The update for Direct Club Assignments pulling in tryout memberships not shared with affiliates has been released. This issue should be resolved, if you run across continuing problems, please email membership@usav.org. 

9:40 am MT: Sports Engine is aware of an issue where the member directory and some profiles are not loading for some accounts on the system. This is a high priority fix and SE developers are actively working to fix it. 

2:30 pm MT: A fix on this issue has been released. Please submit a help desk ticket if you notice continuing issues. 

Hi Region Leaders,

This email serves as an update on access requirements for club administrators in the USAV Member Management System (MMS).

Last season requirements were tracked using a report that allowed Regions to check for club organizational administrators that did not meet requirements. This was an interim solution and was identified as a top area for improvement by RVAA representatives.

This season, the following changes have been made to automate this process in the MMS:

• USAV/Region functionality has been separated from organization administrator access in Sports Engine HQ’s. This includes access to the USA Volleyball tab in a club HQ (includes ability to see Region memberships, view/submit to the Governing Season and send club assignments) along with the memberships tab on a member’s profile in the directory.
  • Organizational admins can view their club’s directory with includes profile data that has been shared to the club by Sports Engine users. USA Volleyball requirements do not control access to a club’s directory, only USAV/Region functionality of the MMS.
• MMS functionality/information can only be accessed by members with the “USA Volleyball Manager” or “USA Volleyball Viewer” roles in a club HQ.
• Eligibility for this role requires a profile to:
  • Have a current USAV background screening
  • Have current SafeSport Training
  • Sign the “USAV Administrator Waiver” and the “USA Volleyball Acknowledgement of SafeSport and MAAPP”
  • Not have a USAV level suspension

Our team views this new functionality as a large step forward in automating the USAV policy that club administrators accessing the MMS meet requirements. However, one element that has not been automated is a check for a full Region membership purchase. To ensure this policy is followed, the USAV membership team will be:

• Running a report of profiles with “USAV Manager” and “USAV Viewer” roles that do not have a full Region membership
• Emailing these participants and their Region offices notifying them of the access requirement
• Removing the “USAV Administrator” membership which monitors the eligibility to access MMS functionality from profiles that do not have full Region memberships after notification of the requirement

USAV and the RVAA MMS committee will continue to work with Sports Engine to improve functionality for the MMS. We request that any safety issues regarding participation/admin eligibility be submitted to membership@usav.org immediately when found so that they can be quickly addressed.

• For the new season (2021-22), in order for an admin to be able to view USAV information, they must be given the new role of “USA Volleyball manager”. Any admin who had permission to view the system for the current season will have the roles required to see the USA Volleyball tab within an HQ.  As of August 3rd, access to the USA Volleyball tab will only be available after an admin completes all necessary eligibility requirements. These requirements will include:
• Background Screening
• SafeSport Training
• USAV Administrator Waiver
• 21-22 USA Volleyball Acknowledgement of SafeSport and MAAPP
• No Active USAV Suspensions

All administrators will receive an email for the USAV Administrator Membership that is being used to manage these eligibility requirements with a link to complete those requirements.

Below are links to serve as a reference:

What permissions are needed to access the MMS? >
How to assign roles to my club admins >

Also, USA Volleyball/Region specific access has been separated out on the SportsEngine platform. Information on the specific access levels can be found in this SE article: https://help.sportsengine.com/en/articles/1689

• IMPORTANT:  As the 2020-21 season draws to an end, Regions have the options to lock rosters & team details which will prevent clubs from adding, editing, and removing all teams and rosters. Player/staff additions and roster movement will be disabled. If your clubs are done submitting/changing teams in governing seasons, we would recommend that you lock the team details and rosters to prevent confusion during the season change over.  Link explaining the necessary steps:  Team Details & Roster Lock >

Also, now is also a good time to review which full memberships you still have published for purchase. If you do not intend to sell any more full memberships, then it is recommended to unpublish (do not Archive) those memberships.  Link explaining the necessary steps:  How to unpublish a membership >

• USAV and Sports Engine are aware of an issue where some background screenings are displaying no expiration date. As you run across this issue, please email the profile information to membership@usav.org so that our team can ensure these issues are addressed when a fix is pushed.
• There is a display issue in the system where some SafeSport credentials are not showing in the credentials tab. Membership eligibility is not affected by this issue (the credentials are there, just not displaying) and Sports Engine should be pushing a fix soon.
• The 2021-22 Season Forms can be found here:  USAV Regions Website  .  There are a few forms still being updated and links to those will be added shortly.
• The formerly referenced “Club Specified Quizzard” functionality is now live in the MMS. Referred to as the “Public club assignment” this functionality can be used to generate a link that club administrators can easily share with their members to purchase a Region membership, get assigned to the club, and added into the directory in one step.    

What are Club Assignments >
How to send a Club Assignment > 

• To help parents and guardians learn how to manage their SportsEngine account and the how-to, please feel free to share this helpful link as a resource for them: Go to Parent Training Camp >
• As a reminder, all SportsEngine and USAV Region Updates can be found at this link

We are actively working on posting forms for the new season. These will be published to the USAV Regions Website once ready.

USAV has made the following changes to waivers for the 2021-22 season:

• USAV Code of Conduct and Junior Club Personnel Code of Ethics combined in a single waiver in the USAV Code of Conduct.
• A new waiver “Acknowledgement of SafeSport and MAAPP” has been added to memberships where the JCPCOE was previously required.

This was done to eliminate duplicate/conflicting information between the JCPCOE and the SafeSport Code and MAAPP policies and to consolidate USAV codes into one encompassing waiver. These waivers are attached for your review.

Sports Engine - 2021-2022 New Season Functionality Video

Click the link above to view a video that explains the new public club assignment link, the new USAV admin functionality/requirements and new head coach requirements. This video can be shared with clubs/admins. 

We are fast approaching 2021-22 pre-registration and the new season! I’d like to cover two important topics that you will need to be aware of and communicate well to your club admins.

USA Volleyball Manager/Viewer Access

• USA Volleyball/Region specific access has been separated out on the SportsEngine platform. Information on the specific access levels can be found in this SE article: https://help.sportsengine.com/en/articles/1689
• All current admins in the system were given the appropriate admin access when this change was made (most now have Org Admin and USA Volleyball Manger or USA Volleyball Viewer access)

• On 8/3/2021, all users with USA Volleyball Manager or USA Volleyball Viewer access will be automatically gifted a “membership” called “USAV Administrator” that will be required to be eligible for their USAV system access to work. The membership will require:
  • No current suspension on the profile
  • Current USAV background screening
  • Current SafeSport Training
  • Signed system access waiver and JCPCOE
• When this membership is gifted to their account, an email will be generated to their account email detailing the access level requirements (wording attached)
• The membership is used only to monitor an admins eligibility to access the USAV/Region section of the system. It does not provide any participation/insurance benefits.

Governing Season Transition

• Region memberships must be set up prior to 2021-22 governing season setup.
• We recommend that all Regions place a roster lock on the current governing season so that clubs do not build their new rosters in the 2020-21 season by mistake (this is done on the “season overview page”).

• The USAV staff has begun the process of building the governing season for the 2021-22 season.
• The new season will not be visible to club HQ’s until 9/1, however Regions are able to begin setting up their governing season settings once their memberships for the new season are setup. It is critical that Regions setup their governing season settings before club admins can access the governing season on 9/1.
• Some important elements of the governing season for your Region to setup are:
  • Membership eligibility for your governing season divisions (determines what memberships are allowed as players/staff members). This must be done for each division.

• Violations or warnings setup (must be done for each division)
• Any Region-specific grade level exceptions added to the appropriate division
• Place any roster lock/details lock that is appropriate for your Region roster building policies
• Role title eligibility set (what memberships are allowed in what roles on governing season rosters)

Updates as of July 14, 2021

• We are only a few weeks away from the start of the 2021-22 season and the following items should be considered:
  • A reminder to unpublish all memberships for the 20-21 season unless they are to be used for July & August participation.
  • If you have not done so already, schedule your SE Start of Season Call.
  • Complete the SE Upcoming Season Survey, if you have not done so already, to provide basic information for your Region’s plan for the upcoming season
  • Should you want to open for pre-registration during August, you will need to work with Member Services to finalize your 21-22 Memberships by the end of next week. 

• There are two enhancement this month that have been made to the MMS:
  • When a Region updates the affiliation status of a club within the “club list,” it will automatically update the club’s ability to access the MMS within SportsEngine HQ.
  • Regions and/or clubs can create a single link that allows members to purchase and assign a membership through one process.  If you have any questions, watch the May MMS update or reach out to Carl Hipp (carl.hipp@sportsengine.com)

• In addition, there was a partial permission push last week that removed the NGB manager from the Org Admin permission.  What that means is this:
  • To have access to affiliated data, a user must have either USAV Manager or USAV View.
  • Everyone that had Org Admin, Governing Season Admin were given the USAV Manager permission; Everyone that had Governing Season View were given the USAV View permission.  
  • The eligibility work goes live on August 3rd.  Once live the user will need to have the USAV Admin Membership eligibility requirements to have that access.  (Today anyone with the permission has access.)
  • Look for more details coming soon.

• To better define the integration between SportsEngine and AES, please see the list of general information and FAQs.    View AES frequently asked questions > 

• The U.S. Center for SafeSport will be soon transition to a new Learning Management System (LMS) called Absorb. Sports Engine has been working with the Center to make this transition as smooth as possible and should be complete relatively soon.  Due to this transition, some members of your region may have received emails from the Absorb system stating that they have been automatically enrolled in a SafeSport course. If it has been 1 year since the member took their SafeSport training (or coming up on 1 year since), they are the ones that are receiving this.  If a member receives this communication, please let them know that they DO NOT have to take any training. The Center is aware of our seasonal schedule for trainings, but these emails were automatically set up. Sports Engine is working with Absorb to ensure that these emails stop being sent out.  We aware there will most likely be some issues and hiccups along the way, but if you or your members are experiencing any issues with this particular matter, please do not hesitate to reach out to Cody Thill (cody.thill@usav.org). 
• SafeSport Core/Refresher Update.   In the new Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP), that will take effect on September 1st, The Center for SafeSport updated their requirements for how often members have to take the SafeSport Core training or Refresher training. They have stated that the Core training will be required every four years. It will now be standardized to go in this order.

Year 1: Core

Year 2: Refresher 1

Year 3: Refresher 2

Year 4: Refresher 3

Year 5: Retake Core training

In addition, , as an example, if a member completed the Core training on 1/1/2020, took the Refresher 1 training on 1/1/2021, but then did not take another course until 1/1/2024, they would be required to RETAKE the Core training, NOT the Refresher 2. According to the Center, it does not matter if they have not taken Refresher 2 or 3 yet. Since the member has hit their 4 year window, they will now need to take the Core training again.

Please find the age group definitions for the 2021-2022 season below.

We are working on updating the membership forms for the coming season, but realize that with many Regions having tryouts for the coming season that the age definitions were needed. Please let us know if you notice any issues with the documents.

Updates as of June 23, 2021

• The pre-registration start date for the 21-22 season has been changed to August 3rd from August 1st.  This change was made so system enhancements could be made during the work week rather than on the weekend. 
• As was announced last week, USA Volleyball has made the strategic decision to discontinue Your Court Magazine after the Summer 2021 Issue.  We have seen a lot of growth and expansion in digital media and marketing for USA Volleyball as we explore new opportunities to reach and engage with members and fans.  The decision was made as a result of increasing demand for real-time content and the power of video in addition to the expanded functionality of our new website, the increase in our constituent-focused newsletters, the broadening of our social media content and introduction of other key channels such as our podcast. This adjustment will help us better reach members and fans where they are in real time, develop new channels and platforms, drive engagement and interest in our sport more broadly, and create more high-quality content that can be shared.  This will also allow for more sharable and accessible content including storytelling and in-depth features across media without the extra costs.  If you have any questions feel free to reach out to Laura Fawcett, Senior Manager of Digital Media & Content Strategy (laura.fawcett@usav.org).
• The pricing for background screen checks will be standardized across regions for the upcoming season.  The Member Services team is available to work with those regions who have previously chosen to subsidize the screening price or have charged more than the contracted price on a strategy moving forward.
• We are working hard to get a head start on getting things set up for the coming season.  Please schedule some time with Carl and a USAV Member Services representative at the following link: schedule a call here
• In case you missed it, please find attached the MMS Slide Deck from the RVAA presentation.   If you prefer you can watch the presentation video here:  SportsEngine MMS Presentation Video.
• Here’s the link to the list of MMS Enhancements for the 2021-22 season: MMS Enhancements
• As a reminder, the hours for both the SE Support Team and AES Support is the following:

Monday – Friday               8am – 7pm CT

Saturday – Sunday           9am – 6pm CT

Based on the RVAA Insurance Committee motion, (listed below and approved 8-0-1 by the Committee) and the RVAA straw poll taken (voted in favor 31-8-1), we are moving forward with standardizing the background screen pricing across all regions for the upcoming 2021-22 season.

The Member Services team is available to work with those regions who have previously chosen to subsidize the screening price or have charged more than the contracted price on a strategy moving forward.

More details will be forthcoming, but we did want to give you advanced notice of this change for the upcoming season.

INSURANCE COMMITTEE MOTION

It is recommended that USAV and regions have one set price for background screens. This change would provide the following additional benefits:

• Pricing consistent for all USAV members
• The removal of up charging for this safety requirement along with the favorable terms of our recent contract can help to set us apart from our competitors

• The elimination of credit card fees on money paid for BGS collectively saving our members thousands of dollars

• No selection of region required at time of BGS submission to handle variable pricing and no need for USAV to reconcile monthly with regions who are charging more or less than our contracted rate

Thanks so much for those of you who were able to attend the SportsEngine MMS Presentation last week.  We had a great turn out and although we did not have enough time to answer all of your questions, Carl and team are compiling responses and will send your direction in the next Region Update.

The following resources are available for your review including the attached MMS presentation slide deck.  Also, please make sure to complete this short form to provide your plans for next season.

• SportsEngine MMS Presentation Video
• MMS Update Slide Deck (attached)
• MMS Enhancements

Finally, Schedule a time to review MMS updates and review further individual questions you may have with Carl and a member of the USAV Member Services Team.

We are looking forward to working with you as we prepare for next season!

Region Leaders, Registrars and Administrators,

Please join us for SportsEngine MMS presentation scheduled for this Wednesday at 1pm MST.  It will include an overview of the past season, a summary of coming enhancements, a look at next steps for preparing for the 21-22 season and a Q&A session. 

We are hoping you can attend as some great information will be shared.  Call-in information is below.

USAV Membership Services Team

USAV MMS Update
Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Time: 3:00pm - 4:00pm ET
Location (Online): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84275655418?pwd=TWwreExpM3BkQ3Bqd1Z3OVY5SWJYUT09
Meeting ID: 842 7565 5418, Passcode: 408182
Join By Phone: (646) 876 9923
Meeting Contact: Membership Services (USAV)
Note: All region leaders, registrars and region admins are invited to attend!

***Update: Below are several links linked to the presentation.

SportsEngine MMS Presentation Video - https://sportsengine.wistia.com/medias/8q1aczsivy

Follow Up Registration For Regions - https://usav.sportngin.com/register/form/144183116

Region Webinar - https://sportsengine.wistia.com/medias/wu4er1jokd#

System Enhancement Listing - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15NWvFMl-WRxlbULLlFQbiB2qKze5k3CJipX5kvHCZYs/edit?usp=sharing

UPDATE: A fix on this issue has been pushed as of the morning of 5/25/2021. 

We have identified a bug in SportsEngine that is preventing Region Admins and USAV from issuing a refund while cancelling a membership. The SportsEngine support team is investigating and working on a resolution that should be in place soon. These two processes will need to be completed separately until the issue is resolved. Please follow these steps to issue a refund and cancel memberships: 

1. Click the three dot menu, select cancel. 

2. Cancel membership, DO NOT CLICK ISSUE REFUND

3. Click the transaction number for the cancelled membership. 

4. Click ISSUE REFUND in top right corner. 

Attempting to issue together will result in a spinning wheel that does not change. 

Apologies for the inconvenience.

Pre-registration for the 2021-22 season is planned to begin on August 1st.  The August 1st start date is needed for insurance and membership pricing information that will be coming out of the May 25-26 RVAA meetings and to allow for a few more weeks to implement the 2021-22 MMS enhancements and planned background check changes.

• As a reminder we will not be offering the Special 2020 Fall Membership option moving forward.  This was a one-time membership in response to many States and school districts moving high school volleyball from the fall season to spring season.

Please see the archived MMS Update from May to find a document detailing important enhancements that Sports Engine will be putting into place for the coming season and their estimated delivery timeframe: 

https://usav.sportngin.com/may--newsletter

Sports Engine pushed functionality yesterday (5/6) on the verified data project. This has been a high priority request from USAV and the event systems and the solution is now in place.

This change causes:

1. Verified data to be sent in the API to outside systems, instead of profile details
2. Verified data to be displayed in directories in the USAV/Region structure, instead of profile data
3. Verified data displayed on governing season rosters (profile data will still display in the lists of players or staff members in the governing season view)

This change could result in different data (name, DOB, gender, grad year) being displayed or sent to event systems if there is a conflict between the verified data and the profile data on a profile. Region admins can edit verified data on the profile page of a member’s record.

If you have questions about this change, please reach out to us at membership@usav.org.