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we are
expecting over 1400 kids to grace our second season
at the new park and if we are to maintain order and a
competitive balance there have to be some rules.
Players are
originally placed on teams based on where they live.
Players that live in the areas served by the RFL Core
Area (Wootton, Richard Montgomery, Rockville High
School, Churchill, Magruder and Walter Johnson school
clusters) are assigned to teams based on designated
boundaries. Players outside the Core Area are
either recruited to teams that have room or are assigned
to teams that have open roster spots. The “Feeder
System” is the culprit here. We need to do
everything possible to maintain the orderly flow of
players from Flag all the way to Intermediate football.
This means once a “Bear, always a Bear”. Whatever
team or organization your child started with is the line
of teams he will stay with. There are two
exceptions to this. If a “New Player” (not a
Returning Player) that lives within the designated
boundaries, was placed on a team, not in his/her
designated boundary because the team roster was full,
that player may choose to return to the team in the
residence boundary the following year if there is room.
The other exception is a documented problem between a
child and a coach. This one is dealt with on a
case by case basis. In either case a Waiver must
be submitted to the League, signed and
approved by the league. Just because a coach says
it is okay does not mean it is okay. The
Waiver forms
are available on the website (www.rfl.cc).
So now we know why “little Beauregard” cannot move from
the Mustangs to the Raiders, even if he is offered a huge
signing bonus, the latest and greatest video game deck,
and a chauffer driven “bigger than a bus SUV”. “New
Players” are those that have not played in the RFL
Fall program prior to the season they are registering
for. These guys will be assigned to a team based
on where they live, remember the RFL Core Area,
or if there is not roster space or they live outside the
core, a team that has room and needs players.
Funny thing about this, a team that has room has
normally lost a lot of players to age and weight which
means all these new “stars” will have a better
opportunity at breaking into the starting line-up to
show their stuff.
This brings up
a discussion on who has priority when it comes to team
roster spots. We are going to move quickly so hang
on. City of Rockville taxpaying residents have
first priority. While the RFL is an independent
501c
organization we do operate in partnership with the City
and have a
formal agreement between the RFL and the Mayor and
Council to provide services to each other. The RFL
is a bargain compared to other youth leagues because of
the support and advantages provided by the City.
Logically the tax payers (and voters) come first.
So if you played on any Panther team in any Division
last year and your street signs are Blue you are going
to have a spot on whatever Panther team you qualify for
based on age and weight. One catch here. You
have to exercise that right, as with all the various
priority levels by the dates stated in the registration
instructions (more on that later). Next priority
is anyone who played on a Panther team last year is
going to be a Panther this year (remember “once a Bear
always a Bear” above). That takes care of
Returning Players. New Players that live in the
RFL Core Area have next priority on the team the
boundaries say they belong on (these boundaries will be
placed on the web site shortly, as they may change from
year to year). If there is not room on the
designated team, as stated above, they will be placed on
a team that needs bodies. Finally, if there is
room, New Players outside the RFL Core Area will be
assigned to teams on a request basis if there is room
and on a need basis if not. We have never had to
turn anybody away but that day could be coming soon if
our popularity continues on the 15% to 20% growth rate
we have experienced the last four years.
Okay,
everybody got it? Oops, one more fly in the
liniment. There is one more group of players that
make up the “Outside Teams”. These are
organizations unto themselves that request admission to
the league as a whole unit. These must be a
majority of non Rockville residents and be able to pass
serious due diligence by the Board of Directors.
They also need cash because they have to buy their own
equipment, uniforms, insurance and find practice space.
They still pay a significant fee per player to play in
the league. “Returning Players” cannot play on an
Outside Team unless they get waivers approved. New
Players cannot play on an Outside team if they live in
the RFL Core Area unless they go to school at a school
that sponsors an Outside Team.
That should
cover how players end up on teams. If you are
still confused then you will never grasp a
multi-formation, bunch attack, spread passing offense
and soccer or bowling may be an option. Just
kidding, it is a bit cumbersome but once again we do
what we do to continue to make this a unique and
terrific experience for you and your kid. Email
me,
president@rfl.cc with a number and good time to call
and I will answer all of your questions or better yet,
talk to your coach if you are a Returning Player.
That’s RFL 101
Part One. RFL 101 Part Two will deal with this
year’s specific registration procedure. Get your
playbooks out and write this down. All football
registration is done on-line through Thriva which is
linked to our web site (www.rfl.cc).
The only exceptions are scholarship players that
register in person and are then entered into the on-line
system. Here comes the really
important stuff:
Returning
Player Registration and Cheerleader Registration
will begin at 7:30 AM on May 15, 2010.
New Player
Registration will begin at 7:30 AM on June 1,
2010.
Scholarship
Players Must Register at Rockville City Hall
So now we know
when to do it, here is how to do it:
Go to
www.rfl.cc and select the Age and Weight Page.
Determine which Division your player will qualify for. This
is the general Division category not the NAVY and
ARMY Divisions. That will be taken care of once
the teams are formed.
Make sure you read carefully as the wrong Division
choice may result in getting shut out of a particular
team. It is sometimes tough to predict growth
spurts and summer weight loss but be realistic. If
Bobby Big Eater is tipping the scales at 100+ pounds he
just ain’t an Ankle Biter. We need to stop here a
minute and answer the “Can I have an exception”
question. The RFL does not consider exceptions
based on age and weight unless the request is initiated
by a letter from a physician stating the medical reasons
why a child will be at risk if he plays in the age and
weight division he qualifies for. In the past
ten years there has been one exception approved and that
involved a courageous young man that wore braces on both
legs, the result of cerebral palsy. He was a 73
pound thirteen year old that certainly could not safely
play Intermediate football.
Once you have
determined the proper Division go back to the Home page,
find and click on the Registration Link. It will
be very large and obvious. This will take you to
Registration Central. Make sure you have a credit
card or check ready and read all the announcements and
instructions before starting the process. The
first thing you have to do is access your account if you
are a Returning Player (tackle or flag). If you
are a New Player you have to create an account. If
you have one child that has played or cheered before and
are registering another child that hasn't you should use
your existing account to add new participants.
This will be very useful in the future because it will
identify you as a Returning Player. It will also
allow you to register for future RFL seasons without
having to fill out all the information again. Now you
have to chose a Team and Division. NOW PAY
ATTENTION THIS IS CRITICAL! If you are a
Returning Player make sure you chose the team with
the same name as the team you played on last year.
There maybe a couple of exceptions to this in the case
of teams that are not part of the “Feeder System”
There will be instructions for these players before you
get to this point so make sure you read the notices.
Make sure you select the proper Division associated
with the team names (i.e.; if you played on the
Raider Ankle Biter team last year and have to move up
due to age, weight or experience then you would select
Raider Pony or Raider Pee Wee depending on weight.
Remember we said this is CRITICAL. If you
register for any team name other than the group you
played for last year you will be removed from the wrong
team name roster and bumped to the end of the line.
If there is no room on the team you are supposed to be
on by the time we verify and make the changes you will
be placed on a team at random that has roster room.
If you insist on trying to change teams you must go
through the Waiver process described in Part 1. If
you wait to register and the team you are supposed to be
on is full you will have to register as a New Player and
be treated the same as a New Player.
If you are a
New Player, you must register as 2010 ____
Signup
in the proper Division (i.e.; 2010 Pee Wee Football
Signup).
You will not be able to choose a team name unless you
are registering for Cheerleading or the Middle School
League. New Players will be
assigned after June 1 in the order they registered
(date and time). There is a field in the
registration application to request a coach and/or a
specific team. We will do our best to fill
requests based on team boundaries and roster space.
One more
thing. Last year several people, less than 5 out
of 1300, were not able to register from office
workstations due to heavy firewalls. Everything
went fine until the credit card processing part.
All of these folks were eventually able to register from
home computers or public access computers at the library
or rec centers.
One word about
refunds. If you decide you would rather play
shuffleboard or cricket after you register make sure you
decide that before July 15. Prior to July 15 we
will refund all of your registration fee except a $25.00
processing fee that is charged by our software vendor and
the credit card processing folks. Your refund will be
issued to the credit card you paid for the registration with
or if you used eCheck you will receive the refund in the
mail within four weeks.
After July 15
there are no refunds as we have bought your insurance,
ordered equipment, jerseys and pants, and maybe even had to
turned somebody away who wanted to be on the roster you were
placed on.
Hopefully we
have covered all the necessary procedures to make
Registration as user friendly and smooth as possible.
If there is anything you are not sure about please email
president@rfl.cc and we will try to answer your
questions. We are constantly trying to improve
upon the process. If you have suggestions or
problems that are procedural in nature we would really
like to hear them. Once again email
president@rfl.cc.
Okay class, we
are done! Your final exam will be the successful
registration for the RFL Fall Season. If you fail,
your computer might blow up and you may have to consider
spending your Fall Weekends fishing or watching Rachel
Ray cook a Thirty Minute Meal.
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