VerifiedVolunteers, AYSO "E3", and Volunteer Registration for Membership Year 2019 and on
The Story So Far
Up through the Spring of 2019 (Membership Year 2018), volunteers for inLeague regions were required to register separately through eAYSO. Following the successful integration of inLeague's player registration with the successor to eAYSO ("E3"), inLeague and AYSO National committed to integrating inLeague volunteer registration with the AYSO Volunteer Membership Program ("VMP") that was under development alongside Verified Volunteers and Blue Sombrero.
What is Volunteer Membership?
"Volunteer Membership" is an umbrella term that describes the effort to complete a Level 2 background check on coaches, referees, and other AYSO volunteers for every membership year. AYSO has partnered with Verified Volunteers to conduct the background checks; the is cost $25 per person per membership year as of April 2019. This fee may be paid either by the region or the volunteer. The process requires several integration points between the Region Management System (inLeague or Blue Sombrero), AYSO National (E3), and Verified Volunteers.
Initial integration of a volunteer record between inLeague and AYSO: Looking up a volunteer's existing AYSO ID based on name and date of birth, or generating a new AYSO ID.
"Previous disclosures" - the volunteer indicates whether they have any previous convictions and confirms their legal name
Yozons E-Signature: The volunteer is automatically directed to Yozons to e-sign their volunteer application, and then returned to inLeague
AYSO Volunteer Confirmation and AYSO Sign-On Sync: The e-signed volunteer record is confirmed with AYSO's E3 system and the volunteer's "AYSO Login" is updated to match their inLeague username and password. The volunteer's status is now "pending" and the inLeague portion of their registration is complete.
Regional Approval Queue. Regions may approve or reject pending volunteers. "Approved" volunteers are instantly submitted to Verified Volunteers as "region pays." "Rejected" volunteers are not notified but will have a link in their family profiQle to initiate the Verified Volunteers process themselves as "volunteer pays". Approval (or rejection) may be submitted as annual (the volunteer will appear in the queue again in future Membership Years) or permanent (the volunteer will always be approved or rejected for any future applications).
Verified Volunteers Email. When Verified Volunteers receives the request from inLeague, it immediately sends an email to the volunteer with a link to complete the background check form. The volunteer's name and date of birth are retrieved from inLeague and cannot be changed; the volunteer will input their Social Security Number (which inLeague does not collect) and Verified Volunteers will initiate the background Check.
AYSO Adjudication. Verified Volunteers automatically sends the result of the background check to E3. If the background check is not clear, it is flagged for manual review by the AYSO National CVPA.
RMS Notification. Whenever the results of the check are cleared by AYSO (whether automatically or after a manual review), inLeague is notified by E3. If the results are clear, inLeague will flag the volunteer as "current" (the field called "Last eAYSO Year" within inLeague) and the volunteer will be granted access to player data appropriate to any assigned roles they hold within inLeague. If the results are anything other than clear, inLeague will withhold access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: If I assign a volunteer as a coach or a division director within inLeague, but they do not have a completed, clear background check on file, how can they access their teams?
A: They cannot, and this is by design.
Q: Is it possible for a league commissioner or registrar to make an exception to the above and provide provisional access to a volunteer?
A: Not at this time. The purpose of the Volunteer Membership Program is to enforce appropriate controls on who has access to player and family data. inLeague is committed to the success of this program and working with AYSO and Verified Volunteers to see that data is sent promptly, consistently, and accurately. If you are not seeing records updated for your region and you know that volunteers have completed the necessary background checks, please contact inLeague Support.
Q: If a volunteer signs up for a Membership Year in one region and then moves to another region, do they need to have a second background check?
A: No. During the "AYSO ID" synchronization phase, E3 will communicate to inLeague that the volunteer is already clear for that membership year and that is a check is not required.
Q: What if the volunteer is coming from a Blue Sombrero region? What if the volunteer was in inLeague but moves to a Blue Sombrero Region? Do they have to register with AYSO again?
A: Blue Sombrero and inLeague are all using the same mechanisms to exchange data with E3. Any volunteer from any region that has been registered in AYSO for a Membership Year will have that information made available to any Region Management System authorized by AYSO.
Q: What if our region wants to automatically pay for everyone (or no-one) rather than deciding on a case-by-case basis?
A: Contact inLeague Support. Some options may be available to your region with the approval of your regional commissioner.
Q: It's early March, and a volunteer signs up to be a coach for the upcoming Spring season and also for the following Fall. These are two separate Membership Years. Does the volunteer require two background checks?
A: This is a complicated issue and fortunately won't be an problem for 2019 (since inLeague volunteers using this program will not overlap with MY2018). The way the program is constituted, a volunteer must have a background check for each Membership Year; but in early-to-mid Spring, where it is possible that a region might have two Membership Years open at once, of course it doesn't make sense that a volunteer should have two background checks simultaneously for $50. It is also not currently possible for Verified Volunteers to start a background check for one Membership Year while it has previous check underway. This issue will be revisited by AYSO on a policy level in the Fall of 2019 and we hope to have a sensible resolution in place for MY2019/2020.
