--- title: Blog Posts description: The main landing page and directory for all Affinety Solutions blog posts --- # Blog Posts ## Featured posts Continue reading ## Latest posts [![The Challenges of Student Transfers for Athletics](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Footballplayer_bench_forms%20_small%20-%20Copy.jpg?width=600&name=Footballplayer_bench_forms%20_small%20-%20Copy.jpg) ](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/student-transfers) [Activities Registration](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/activities-registration), [Sports Eligibility](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-eligibility), [Sports Registration](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-registration), [Student Transfers](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/student-transfers) ## [The Challenges of Student Transfers for Athletics](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/student-transfers) [Melissa Holewa](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/author/melissa-holewa) Apr 17, 2024 3:52:56 PM Whether a school gets a few or many incoming transfer students each year, getting the transfer process done correctly is a big ordeal. There are... [ Continue reading ](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/student-transfers) [![What do Coaches Need (From Their Sports Management Software)?](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/hs-fs/hubfs/coach_basketball_girls.jpg?width=600&name=coach_basketball_girls.jpg) ](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/coaches-portal) ## [What do Coaches Need (From Their Sports Management Software)?](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/coaches-portal) [Melissa Holewa](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/author/melissa-holewa) Apr 19, 2023 1:41:08 PM In 2022, Affinety Solutions interviewed staff from over 60 school athletic departments to better understand their pain points when it comes to... [ Continue reading ](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/coaches-portal) [![Best Practices for Sports Physicals](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Team_Basketball-1.jpg?width=600&name=Team_Basketball-1.jpg) ](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/best-practices-for-sports-physicals) [Sports Physicals](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-physicals), [Activities Registration](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/activities-registration), [Sports Eligibility](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-eligibility), [Sports Registration](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-registration) ## [Best Practices for Sports Physicals](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/best-practices-for-sports-physicals) [Melissa Holewa](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/author/melissa-holewa) Jan 31, 2023 1:15:38 PM Approximately 30 million athletes younger than 18 years and another 3 million athletes with special needs receive medical clearance to participate in... [ Continue reading ](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/best-practices-for-sports-physicals) ## Popular posts ![Best Practices for Sports Physicals](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/hubfs/Team_Basketball-1.jpg) [Sports Physicals](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-physicals) [Activities Registration](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/activities-registration) [Sports Eligibility](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-eligibility) [Sports Registration](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-registration) Best Practices for Sports Physicals [ Continue reading ](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/best-practices-for-sports-physicals) ![The Challenges of Student Transfers for Athletics](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/hubfs/Footballplayer_bench_forms%20_small%20-%20Copy.jpg) [Activities Registration](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/activities-registration) [Sports Eligibility](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-eligibility) [Sports Registration](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-registration) [Student Transfers](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/student-transfers) The Challenges of Student Transfers for Athletics [ Continue reading ](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/student-transfers) ![What do Coaches Need (From Their Sports Management Software)?](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/hubfs/coach_basketball_girls.jpg) What do Coaches Need (From Their Sports Management Software)? [ Continue reading ](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/coaches-portal) ## Blog tags [Activities Registration](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/activities-registration) [Sports Eligibility](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-eligibility) [Sports Registration](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-registration) [Sports Physicals](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/sports-physicals) [Student Transfers](https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/tag/student-transfers) ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "articleBody" : "Whether a school gets a few or many incoming transfer students each year, getting the transfer process done correctly is a big ordeal. There are several pieces of information that need to be effectively communicated between many different parties: the student’s previous school and their new school, the student’s family, the state school sports leagues, and between the enrollment office and athletic department of each school. There are numerous details that must be considered during the transfer process. Transfers are affected by whether a school offers open enrollment, where the student lives, when the student decides to transfer during the school year, whether the student’s residence is located within the school boundary, whether there are mitigating circumstances that would allow a student to participate at another school regardless of residency, or if a family goes through a divorce and therefore a student has more than one household address. With so many details that must be considered, communication between everyone involved must be managed carefully. All the transfer paperwork needs to be completed by the student’s family and ultimately submitted to the league. Both the student’s previous school and new school need to track when a student leaves and if/when they return to the same school, managing the 15-day “changed mind” rule about transfers. Additionally, the new school’s athletic department must communicate with the student's previous school to review any outstanding violations that may exist and still need to be served. All these circumstances require the athletic departments’ careful attention to maintain compliance with both league rules and school rules. Regardless of how the transfer process was managed within a school’s records, not being compliant with the league transfer process can revoke a student’s ability to participate in a sport or activity, can have an impact on the school’s league standing, and can even result in the forfeit of a game or a championship won by the school. When we interviewed over 60 athletic directors, most said that they have some system in place to communicate with the enrollment office whenever new students transfer into the school and want to participate in an activity. However, that communication is not always reliable, so it’s very easy for transfer paperwork to fall through the cracks. Some athletic directors went so far as to say they are the last to know about transfers or must rely on their coaching staff to monitor for missed transfer students. Affinety Solutions has developed technology to reduce the chance of information falling through the cracks during the transfer process. First, our data pipe technology gathers student transfer information from the Student Information System (SIS) daily. Our data pipe system then shares that information from the SIS with the Affinety athletic software, used by the school’s athletic department. The athletic system is configured to identify and alert users of any transfer date issues, which allows schools to place that student record on hold until the athletic department clears them to register online for a sport or activity.", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Melissa Holewa", "sameAs" : "", "url" : "https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/author/melissa-holewa" }, "dateModified" : "17/04/2024", "datePublished" : "17/04/2024", "headline" : "The Challenges of Student Transfers for Athletics", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 400, "url" : "https://22658416.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/22658416/Footballplayer_bench_forms%20_small%20-%20Copy.jpg", "width" : 750 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/student-transfers", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/22658416/Affinety%20Logo_Color%202.svg" }, "name" : "Affinety Solutions", "url" : "blog.affinetysolutions.com" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "articleBody" : "In 2022, Affinety Solutions interviewed staff from over 60 school athletic departments to better understand their pain points when it comes to managing their student registration and eligibility. Although most schools said they already have some system of communication in place, it can be difficult to sort through everything to find coaches the information they need the most. Here are the top things our respondents said their coaches need from their sports management software. Up-to-date rosters Once the sports season starts, coaches don't have time for surprises. Things like last minute sign-ups, drops, or sport switches inevitably happen every season, and coaches need to know about them in real-time. When students show up for practice, coaches can't afford to waste valuable practice time figuring out who is signed up and who isn't. This is why Affinety provides real-time roster updates whenever a student's registration status changes. Who's cleared to participate A surprising number of schools we interviewed said that they must rely on their coaches as a backstop when verifying player eligibility. Depending on your school's policies, coaches might be able to use their own discretion about allowing students to join practice, but at game time, letting a player onto the field who isn't eligible to participate can have penalties for the entire team. Coaches need to know a glance if a student isn't eligible to participate for any number of reasons, including: an outdated sports physical, an academic suspension, or transferring into the district, among other things. Affinety allows coaches to generate a customizable report with whatever information they need in a few simple clicks. Player health concerns It's absolutely crucial for coaches to know about any health concerns or past injuries their students may have. When it comes to health, coaches need to see the big picture so that they can keep their players safe and performing to the best of their ability. This is why Affinety creates detailed medical profiles with options to include: dates for sports physicals, concussion baseline testing, and immunizations; current medications; allergies; medical concerns and previous conditions; chronic illnesses; names of a student's clinics and doctors; and insurance carriers. Emergency contact information In the event of an emergency, after calling 9-1-1, coaches need to know which family members to contact, and where. Several interview respondents told us about the gigantic three-ring binders they haul everywhere, filled with paper copies of every player's emergency contacts. In some situations, coaches just don't have time to dig through paperwork to figure out whether they should call mom at work, dad on his cellphone, grandma at home, or aunt Jackie who works in the district office. Affinety gives coaches a digital, searchable copy of their emergency contacts so that they don't need to add paperwork to the already extensive load of supplies they carry around every day. Affinety addresses all these needs with their Coaches Portal, a mobile-friendly software feature that allows coaches to access the information they need in real time, while also keeping student privacy in mind to ensure that no one sees information that they shouldn't see. It's a game-changing resource that saves coaches and admins time, and gives students and their families peace of mind.", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Melissa Holewa", "sameAs" : "", "url" : "https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/author/melissa-holewa" }, "dateModified" : "19/04/2023", "datePublished" : "19/04/2023", "headline" : "What do Coaches Need (From Their Sports Management Software)?", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 400, "url" : "https://22658416.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/22658416/coach_basketball_girls.jpg", "width" : 750 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/coaches-portal", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/22658416/Affinety%20Logo_Color%202.svg" }, "name" : "Affinety Solutions", "url" : "blog.affinetysolutions.com" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "articleBody" : "Approximately 30 million athletes younger than 18 years and another 3 million athletes with special needs receive medical clearance to participate in sports every year. The purpose of the preparticipation physical evaluation (PPE) is to maximize the health of athletes and their safe participation in sports. The most comprehensive guideline on the PPE is the 4th edition of the American Academy of Pediatrics' PPE recommendations, which contains consensus recommendations and has been endorsed by multiple stakeholder medical societies. Although studies have not found that the PPE prevents morbidity and mortality associated with sports participation, it may detect conditions that predispose the athlete to injury or illness and can provide strategies to prevent injuries. Clinical Recommendations 1) Preparticipation physical evaluations should occur approximately six weeks before activity to allow for further evaluation, treatment, or rehabilitation as needed. 2) All persons undergoing preparticipation physical evaluations should be questioned about exertional symptoms, the presence of a heart murmur, symptoms of Marfan syndrome, and family history of premature serious cardiac conditions or sudden death. 3) Athletes with sustained systolic blood pressure of less than 160 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure of less than 100 mm Hg should not be restricted from playing sports. 4) Athletes with well-controlled asthma who are asymptomatic at rest and with exertion can be safely cleared to play sports. 5) Screening blood and urine tests are not recommended for asymptomatic athletes.", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Melissa Holewa", "sameAs" : "", "url" : "https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/author/melissa-holewa" }, "dateModified" : "31/01/2023", "datePublished" : "31/01/2023", "headline" : "Best Practices for Sports Physicals", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 400, "url" : "https://22658416.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/22658416/Team_Basketball-1.jpg", "width" : 750 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://blog.affinetysolutions.com/best-practices-for-sports-physicals", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/22658416/Affinety%20Logo_Color%202.svg" }, "name" : "Affinety Solutions", "url" : "blog.affinetysolutions.com" } } ```