As we all gear up for a new cricket season, from 2nd April 2024 there's a new look to Teamtamer, the system we use to manage all of our membership registrations, team selections, and ticket sales at Blackheath CC.
Whether you're new to Blackheath, or the parent of an older child who's been with us for years, or a solo adult player yourself, or even a non-playing or social member, it's worth reading on to see how the system and its new features might affect you this season.
As you read, look out especially for these new features...
The Diary - Turn your RED days to YELLOW or GREEN!
Your Best Performances
The Club's Best Performances
Outstanding Tasks and Unread Messages
Your Weekly Routine
Different squads operate in slightly different ways, but broadly speaking here is the regular routine, which hasn't changed from previous seasons.
The Availability Email - Your Squad Manager sends you an "Are you available?" email for an upcoming date when there are cricket matches or other events. It contains two buttons "I'm available" and "I'm not available" and you simply click on the one that applies. If you don't receive an email like this don't worry. If your Teamtamer Diary (see below) is kept up to date then you are doing exactly the same thing as the email, so the Squad Manager may choose not to send it because your (or your child's) name is already on the lists of those who are, or are not, available for selection.
The Selection Email - Once Team Selection has taken place for a given match or matches you'll receive another email telling you whether you are, or are not, selected for the match and asking you to confirm that you will be attending. Make sure you click the "Confirm" button in the email so that the captain or manager on the day knows you've seen the selection, and you'll be there.
However, you can do all of this and a whole lot more if you log in to Teamtamer, and this is something we recommend that you do at least once a week.
Please read on to understand why...
Your Dashboard
The Dashboard is where you arrive after you have successfully logged in. In 2024 it shows you all the same stuff that was there in previous seasons (a list of the people in your family who are registered with the club, your latest messages, and the upcoming fixtures and events that are relevant to you and the members of your family), but there are some important new features...
Your Family Profiles
The list of people in your family now shows a number on a red disk, a call to action, over each one. This shows you how many tasks you need to perform for each person.
These are the things you might be asked to do...
Register for this season (if you haven't yet done so).
Update your availability diary so that you have indicated your availability for at least the next 28 days.
Upload a profile picture (see above, Kate needs one). This isn't compulsory, but the whole system is easier to use and really comes to life when we can see faces as well as just names in each squad.
In order to act on the "call to action", just click on the relevant name or face. The next screen will show you a red button that will load the function you need to resolve your particular issue.
Important Note - Until you have registered for 2024 you will only see some basic information that relates to all members.
Can't see your matches or messages? Register as a 2024 member!
Your Messages
The main change here is that the system now knows whether or not you have opened your messages, and will highlight those that you haven't yet seen.
On the Dashboard you'll only see the latest couple of messages, but click on the banner at the top to load your full list, and the text of what they all say.
As this "Unread" idea is a new feature, note that only the last few messages sent before 02/04/2024 will ever be shown as unread (otherwise you'd potentially be told "thousands of messages unread" when you first use the system).
Coming Up / Your Diary
The "Coming Up" panel shows a list of all the forthcoming matches, training sessions and other events for any Squad or Group that's relevant to you or your family. It also shows which members of your family, if any, are actually due to attend each event. (In the picture above, Felicia has a ticket for the Wednesday 10th April girls pre-season training).
However, the fun really starts when you click the banner at the top to load your full Availability Diary (which you can also reach by clicking the "Calendar" icon in the main toolbar at the top of the page)...
This shows you the forthcoming calendar, with different dates highlighted in different colours.
The idea is to get rid of the red days by answering the questions.
Click on a date to load all the relevant events on that day into the panel on the right. You can then indicate who is, or is not, available for each session or event by clicking the "thumb up" icon for "yes" or the "thumb down" icon for "no".
RED dates are the ones where you haven't yet answered all the questions.
Once you have answered the colour will change to...
GREEN (for days when you are selected and/or due to attend)
YELLOW (for days when you are available, but selection hasn't yet taken place)
or WHITE (for days when there is an event, but you are not available or not selected).
For non-selection events such as weekly squad training sessions, and non-ticketed social events such as the "Pre-Season Dinner" in the picture above, note that you don't have to answer the question, but it helps the event organisers if you do because they can then estimate the rough numbers to expect. Give it your best guess. You can still attend even if you said "No", or stay at home even if you said "Yes".
Your Performances, and Club Stars
In previous years Teamtamer has shown you the scorecard for completed matches that have been recorded in play-cricket.com . That continues (see "Your Squads & Groups" below), but now the stats are also linked to your Teamtamer user account, which means we can zoom in on your own personal performances.
"How the [family] are doing" gives you the best 6 recent match performances by members of your family. It doesn't matter what age they are, as long as the information is in play-cricket.com
And to give you an idea of how you're doing compared to the best players in the club...
In "Blackheath Stars" you'll see a scrollable list of up to 9 of the very best recent performances anywhere in the club (i.e. you don't have to be 1st XI to get on this list, you just need to have scored lots of runs or taken lots of wickets).
Can YOU can get a performance into the "Blackheath Stars" list this season!?!
How are performances chosen?
A Teamtamer algorithm compares batting with bowling, but of course everyone will have slightly different views on how it should work. As the season progresses no doubt we'll be tweaking it, and we'll also be adding more features so that you can see more of your, and the club's, best performances and get more involved.
You haven't shown my best performance!!!
Teamtamer relies on the scores that are uploaded to play-cricket.com - so if your score isn't there, or your name has been misrecorded (e.g. Jim Smith instead of John Smith) then it won't appear in Teamtamer. Speak to your Squad Manager or to me (Graham Webb graham.webb@teamtamer.com) to see if we can resolve the problem.
Your Squads & Groups
Blackheath is a big club, with lots happening for boys and girls, women and men, from 5 years old to 95 years old, but only a sub-section of that activity will be relevant to you and your family.
Whilst the Dashboard shows a broad summary of your activities at Blackheath, "Your Groups" enables you to drill down in more detail.
The functionality of this page hasn't really changed from previous years, but it's better organised and easier to use. Your list of groups has been subdivided, so that you can see which ones are actually playing "Squads", which ones are "Other Groups" (i.e. non-playing groups, and groups that have been created to incorporate more than one squad, usually in order to create events for multiple age groups), and "Volunteers" (these group people into the different activities for which they signed up when they registered for 2024).
Click "Squad Diary" to see all the upcoming matches and other events for this squad or group.
If it's a playing Squad, click "Squad Results" to see the recent past matches and their full scorecards.
Click "Squad Leaders" to see who is running your squad this year, and to get their contact details.
Click "Registered in 2024" to see a list of who is in your squad this year. Unless you are a squad manager you won't be able to see their contact details, but you can get an idea of who else you'll expect to see at training and matches, etc.
Questions & Feedback
Teamtamer has been very successful for Blackheath over the past few years, and hopefully the new version (3.01) will make it even more so. But managing a big cricket club like ours is a very complicated business, and while the software tries to keep things simple there are inevitably issues each year.
If you have trouble using the system, if you're unsure where to even start, if you think you've found a bug ... or even if you just love it and want to say so (I wish!)... tell me. I'll be happy to hear from you, I want to know, and I'll do whatever I can to resolve your issue.
Graham Webb