The short answer is proof of coach compliance and registered players (and guest players). The longer answer is:
Why PRINTED Game Day Photo Rosters instead of digital?
Digital Issues: We attempted a fully digital season before coming to this decision. Folks complained about connectivity (couldn't load rosters) and more importantly, referees complained that they couldn't reference anything in their hands to confirm that a player had been checked in (vs. snuck in), didn't know player names to commend or card, couldn't reference names of coaches when filing Fair Play reports when there was an issue. We were begged at referee roundtables to make the digital check in go away. Especially because what folks show as "proof" online consisted of everything from TeamSnap to saved PDFs from previous seasons. It was too much. There are 5 of us in the office and 6000 coaches and players on the field in a weekend.
Referees are contractors, not employees. They have to choose to work with us and so our check in needs to be consistent. We need a system that is defensible and scalable - that is uniform and applies to all. In SFYS, we use printed game day photo rosters.
IMPORTANTLY, referees MAY NOT authorize you to participate in the game. They are not SFYS employees and have no visibility into compliance. Referees can only reference what is on the Game Day Photo Roster.
(Thanks for the clarifying question! - We've updated the original post to reflect the more detailed answer.)
The short answer is proof of coach compliance and registered players (and guest players). The longer answer is:
Why PRINTED Game Day Photo Rosters instead of digital?
Digital Issues: We attempted a fully digital season before coming to this decision. Folks complained about connectivity (couldn't load rosters) and more importantly, referees complained that they couldn't reference anything in their hands to confirm that a player had been checked in (vs. snuck in), didn't know player names to commend or card, couldn't reference names of coaches when filing Fair Play reports when there was an issue. We were begged at referee roundtables to make the digital check in go away. Especially because what folks show as "proof" online consisted of everything from TeamSnap to saved PDFs from previous seasons. It was too much. There are 5 of us in the office and 6000 coaches and players on the field in a weekend.
Referees are contractors, not employees. They have to choose to work with us and so our check in needs to be consistent. We need a system that is defensible and scalable - that is uniform and applies to all. In SFYS, we use printed game day photo rosters.
IMPORTANTLY, referees MAY NOT authorize you to participate in the game. They are not SFYS employees and have no visibility into compliance. Referees can only reference what is on the Game Day Photo Roster.
(Thanks for the clarifying question! - We've updated the original post to reflect the more detailed answer.)