Event Waitlist and Capacity Transparency

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Since there are still valid concerns with posting the amount of teams on a waitlist and the amount of open spots, how about something even simpler and a bit more subjective. There could be a simple solution of a "waitlist status" that is updated by the RD.
Red waitlist status = long waitlist, unlikely to get in
Yellow waitlist status = waitlist larger than expected capacity
Green waitlist status = Most/all teams from waitlist will get into event

What happens if you sign up at the end of october when the waitlist status is green, and then two weeks later a half dozen rookies sign up (and for the sake of argument the RD didn't think all of them would go for it, since the RD's usually have a pretty good idea of who the new rookies are going to be) , overfilling the waitlist and forcing the RD to make choices?

It's an extreme case, I know... but I know of at least one team that had decided to just "check things out" one year by attending kickoff as guests, then somehow managed to register before leaving kickoff and got their kit a week late.

There are all sorts of situations that can cause an unexpectedly high number of rookies to register for an event, and rookies are pretty well known for registering late. I'd hate to give a team false optimism about being on the waitlist, or to deny a rookie a spot just because they signed up late.

Frankly, I think the "contact your RD and ask" option is probably the best. The RD can give you a good idea if you'll get in or not, and they can even elaborate - something like "there's a 50/50 chance you'll get in looking at the waitlist right now. We're waiting on some rookies to make a decision before we can move teams off." The RD can even give you an idea of when teams will be moved off the waitlist in some cases.