What it does: Build evaluation forms once, and coaches use them to rate athletes from the team roster.
You'll learn how to:
Who it's for: Team Admins and Event/Program Directors build forms. Coaches, directors, and admins fill them out.
Create and Build an Evaluation
How to View Your Evaluations
Sign in to a PlayerFirst website.
On the left navigation, click Team > Player Evaluation Settings.
Review the Evaluations table:
Evaluation — the evaluation's name. Click it to open the evaluation in the builder.
Status — where the evaluation is in its lifecycle (see Edit, Archive, Duplicate, or Delete an Evaluation).
Last edited — the date the evaluation was last changed.
Responses — the number of submitted evaluations.
Actions — click the three-dot button to open a menu of what you can do with that evaluation. Click anywhere outside the menu to close it without doing anything.
NOTE: Only users with the Team Admin or Event/Program Director role can open Player Evaluation Settings.
How to Create an Evaluation
On the Evaluations page, click Create New Evaluation.
In the Name your evaluation window, type an Evaluation name (for example, "Spring Skills Assessment").
The message under the field tells you whether the name works. It starts as a gray prompt, turns green with a checkmark when the name is valid, and turns red when it isn't (for example, if it's too short or another evaluation already has that name).
The name must be 3 to 512 characters.
Click Create evaluation. The button stays disabled until the name is valid. To back out without creating anything, close the window.
The evaluation opens in the builder as a Draft, with one blank section and one blank multiple choice question ready to fill in.
How to Build the Form
At the top of the builder, you can edit the evaluation's name directly, and the status badge next to it shows whether the evaluation is a Draft, Live, or another status.
The Build tab is where you create the form, and the Form Settings tab controls availability and score visibility. Click the back arrow to return to the list of evaluations.
On the Build tab, the Form outline on the left lists every section, with the questions under it. Click an item in the outline to jump to it. Required questions are marked with an asterisk, and the item you're editing is highlighted.
Add and arrange sections
Click Add Section (on the page or at the bottom of the outline).
Type a Section name of at least 3 characters.
Optionally, add a description for the section.
To change the order, drag a section by its grip handle. The outline updates as you move it.
To remove a section, click its trash icon. If the section has items, you'll be asked to confirm, because every item in it is removed.
NOTE: Sections are numbered in order, and you can't delete the last remaining section.
Add questions and comments
In a section, click Add question to add a question, or Add comment to add a comment.
New items open in edit mode.
For a question, type the question in Type your question..., then choose the Type at the bottom:
Multiple choice: the coach picks one answer. You write the answer choices.
Free text: the coach types an answer.
Turn on Required if the question must be answered. A Required badge shows on the collapsed question.
For a comment, type what you want the coach to write about in Comment prompt (for example, "Coach notes on technique"). A comment is a free-form notes box. It isn't scored, and it's never required.
Use the duplicate icon to copy an item, the trash icon to delete it, and the up arrow to collapse it. A collapsed item shows its text, type, and number of choices.
To change the order, drag a question or comment by its grip handle. You can reorder within a section.
Edit multiple choice answers
Open a multiple choice question.
Edit the text in any Choice label box.
Click Add choice to add another choice, or the X next to a choice to remove it. A question needs at least 2 choices.
New multiple choice questions start with five choices: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Average, and Needs Improvement.
NOTE: If a multiple choice question isn't required, a Skip option is added automatically.
Set When It Goes Live and Publish
How to Set the Form Settings
In the builder, click the Form Settings tab, or click Continue to Settings at the bottom of the Build tab.
Under Availability, choose when the form goes live:
Immediately upon publish: coaches can fill it out as soon as you publish.
On a specific go-live date: pick the Go-live date. Until that date the status is Scheduled.
To stop collecting responses on a date, turn on Set an end date and pick the End date. Leave it off to run until you close the form yourself.
The end date must be at least a day after the go-live date.
Under Sending results to families, choose when families see completed evaluations:
Set up in Communications: results aren't sent automatically. Send them later from Communication > Create Message (see How to Send Evaluation Results to Families).
Immediately upon submission: families get the results by email as soon as a coach submits the evaluation.
Under Score visibility, choose:
Public: parents and athletes can see the numeric score in the results they receive.
Private: the score stays internal. Families see ratings and comments only. Scores are visible to staff in the evaluation's submissions.
Click Save as Draft, or Publish when you're ready.
How to Publish an Evaluation
In the builder, make sure every section has a name of at least 3 characters and at least one question, every question has text, and every multiple choice question has at least 2 labeled choices.
Click Publish.
If something is missing, you'll see "Not ready to publish." followed by a list of what to fix.
When it works, you'll see "Evaluation published," and the evaluation is Live, or Scheduled if you chose a future go-live date.
NOTES:
Save as Draft saves your work and keeps you in the builder. Drafts are hidden from coaches.
Coaches only see evaluations that are Live and inside their availability window. Drafts, scheduled, ended, and archived evaluations are hidden from coaches.
Fill Out an Evaluation for an Athlete
After an evaluation is Live, coaches, program directors, and admins fill it out one athlete at a time. Start from the athlete's spot on the team roster.
How to Open the Evaluation Page for an Athlete
From the team's roster (coaches, directors, and admins):
Sign in to a PlayerFirst website.
On the front end of the website, go to Teams. Click on the team name of the team that needs an evaluation filled out. Navigate to that team's Roster tab.
Find the athlete and click + Evaluate in the Evaluation column.
The Created column next to it shows the date of the athlete's most recent evaluation, or None.
From Team Reporting (admins):
On the left navigation, click Team > Team Reporting.
Click the Rosters tab and find the athlete.
In the Eval Created column, click the link icon. If the athlete has been evaluated before, the icon sits next to the date. The evaluation page opens in a new tab.
How to Fill Out and Submit the Evaluation
Check the athlete card at the top of the page. It shows the athlete's name and their Team, Position, and Club.
Review Evaluation history. It lists the evaluations already completed for this athlete, with the date of each. A Sent badge marks the ones that were sent to the family.
Under Choose an evaluation to fill out, click Select an evaluation... and choose the evaluation.
If this athlete already has that evaluation, a line appears that reads "Last filled out by [coach] on [date]." Check it so you don't fill out a duplicate.
Answer the questions in each section. Each question is labeled Required or Optional.
Multiple choice: select one answer. Optional questions also have a Skip this question option.
Free text: type in the Type your answer... box.
Comments: type your notes in the Add your comments... box.
At the bottom of the form, check your progress (for example, "3 of 5 required questions answered").
Click Submit evaluation. The button stays disabled until every required question is answered.
When the evaluation is saved, you'll see Evaluation submitted. If the evaluation is set to send results Immediately upon submission, the message says "The results were sent to the family." If not, it says the answers are saved and that results are shared according to the evaluation's delivery settings.
Click Back to roster to go back to the team, or click Fill out another evaluation to fill out a different evaluation for the same athlete.
NOTES:
Coaches on the team, directors of the team's program, and admins (including Team Admins) can fill out evaluations. Team managers who aren't also listed as coaches can't. They see "You do not have permission to evaluate this athlete."
The Evaluate button only appears for teams in divisions where athletes register individually (for example, individual and tryout teams). Teams in divisions that register by team don't have it.
The list only shows evaluations that are Live and inside their availability window. If none are, you'll see "No evaluations are live right now. Check back once your club publishes one."
There's no save as draft. Your answers are saved only when you click Submit evaluation. Leaving the page loses them, and choosing a different evaluation in the dropdown clears them.
Scores aren't shown while you fill out the form. Admins see the score under View Submissions.
A submitted evaluation can't be edited. Submitting the same evaluation again, or a second coach submitting it, creates a separate evaluation in the athlete's history.
Review Submissions and Scoring
How to Review Submissions
On the Evaluations page, click the three-dot button in the Actions column and click View Submissions.
Review the table of athletes. It shows each athlete's Team, Club, Score, and Completed date.
Click an athlete's name to open their evaluation.
The athlete's evaluation shows their name, position and team, the date it was completed, and the coach who submitted it.
Each question appears with its answer: free-text answers show in a text block, and multiple choice answers show the selected option (and the points it earned).
Each section shows its own score, and the Overall score is shown at the right.
On the right, Evaluation history lists the athlete's other evaluations.
The one you're viewing is marked Now, and you can click another to open it.
NOTES:
Athletes who haven't been evaluated yet appear grayed out and can't be opened.
Evaluations that were started before the builder existed show their original comments in a Comments card instead of individual answers.
How Scoring Works
Evaluations are scored automatically. The Build tab shows a Scoring is on banner as a reminder.
Points are assigned to a multiple choice question's choices by position: the first choice is worth the most points, and each choice after it is worth one fewer. Put your choices in order from strongest to weakest, because more points means a stronger rating.
Skipped questions, free-text questions, and comments aren't included in the score.
Scores are shown as a percentage between 0 and 100, calculated as (score − lowest possible score) ÷ (highest possible score − lowest possible score) × 100.
You see each athlete's score on the submissions page, next to their individual answers.
Score visibility (see How to Set the Form Settings) decides whether families see the score.
Send Results and Track Evaluations
How to Send Evaluation Results to Families
Completed evaluations go out in an email you create in Communication > Create Message. You pick the athletes whose evaluations should go out, then add the [[PLAYER_EVALUATION]] data token to your message. Each recipient's email includes the athlete's evaluation where the token appears.
Sign in to a PlayerFirst website.
On the left navigation, click Communication > Create Message.
Select the recipient types. Select both Athletes and Parents, so parents and athletes each receive the evaluation.
In the list of filters, select Player Evaluations ("Athlete player evaluation"), plus any other filters you want, then click through the pages. You'll be asked to choose the programs, divisions, and teams the evaluations belong to.
On the Filter Player Evaluations page, choose which evaluations to include:
To include evaluations created on or after a date, choose Evaluation Created On or After and pick a date. Then choose All From Created Range, Evaluations Not Sent, or Evaluations Already Sent.
To include evaluations created before a date, choose Evaluation Created Before and pick a date. Only Evaluations Not Sent is available for this option.
Write your subject and message. Next to Message, click Data Tokens, click the copy icon next to [[PLAYER_EVALUATION]] ("Player team-level evaluations"), and paste the token where you want the evaluation to appear in the email.
Preview your message. A warning reads: "When using the [[PLAYER_EVALUATION]] token, any profiles without an evaluation to send will be excluded."
Send the message.
NOTES:
Include athletes along with parents. An evaluation is tied to the athlete, so a message sent to parents only can arrive without the evaluation.
The Player Evaluations filter isn't available when you're only messaging coaches, team managers, or college coaches.
Recipients who don't have an evaluation to send are left out of the message.
Data tokens only work for recipients that come from filters. The token is removed from emails sent to addresses you type into Additional Emails to Send To.
If an athlete has more than one evaluation on a roster, only the most recent one is included.
What families receive
The token is replaced with the athlete's most recent evaluation for each roster they're on. It includes the player's name, the date the evaluation was created, each section with its answered questions, any comments, and a View this evaluation in a new window link. Skipped questions aren't shown.
Scores follow the evaluation's Score visibility setting (see How to Set the Form Settings). A Public evaluation shows the Overall score and each section's score in the email. A Private evaluation shows ratings and comments only.
After you send
Every evaluation that went out is marked as sent. The date shows in the Eval Sent column in Team Reporting (see How to See Which Athletes Have Been Evaluated), and Evaluations Not Sent will leave those athletes out the next time you send.
How to See Which Athletes Have Been Evaluated in Team Reporting
On the left navigation, click Team > Team Reporting.
Click the Rosters tab, and use the filters at the top to narrow the list to the division or team you want.
Review the Eval Created and Eval Sent columns:
Eval Created — the date the athlete's most recent evaluation was created. Click the date to open the evaluation.
Eval Sent — the date that evaluation was sent to the family. It's blank if it hasn't been sent.
To see only athletes who have been evaluated, filter the Eval Created column to Yes.
To filter by date instead, open the advanced search window. Under Evaluation, choose Created Since or Not Created Since and pick a date. You can do the same for Sent Since or Not Sent Since. Then click Filter.
NOTES:
If an athlete has more than one evaluation, Eval Created and Eval Sent reflect the most recent one. Deleted evaluations aren't counted.
On the Teams tab, the Evals Created and Evals Sent columns show how many evaluations each team has created and sent.
Edit, Archive, Duplicate, or Delete an Evaluation
Click the three-dot button in the Actions column to manage an evaluation. The options depend on its Status.
Status | What it means | Available actions |
Draft | Saved but hidden from coaches. | Edit, Duplicate, Delete |
Scheduled | Published, but before its go-live date. | Edit, View Submissions, Duplicate, Archive |
Live | Available to coaches now. | Edit, View Submissions, Duplicate, Archive |
Completed | Past its end date. | View Submissions, Duplicate, Archive |
Archived | Hidden from coaches. Submissions stay viewable. | View Submissions, Duplicate, and Delete (only if it has no responses) |
How to Edit a Live Evaluation
Open the evaluation. A This evaluation is live warning appears: "Editing a live form changes what coaches see right now."
Click Continue editing (or Cancel to leave), make your changes, and click Publish changes.
NOTES:
Editing a live form can leave questions that were already answered with inconsistent or missing data. Add or remove items only if you understand the impact.
Save as Draft on a live evaluation hides it from coaches until you publish it again, and you'll be asked to confirm.
How to Archive, Duplicate, or Delete an Evaluation
Archive — click Archive and confirm. Coaches no longer see the evaluation, but submissions stay viewable.
Duplicate — creates a draft copy named "[Evaluation name] (copy)" and opens it in the builder.
Delete — click Delete (the trash icon in the builder, or from the Actions menu) and confirm. The evaluation is removed from the list. This can't be undone.
NOTE: Only drafts, and archived evaluations with no responses, can be deleted. To delete a live evaluation, archive it first.