The following are some of the most frequently asked questions to help you understand the Healthy Competition.
- What are the program requirements?
- Does each player need an email address?
- How long is a healthy competition?
- How many teams do I need to form a league?
- What if I am only interested in forming a single team, rather than a league?
- How many players do I need to start a team?
- If you don’t have enough players to form a league, can you still form a team?
- If I cancel a league, will the teams still be able to compete on their own?
- How do I select a start date?
- Is there a deadline for adding new team members?
- How many teams can I have?
- How many players can be on each team?
- Why do you recommend 3 weeks to set up the Healthy Competition?
- What happens if a person deletes their Team Captain invitation before they have had a chance to accept and register?
- What happens if a person deletes their Team Member invitation before they have had a chance to accept and register?
- What if I unknowingly type an incorrect email address when sending invitations?
- Can I add team members to the healthy competition once it has begun?
- As a League Leader, I have heard that people need more time to complete the invitation process, what can I do?
- Our competition has started and I have a few people who didn’t accept their invitations to join a team prior to the competition start date. What can I do?
- As a League Leader, what can I do if a Team Captain can no longer participate in a Team Captain capacity?
- One of the people on my team has made the decision to no longer participate in the Healthy Competition. What does this mean for my team? Can I remove them?
- Can I compete in more than one Healthy Competition?
- Will my Team/Team Captain/League Leader be able to see my personal information (weight/BMI) on the Web site?
- What if I forget to enter my steps or servings?
- Can I Resend Invites to join a Healthy Competition?
- How do I view Healthy Competition Results?
What are the program requirements?
The program is offered FREE and is designed to be web-based so it does require internet access and an individual email account.
Does each player need an email address?
Yes. Each user needs to have an individual email account. The users email account is part of the authentication process to provide them access to their own personalized web page where they track their steps, servings and progress. It is also a key part of how we identify them and allow them to start or join a Healthy Competition(s).
Although web access can be through a shared computer, the program can't be used without each user having an individual email account. Email is how users are invited to participate and get registered to access the Individual and Healthy Competition features. We require each user to have an individual email account to protect their personal information, which is a key part of the program.
Some organizations have opted to put a computer in their break room for tracking purposes, but this still requires each user to have an individual email account. Other organizations have elected to launch the program at their sites where the majority of the staff is equipped with email.
NOTE: The email account doesn't have to be through work, it can be a personal email account. You may have to limit your competition to those users who do have email. Unfortunately this excludes users without email, an alternative is to have them track there progress and incorporate it into the final standings manually.
How long is a healthy competition?
The league competitions are 8 weeks in length.
How many teams do I need to form a league?
There is no minimum number of teams needed to form a league; however, we do recommend a minimum of two teams or more to enhance your competitive experience.
What if I am only interested in forming a single team, rather than a league?
For those who don’t have enough players to form a league or who are interested in working with others to reach a common goal, we suggest taking the simpler approach of creating one team only. This is called Single Team Play and allows a group of players to work together towards a healthy goal.
How many players do I need to start a team?
There is no minimum number of players needed to form a team. The competition ranking system was designed specifically to allow teams of varying size to compete against each other. Users can form a team of 1 person; however we recommend teams of 2 or more people for motivation throughout the eight-week competition.
If you don’t have enough players to form a league, can you still form a team?
Yes, definitely! You can create a single team and challenge those on the team to strive to reach healthy goals together rather than compete against other teams. If you chose this form of play, you will not need to create a league.
If I cancel a league, will the teams still be able to compete on their own?
Yes. Even after a league is dissolved, the teams remain active for all those who wish to continue playing. You can also transfer the responsibilities of a Team Captain to an existing team member of that team if the need arises.
How do I select a start date?
Keep in mind it can take people a while to respond to an email. Some may be on vacation or out of the office. Make sure you leave enough time to invite captains, and leave them enough time to invite and set up their teams. A minimum of three weeks lead-time is advisable.
Is there a deadline for adding new team members?
Yes, team members must be added before the competition starts. Keep in mind, team members must accept the invitation before midnight of the competition start date.
How many teams can I have?
Each league can have up to 200 teams.
How many players can be on each team?
If possible, we recommend you break your teams up into manageable groups of 20 to 30 players. The system allows for up to 200 players per team. We recommend you try to make your teams relatively even to keep the competition fair.
NOTE: A "percentage-based" scoring system allows teams of various sizes to compete fairly against each other.
Why do you recommend 3 weeks to set up the Healthy Competition?
Due to busy workloads, differing work schedules and holidays/vacations, we have found it works best to issue invitations at least 3 weeks prior to the competition start date. This should allow enough time to get as many interested individuals signed up for the Healthy Competition as possible.
What happens if a person deletes their Team Captain invitation before they have had a chance to accept and register?
The League Leader is able to add teams using their league tools. They would simply type in the Team Captain’s email address again to issue a new invitation.
What happens if a person deletes their Team Member invitation before they have had a chance to accept and register?
The Team Captain who sent the original invitation can use the Captains Tools to add more people and reissue the invitation.
What if I unknowingly type an incorrect email address of someone who I would like to invite to join the Healthy Competition?
As the issuer of an invitation, if an incorrect email address has been typed in, you will receive a delivery failure reply notice. This will be your indication that a correction is needed.
Can I add team members to the Healthy Competition once it has begun?
No. All team members must accept their invitations to join and complete the sign-up process before midnight of the competition start date.
As a League Leader, I have heard that people need more time to complete the invitation process. What can I do?
As League Leader you are able to change the start date of the Healthy Competition up until midnight of your competition start date. You may find it beneficial to move the start date back a day or two to get those last minute stragglers signed up!
Our competition has started and I have a few people who didn’t accept their invitations to join a team prior to the competition start date. What can I do?
Unfortunately they can’t join a Healthy Competition once it has started. In the interest of including late-comers, you may wish to encourage these individuals to track their steps and servings outside the Healthy Competition. They can sign up as individuals and create their own personal homepage to track individual progress. The individual(s) would need to turn in their progress at the end of the 8-week competition to be manually factored into the team’s performance by the team captain. The Team Captain would be responsible for providing the team’s overall progress to the League Leader for assessment of the league competition ranking and final results.
As a League Leader, what can I do if a Team Captain can no longer participate in a Team Captain capacity?
League leaders are able to use their league tools to “promote” another individual from within the same team to Team Captain status. Simply click on the Change Team Captain button and follow the directions.
One of the people on my team has made the decision to no longer participate in the Healthy Competition. What does this mean for my team? Can I remove them?
Yes, once the competition is underway, if a team member is no longer able to participate, a Team Captain has the ability to remove the individual from the team roster. The individual's steps and servings will be removed from the team’s progress back to day one.
Can I compete in more than one Healthy Competition?
Yes, you can actually participate on several teams/leagues simultaneously or start a new competition at the completion of the first. You only need to sign up once. The when you’re sent an invite to join a competition, follow the unique link in the email. Then log-in on the Join a Team page. This adds you to the new competition.
Will my Team/Team Captain/League Leader be able to see my personal information (weight/BMI) on the Web site?
No. They will only be able to view an aggregate ranking of total steps and fruit/vegetable servings against a team goal.
What if I forget to enter my steps or servings?
If you miss entering your information for a few days, the Web site will prompt you to record information for the days you missed the next time you enter your daily information.
Can I Resend Invites to join a Healthy Competition?
Yes. Should a user delete the original invite or not receive it, you can simply resend their invite.
To Resend a Team Captain invite.
• Go to the Healthy Competition page
• Select your League from the "View My League" dropdown menu
• Then under your League Tools select "Add a Team"
• Enter the email address of the person you want to re-invite to be a team captain, and click "Add Team"
• The system will recognize the user is being re-invited and resend the invitation.
To Resend a Team Member invite.
• Go to the Healthy Competition page
• Select your Team from the "View My Team" dropdown menu
• Then under your Captains Tools select "Add More People"
• Enter the email address of the person you want to re-invite to be a team member, and click "Add More People"
• The system will recognize the user is being re-invited and resend the invitation.
How do I view Healthy Competition Results?
You can view Healthy Competition Results in several ways
Under your "League Tools" select the League Ranking button, which launches a new window with your Healthy Competition results. This allows you to view results for each week of the competition.
Team Captains and League Leaders can also view results by using the "View Team Input" (Team Captains) or "Edit Team Input" (League Leaders) buttons. Then click on the "Export to Excel" button to save the information you select to an Excel File.