Why cant i access the variable?

[warren brandt]

in my footy league manager

why cant i print out userTeamName in other functions or at the end of the program...its just blank

userManagerName = ""
userTeamName = ""
leagueName = ""
allTeams = ["Chelsea","liverpool","manu"]

def launcher():
    getNames()
    mainMenu()


def getNames():

    print("FOOTBALL management \nBy WB")
    print("*******************")

    while (True):
        askForManagerName = input("Enter your name:")
        managerNameConfirmation = input("Are you happy with your manager named: " + askForManagerName +
        " (y)es or any other to rename yourself.")

        upperManagerNameConfirmation = managerNameConfirmation.upper()

        if upperManagerNameConfirmation == 'Y':
            userManagerName = askForManagerName
            break

    while(True):
        askForTeamName = input("\nEnter your team name:")
        teamNameConfirmation = input("Are you happy with your team named: " + askForTeamName +
                                     " (y)es or any other to rename your team.")
        upperTeamNameConfirmation = teamNameConfirmation.upper()

        if upperTeamNameConfirmation == 'Y':
            userTeamName = askForTeamName
            break

    allTeams.append(userTeamName)

    while (True):
        askForLeagueName = input("\nEnter the league name:")
        leagueNameConfirmation = input("Are you happy with your league named: " + askForLeagueName +
        " (y)es or any other to rename the league.")

        upperLeagueNameConfirmation = leagueNameConfirmation.upper()

        if upperLeagueNameConfirmation == 'Y':
            leagueName = askForLeagueName
            break

    print("\nHello", userManagerName)
    print("Your team is:", userTeamName)
    print("You will be competing in the", leagueName, "league.")


def mainMenu():
    print(userManagerName)
    while(True):
        print("\nMain Menu")
        print("*********")
        print("\n1) Add or delete teams")
        print("2) List table")
        print("3) Play fixtures")

        try:
            userChoice = int(input("Please enter your selection (1,2 or 3): "))
            while True:
                if userChoice == 1:
                    addDeleteTeams()
                    break

                elif userChoice == 2:
                    mainTeamPool = len(allTeams)
                    if mainTeamPool <=3:
                        print("\nNot Enough teams in the league")
                        mainMenu()
                    else:
                        listTable()
                    break

                elif userChoice == 3:
                    mainTeamPool = len(allTeams)
                    if mainTeamPool <= 3:
                        print("\nNot Enough teams in the league")
                        mainMenu()
                    else:
                        playFixtures()
                else:
                    userChoice = int(input("Please enter your selection (1,2 or 3): "))
            break
        except ValueError:
            print("Invalid input...")


def addDeleteTeams():
    while (True):
        askForOpponentTeamName = input("Enter team name to add to league:")
        askForOpponentTeamNameConfirmation = input("Are you happy with an opponent team named: " + askForOpponentTeamName +
        " (y)es or any other to rename your team.")

        upperManagerNameConfirmation = askForOpponentTeamNameConfirmation.upper()

        if upperManagerNameConfirmation == 'Y':
            opponentTeam = askForOpponentTeamName
            allTeams.append(opponentTeam)
            addAnotherTeam = input("Do you want to add another team? (a) to add another, or any other to "
                                   "return to the main menu? ")
            upperAddAnotherTeam = addAnotherTeam
            if upperAddAnotherTeam == 'a':
                addDeleteTeams()
            else:
                mainMenu()


def playFixtures():
    print("Games playing this week")


def listTable():
    matchesPlayed = 0
    matchesWon = 0
    matchesDrawn = 0
    goalsFor = 0
    goalsAgainst = 0
    teamPoints = 0
    print(userManagerName)
    print("**************************************************************************************************")
    for i in allTeams:
        print(i)


launcher()

[warren brandt]

why is this being used
userTeamName = ""

instead of this:
userTeamName = askForTeamName #team name entered by the user

after calling the mainMenu() function

[warren brandt]

ok

so merely creating a variable outside any function...say at the top of your program...doesnt mean its a global variable

carCount = 0

def countCars():
   countCars = input("Enter number of cars")
   global carCount
   carCount = countCars

now carCount is a global variable