Engage Sports Blog Youth Sports Matters

If you are new to managing a youth sports organization or a veteran, implementing effective management strategies and techniques is essential to operating and growing your organization.  Volunteer leaders often feel overwhelmed given work and other life commitments. A youth sports leader may wear many hats: leader, finance wizard, grounds crew, weather forecaster, cook and peacemaker - all in the same day. As online sports management service providers, we feel your pain. Let us help you through the process with our aptly named free ebook "Effective Management Strategies for Youth Sports Leaders.”

Youth sports participation statistics compiled since 2009 show significant losses and gains across a wide spectrum of sports.  The best available data stems from a multi year tracking study done by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association from 2009 to 2014 which is presented and discussed herein. 

Youth baseball is losing young players and some feel that it is because youth baseball is too boring for today's kids. Nationally youth baseball participation has declined 4.3% from 2009 to 2014, according to a tracking study by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SIFA).  Contrasted with tackle football, which has declined a whopping 17.9% over the same period, baseball's decline looks comparably shallow. Football with its concussion and injury issues is perhaps more understandable, but baseball? Our national pastime?  Why would youth baseball show such a decline?  Is the pace of play and nature of the game turning kids off?  

The Changing the Game Project has released its Top 5 blog posts of 2015.  Each article is a gem of insight and understanding of youth sports. If you are not familiar with the Changing the Game Project, we encourage you to follow them as they are probably the best youth sports improvement program in the country. We had the opportunity to interview their founder, John O'Sullivan earlier this year and gained first-hand insight how their program got started and key steps that parents, coaches and players can make to "change the game."  

Learn about about the benefits of becoming a referee/umpire and why parents, coaches, guardians and others across the country should encourage teens and young adults to consider becoming a youth sports referee/umpire.  Recent press suggests there is growing shortage of youth sports referees/umpires, so it is vitally important to the future of youth sports that teens and young adults are encouraged to become umpires and referees.

All across America Thanksgiving is celebrated with turkeys, food and footballs. High schools and youth leagues use Thanksgiving and the long weekend to host “turkey bowl” rivalry games which have become community traditions.  Nowhere is this tradition more evident than in the hometown of Engage Sports, where the Kirkwood Pioneers and Webster Groves Statesmen have been kicking off the Turkey Bowl event now for over 100 years.  That’s right, 100 years of high school football competition, with over 80 of those games played on Thanksgiving Day. 

Update: According to media reports released today, the attorney general of New York ordered Draft Kings and FanDuel to stop accepting bets in their state, arguing that daily fantasy sites were games of chance, not skill.  The attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, made the argument and distinction that daily fantasy sites require no skill, whereas season-long fantasy leagues are games of skill because they require an ongoing commitment and educated adjustments made to fantasy team rosters based on ongoing player performance.  

If you are into fantasy sports, especially the new daily fantasy sports sites such as FanDuel(c) and DraftKings(c), you will want to 

pay close attention to this story. The FBI and Justice Departments have open investigations into whether daily fantasy sports sites are illegal gambling programs.  At issue is whether the sites are games of chance, which are illegal, or games of skill which are not. 

The Kirkwood Athletic Association (KWAA) has selected Engage Sports of Des Peres, MO to implement a new sports association website and sports registration process for their baseball and softball programs. The new service, planned to be operational in November and ready for the 2016 season, will expand KWAA ability to communicate with parents, teams, and coaches in St. Louis County and surrounding areas. Most importantly, the Engage Sports program includes easy-to-use online youth sports registration and online league scheduling tools that will replace manual processes that were inconvenient for parents and time consuming for the KWAA staff.

HIGHLAND, IL – The Highland Quarterback Club has selected Engage Sports of St. Louis to implement a new sports association website and youth football registration process for the youth football and cheerleading programs. The new service, which will be operational for the 2016 season, will expand the Bulldogs ability to communicate with parents, coaches and the Highland community. Most importantly, the Engage Sports program includes an easy-to-use online football registration platform that will replace manual processes that were inconvenient for parents and time consuming for the Bulldog staff.