Engage Sports Blog Youth Sports Matters

Improving the check acceptance process is a goal for many athletic associations and leagues. Here at Engage Sports, we find that “pay-by-check” is still a significant part of the registration process; in some cases it is the only method of payment used, while in others, mixed payments (credit cards and checks) are accepted for either the entire registration process or parts (work duty deposit). While checks have been accepted for years, they require special care and attention.  Recently we spoke with our friends at Fuse Financial Partners to learn more about preventing fraud and abuse when accepting checks.  Let's get started...

Are you a stressed out, busy volunteer running a sports association? Help is on the way! You can improve your management process and save your sanity by following these 8 Time-Saving Ways that will keep you better organized, reduce your stress level, and get more input and involvement from others. Let's get started...

The push up is one of the oldest forms of strength training on the books.  Chad Estes, who is an area sales representative for Engage Sports and also a football coach and trainer, recently published an article on YouthFootballOnline.com on how to squeeze more results out of the push up.  Here is an excerpt...read the full article at: http://youthfootballonline.com/squeezing-more-out-of-the-push-up

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.

As a youth sports leaders, whether coach or association director, social media your best aid communication and promotional aid. Social media is how busy people now stay connected and up-to-date.  Social media can help manage your team, recruiting players, keep parents up-to-date, share your success, and keep player and parents alike, motivated and engaged.  Each social media tool has its unique position and should be used like layers of a cake when baking up your overall communications plan. Here are tips to make your use of social media in coaching more productive.

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.

If your youth sports athletic association or league is looking for help on how to convert from paper to an online registration system, you are not alone.  Many associations are still running on paper, yet in today's online world there is little reason for leagues and associations to rely on paper based registrations.  Given that most associations and leagues are staffed by volunteers whose time is precious, anything that can be done to minimize their work load is a huge plus.  The annual team and player registration cycle is one of the most demanding workloads on association staff and therefore an ideal target for optimization.  

Congrats to Team Japan on their comeback win to beat the Lewisberry, Pa team 18-11. Japan has now won 11 Little League World Series titles.

What can youth sports leaders learn from Burger King's sizzling proposal, “Let’s work together to create the McWhopper” to McDonald’s?  It turns out a lot. While seemingly simple on the surface, this proposal is a great example of the value of creative PR, the value of unique promotion and the concept of smaller organizations positioning themselves with larger entities for greater awareness and gain.  These are ingredients that any youth sports leader can use to improve the health and standing of their organization.