Engage Sports Blog Youth Sports Matters

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. 

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.