How to Increase Youth Sports Participation (and why it matters)

After a large decline during COVID, youth sports participation is back on the rise.

But overall, participation is still down compared to pre-pandemic levels. And even worse, the United States has a less-than-stellar report card when it comes to youth physical activity.

Participating in sports has been found to increase both physical and mental health among children. In fact, a recent study shows that 58.4% of parents found that their child’s mental health greatly improved as a result of involvement in sports. And, 71% cited improved social well-being.

Unfortunately, 27% of parents reported that their child lost interest in playing sports all together.

As a coach or trainer, you can play an important role as a motivator, and can help facilitate positive relationships with sports that keep young people active throughout life stages.

Here are a few ideas to help you cultivate positive experiences at your business that encourage youth sports participation.

The first step: determine how to motivate your athletes

Success requires motivation. Sports are no exception. Improving youth sports participation starts with motivating your athletes. First, it is important that you find out how they are motivated. Are they intrinsically motivated, fueled by a love for the game and to see what they can do? Or, are they more extrinsically motivated, driven by trophies or recognition. There is no right or wrong form of motivation. But, it’s important to distinguish, as this should influence the way you work with your athletes.

3 ways to increase youth sports participation

1. Keep training fun

For many athletes, especially young ones, they want to play. They want to compete. They want to be the best. But, as you know better than anyone, there is a lot of consistent hard work and preparation that leads up to these moments. While training won’t always live up to the “hype” of competitions, there are ways you can make it more exciting, where athletes look forward to showing up to your facility.

So, how can you keep training fun? Explain the importance of drills. Show athletes how these movements or skills can really benefit them in competition, and improve their gameplay. In addition, you could consider adding a little healthy competition in practice. For example, if you operate a baseball hitting academy, host a “home run derby,” posting a leaderboard in the facility. Not only will their athletes get reps in, but it will help them find fun in practice.

Bonus tip: you can share some of these fun challenges on your social media platforms. Check out this article for more social media content ideas for your sports training business.

2. Give feedback (and celebrate small wins)

In addition to making the training fun, it’s also important that you provide athletes with empowering, motivating feedback. Feedback, both positive and negative, is essential to athlete development. But, it also has a great effect on a child’s experience with their sport.

Celebrating little victories and giving praise is essential to keeping athletes motivated. For young athletes who may just be getting introduced to a specific sport, it’s important to find positive ways to give feedback. As an athlete continues to develop, you can continue to offer constructive comments to help them fine tune a specific skill or refine their technique. There are times to dig into your athletes, and there are times to uplift them. A great strength is recognizing when and where each are appropriate.

For more tips on giving effective athlete feedback and evaluations, check out the Ultimate Guide to Effective Feedback & Evaluations here!

3. Make it easy to get involved

Another way to help increase youth sports participation is to make it easy for parents to register their athletes for various programs. Using a youth sports software will help you reduce barriers to entry and make it easy for athletes to find the program, lesson, or camp that is the right fit for their age, skill level, or position. The best scheduling app for coaches will make it easy for potential athletes to get information on your offerings so they are able to make the most informed decisions.

A poor user experience, or complicated scheduling process will ultimately lead to athletes taking their business elsewhere. Or, even worse, giving up on sports all together. Investing in a sports facility booking app will help you streamline your business operations. As a result, you’ll be able to invest your time and energy into creating inspiring and motivating programs that improve not only a child’s athletic skill, but their physical and mental well-being.

Bonus tip: With features such as auto-renewing memberships or repeat bookingsports software such as Upper Hand can make it even easier for your clients to make sports training a consistent part of their lives. Here’s what to look for in a sports management software..

What’s next?

As more and more life is found online, sports remain a great way to keep children active and connected. And, as a sports business owner and coach, you have an incredible opportunity to influence a child’s experience with sports.

Athletes exist on a spectrum. Some are in search of friends or an energy outlet. Others are looking to make it to the big leagues. No matter where your athletes fall, you can keep sports training fun and exciting. By keeping your programming fun, feedback positive, and business accessible, you can continue to encourage young athletes to stay involved in sports.

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The 7 Day Registration Checklist

Building a registration form can be difficult, especially if you’re doing so by yourself. Check out our 7-Day checklist inspired by TeamSnap!

1. Find a Good Platform

Finding a good platform to set up your registration is the most important step in staying organized. A good platform will allow you to collect as many data points as you need, collect a payment, and track all the happenings of who is registering and when. Getting a good system in place will save you a lot of time and effort in the end!

2. Find out what needs to be recorded

Data is the quintessential piece to your registration setup. Without the appropriate information, you’ll get disorganized and things will start to fall apart. It’s important to take some time to think about what you may need to do with the data in the future and set out some of the major data points you need to be recorded.

3-4. Begin building your form

Once you have found a good foundation and set some time aside to take notes on your registration fields, it’s time to get to work building it out. Take some extra time to really make sure that you hit every point when building this out. Incomplete or difficult registration will only make the lives harder for yourself, coaches, volunteers, players, and parents. Building something simple and easy for parents to complete is the ideal goal when formatting. There is no need for anything too flashy on the registration side of things.

5. Run Through Tests

Now that your registration form is complete, have yourself and a few others run some tests. You may find you missed a data point or find you want to add or remove certain items. You also want to make sure someone other than yourself can run through these tests to get a good outside perspective on the ease of the process.

6. Begin Marketing

After the registration building process is complete, you aren’t done yet. Marketing your program is just as important as the initial setup. Marketing your program can be done either through social media, email marketing, flyers, or whatever your preferred method may be. The more your program is marketed, the more traction it’s going to get.

7. Launch, Promote, and Track

You’ve built out your registration, marketed it, and now it’s time to launch. Once your registration is active, it’s not time to slow down. You’ll want to keep active on things, especially in the first few days to make sure everything is running smoothly. Keeping a watchful eye on things as time passes will help you prepare for the actual program you run. This will also give you a good idea of things you may want to change in the future the next time you set up your registration!

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New Financial Tools in Sports Engine

Sports Engine is releasign new financial tools. Need to know how they work? Check out the full breakdown including videos!

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Youth Sports Program Planning

Planning is the cornerstone of any well-run youth sports program. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail! Proper planning prevents poor performance! Planning is extremely important in coordinating any high-level program. Planning can come in many forms and most all plans are open and customizable to how you want to operate. Below are some tips on different plans you should have in place within your youth sports programs.

  • Scheduling: Schedule out your program dates at least a year in advance. If you run multiple sports leagues organize your dates in a program calendar to give you a picture of the entire year. If you are coordinating programs all year round, you also want to have a solid programming plan in place. Once your schedules are set for the year communicate it!
  • League Documents: No matter what types of documents you use in your league make sure you have your templates ready to go well before your next season. These include things like parents’ packets, rules books, forms, flyers, administrative spreadsheets, etc. Plan out all the documents you need and keep them accessible and organized in one area.
  • Marketing: Marketing plans can come in several forms but at the very least have a calendar or outline on when you want to start to market your programs and what marketing channels you want to use. Narrow your marketing efforts to each of your target markets for more effective marketing and communication. Market to past participants as well as the local community.
  • Budget: Your budget is the planning tool for your finances. Sound budgeting will ensure you only spend what you are able to spend based on your forecasted revenue and expenses. Once your budget is created, stick to it as close as possible and track EVERY expense that comes in to make sure you stay on track.
  • Staffing: If you are a larger organization and have the ability to staff your games with part-time staff or scorekeepers, have a plan to staff your programs. You may also have your own in-house referees or work with an officiating association. Falling short on staff will have a direct effect on your game days and may leave some fields unsupervised or canceled altogether. Make sure to know your optimal staffing levels and have a plan to ensure you never fall short!
  • Staff Training: Training and education is an ongoing process and should be taken seriously. You don’t have to do all your training in-house, as there are tons of resources out there to provide staff trainings. Regardless of how you want to do it, have an annual training program in place to make sure you get the most out of your most valuable investment, your staff.
  • Volunteer Management: Volunteer coaches are the heart of your league and no youth sports league can happen without them. It is extremely important to have a plan to recruit, retain, educate and train your volunteer coaches or any other volunteers that may be a part of your program. The best programs generally have the best volunteer base.
  • Parent Management: Plan on how you are going to manage your parents. This includes education, game day expectations, and your code of conduct.
  • Fundraising: Many youth sports leagues will rely on some type of fundraising to help subsidize your registration fees and provide enough revenue to keep the league running. Have a fundraising plan to keep your fundraising goals on track.
  • Maintenance: If your organization also maintains your sports facilities, create a maintenance plan that focuses on your preventative maintenance for every aspect of your facilities. A sound preventative maintenance plan will keep your facility aesthetically pleasing, increase the lifespan of your assets, and help you identify how long things are supposed to last and when they need to be replaced.
  • Risk Management: Regular inspections, having proper insurance, and creating emergency action plans are all part of your overall risk management plan. Limiting your liability will prevent a catastrophic incident from closing down your program for good.
  • Equipment Inventory: Have a plan for managing your equipment inventory so you always know how much you have on hand and when you need to order more.

To raise awareness about the benefits of youth sports programs, NRPA has also developed a communications toolkit, in partnership with the Walt Disney Company, to help park and recreation professionals make connections and encourage participation in park and recreation youth sports programs. This toolkit provides data-backed messaging, sample social media posts, template graphics and more.

All of the above can be put together to form part of your organization’s business plan and comprehensive strategic plans. Short-term planning can take place a year in advance with long-term plans going out 5-10 years. Regardless of how long you are planning out you should always review and adjust your plans on a regular basis. Lack of planning will always show, so remember if you put in the extra planning work up front, it will make your job easier, your operations smoother, and your overall programs better in the long run!

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Preparing for a New Season- The Official GotSport Guide

GotSport is a tool used all across the country to get teams carded and ready for another year of competition. GotSport is an essential tool in the mixed bag of running a sports organization. But, this tool becomes more complicated when you’re using an external registration platform. Whether a new club admin or volunteer or a season GotSport Vet; sometimes you run into problems and need a refresher. At Sports Office 365, we know how daunting GotSport can be at times. We’re helping out clubs by sharing the official GotSport article to help prepare you for a new season in GotSport! In the section below, you’ll find helpful tips, tricks, and direct links to GotSport articles.

Steps to Prepare for Season Transition if Using a Non-GotSport System for Registration

21/22 to 22/23 Transition FAQ: 

Will I have to create new teams? No, you can register your same existing teams to your league and adjust your rosters accordingly. 

What can I expect if I am uploading players to the system? 

You should have three different types of scenarios. Here is an FAQ for each scenario: 

Scenario One –  Players that played in my club last season: 

  •  As long as Affiliation, First Name, Last Name, DOB (with correct date format in the file), parent name, and email are the same; any other information will just update. 
  •  You may end up with a duplicate player profile in your player list if your file has a different name, gender, or DOB than the player that is already in your club’s player list in the system. If for some reason the data does not match, you can update the player profiles to match your spreadsheet or update your spreadsheet to match the player profile and reupload. 

Scenario Two –  Players that are brand new to the GotSport system: 

  • These players should upload and accounts will be created as long as you have the required columns in your file. 

Scenario Three – Players that are currently in the GotSport system, but played for a different organization last season: 

  • Data from the GotSport system matches your spreadsheet (Affiliation, First Name, Last Name, DOB, Gender). This will create a role for that player in your club, and you should see them in your Club Management Players list. 
  • If a parent does not get added to the player, it is because the parent email already exists in the system to someone else. 

What can I expect when adding coaches or managers to my club? 

You should have three different scenarios when adding coaches or managers to your club. Here is an FAQ for each scenario. 

Scenario One – Coaches/Managers who have a GotSport account already: 

  • If you are uploading, As long as the First Name, Last Name, and Email in your file match what is on their existing account, the coach/manager will be added to your club. 
  • If you are manually searching/adding these coaches and managers, and their First Name, Last Name, and Email matches the information you are searching for, you will be prompted to send a Role Request Approval email. If you search the additional optional information (Date of Birth, and Zip Code) you can bypass the email request and add them directly. 
  • If you have all the required information, you can bypass the email request by adding them directly to a team. This will give them the coach or manager role in your club. To do this, go to Club Management – Teams – Click on a team – Click Roster – Click coach or manager – search by First Name, Last Name, and email. 

Scenario Two – Coach or Manager does not have a GotSport Account: 

  • An account will get created for them via the upload or you will create the account for them if added manually. 

Scenario Three: The addition of a coach or manager fails because the email/user ID is already taken. 

  • This means there is an account in the system that already has the email that you are trying to add them with and the account does not match the first or last name. 
  • You can try to search for different variations of their name (Ex. Mat, Matt, or Matthew). 
  • Check your player’s list for that email. Make sure the player’s email is set in the contact email and try again. 
  • Add the coach/manager with a different email/userid and attach the email you have in their “contact email” box. 

Logging In and Adding Admins  

Account Login: See how to create and login to your GotSport User Account 

Create Club Administrators:  Adding Administrators 

Adding/Editing user title: Add a Title To A Club User 

  • This is a new requirement for all Admin users from last season

Editing an Admins Permissions: Editing an Admins Permissions 

  • Important when separating tasks/what is available in your User’s admin accounts if you would like to limit permissions/access.

Locating Required Governing Body Forms: Locating Required Governing Body Forms 

  • Any form made available for you from your governing organizations. For example Affiliation/Transfer Forms

General Club Management 

Players/Coaches/Managers 

Archive Players previous year players

Uploading players to your club- Note that if you do not include a competitive level or affiliation, you will not see your players initially after you upload and will need to adjust the filters on your player list for them to appear.

Any previously archived players that were uploaded will return to the active player list as long as their uploaded information matches the existing player profile that was archived.

Manually Creating a Player 

  • If you are manually creating players, use the existing player information and login from the previous season to avoid creating unnecessary duplicates
  • Search the player’s DOB, First Name, and Last Name to see if an account exists.  If yes, then add in the email and postal code to bypass the role approval process and directly add the player.
  • If a player does not appear when searching with additional fields (email, postal code), then the email or postal code data that was searched does not match what is listed on the player’s account.

Adding a Player Photo 

  • The player photo from the previous season will appear on the profile by default.  If it needs to be updated, follow the steps in the link above to add a new one while removing the old one.

Add Documents to a Player 

  • If needed for any reason, proof of birth document can be added to a player with the steps above.

Coaches 

Archive Coaches

Coach Upload 

Creating Coaches 

Managers 

Archive Managers

Manager Upload 

Creating Managers 

Duplicate Coach, Manager, and Player User Check – If duplicate player/coach/manager accounts have been created unintentionally, these can be merged as long as the first name, last name, gender and DOB match on both profiles 

Teams  

Archive Teams (If wish to)

Resetting the team player list

Creating a Team Account– When creating a team, set the team age to what the team age is the time of creation, not the next seasonal year’s age.

Team Lock

Roster Lock

Hiding Player List

Team ages do not need to be changed manually.  When the new season begins on August 1, all team ages will update automatically in the system.  If a team age is manually changed, the system will then have the team “age up” again on August 1 and the age will be incorrect.

If Team Rosters are the same from the previous season with minor changes

Team Rosters Starting from Scratch – 

DO NOT CLONE AT ALL – Players From the Previous Season will be removed during the next steps

When you’ve completed building your teams, sync your team rosters – When you sync your rosters, any players that are not on any current or upcoming event roster will automatically be removed from the team.

Printing off Official Rosters and Player Passes

Click here for the full article on the GotSport website

Feeling overwhelmed by GotSport? Reach out to us today for assistance! We are industry experts in GotsSport and in getting your club carded and ready for another season.

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