How to Make Youth League Admin Life Easier:

Go Paperless.

 

Whether it’s payment collection, registration, scheduling, or any other administrative duty, it’s easy to be stuck in your ways and continue the same routine over and over again. Many youth league organizations still host in-person sign ups, manage paper form registrations and checks, and schedule games by hand because that’s the way it has been for years – until recently.

On the other hand, it’s also daunting to take on new projects and create new processes—and don’t forget about getting your parents and volunteers use to it too.

But, as your organization grows and the average volunteer turnover rate continues to increase, it’s more than worth it to explore alternatives to dated paper registration setups and other manual processes.

So, what else is out there?

Luckily, there is a wide breadth of technologies available for youth sports organizations.

Most of these will make a huge impact on your time, while setting up your youth league’s organization for success in the future. Majority of today’s services can handle more than just basic signups. They can include tools to store documents and photos, create rosters, communicate, and more.

Now, consider your organization’s necessities and the costs to your non-profit league.

How does this make my life easier?

The most crucial resource for volunteer administrators is time.

Imagine your organization has 150+ players, all submitting a registration form and check payment. If it takes two minutes to enter each player’s form into a spreadsheet, that is 5 hours of work every season, just to log registrations. No volunteer has that kind of free time, or should need to spend that amount of time!

Managing, organizing, and entering those registrations are a huge hassle. We haven’t even gotten to tracking payments, organizing rosters, and scheduling games! When an organization is paper-based, all of these other tasks are often disconnected and time consuming; making it even more difficult for admins to track, collect, and store sensitive player data too.

Why should I commit to changing my youth league’s system?

Youth sports as an industry has advanced immensely over the years and your organization needs to grow with it. New technologies have changed how easily and efficiently volunteers can manage a high volume workload.

Offering online registration is not only convenient for your parents and coaches, but it will make the life of any Administrator hassle-free when it comes to managing all of their duties.

Transitioning all of these tasks to a secure online service requires some legwork in the beginning, but all of your volunteers will soon reap the benefits – big time.

So, what do I do next?

Do your due diligence. Prioritize your organization’s needs. Pick a technology service that’s right for your league, and compliant with your State Association or National Governing Body, if applicable.

Most technology services will be able to accommodate your schedule to show a demonstration for your organization and all the features they are equipped with.

Once you have chosen your new online management service for your sports league, be sure to give yourself enough time for training and onboarding. Your new provider should offer a robust training plan along with an easy set-up process to help with the transition.

And finally, when registration time comes around, you’ll be set up and ready to get your teams going—minus the papercuts and headaches.