How to Guide: Choose the Right Hockey Management Software for Your Club
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Our how-to guide shows hockey organizers the best way to pick a youth hockey management software for their club.
Finding the right tools for operating a youth sports program is essential, especially in a competitive landscape like youth hockey. That’s why hockey organizers are taking advantage of youth sports league management software solutions.
Best Youth Hockey Management Software
But, how do we find the right solution? Here’s a quick how-to guide on choosing the right youth hockey league management software for your club. With numerous options available, picking the right solution is key to success. Think about picking the captain of your team: an instant leader on and off the ice.
What is a Hockey Management Software?
Sports management software is a category of technological tools designed to streamline and enhance the operations of sports organizations. These software solutions help with tasks such as registration, team and season management, communication, financial reporting, scheduling, and much more. Centralizing these processes improves the overall efficiency of sports administrators, allowing us to focus more time on the ice and the game, and less on administrative tasks. More time on the ice less time on the phone.
How To Choose Sports League Management Software for Your Hockey Organization
#1 Identify the Needs of Your Youth Hockey Organization
The first step in choosing the right youth hockey management software is a quick look at your organization. Administrators should align the software needs with their board members and consider a few factors:
- What are the age groups and skill levels of your league? How many kids play on your various clubs (mites, squirts, pee wees, bantams, and midgets)?
- What type of budget does your organization have for a software solution?
- Do you have a list of priorities the software must accomplish for your organization? In hockey, this usually comes down to registration that helps cut expenses, scheduling management, managing tournaments, assignments and dealing with volunteers. Let’s call it all of the above.
More and more youth sports organizations treat themselves like businesses. They operate with a growth mindset – setting each season up for tremendous success. Adopting that mindset is a huge advantage to running your everyday operations smoothly. And just like any business, youth hockey organizations are in need of the right tools at their disposal.
#2 Pay Close Attention to Accessibility and Ease of Use
This factor is actually two built into one, but it’s a simple question to ask of your potential youth hockey management software solution. Is the product easy to use, for you and your members? Also, will the product be accessible to your entire organization? From the administrators to the coaches to the athletes’ parents.
Look for youth hockey management software that makes your life easier. Any software may have a slight learning curve, but the idea is for your organization to hit the ground running. A good youth hockey management software will offer proper onboarding and assistance in getting your programs skating with ease.
Accessibility can also take on a few meanings. We want everyone in our organization to have access to the tool, whether that’s the administrators running registration and setting out schedules, the coaches running the day-to-day communication efforts and other operations, or the parents using the tool to sign up their future youth hockey stars.
But, accessibility can also mean providing convenient ways for players to get involved. Does the software’s registration system offer things like waitlists, payment plans, and coupon codes? Is there a sponsorship feature to help kids get better access to the game we love? These are a few factors to consider.
#3 Prioritize Registration
Any youth hockey administrator knows that registration is arguably the most stressful time of year. Why? Because it’s the most important factor in setting up your season, coaches, players, and parents up for success – in addition to the long-term growth of your organization.
Youth hockey organizers should prioritize registration capabilities when choosing sports league management software. Your club or league won’t operate to its full potential without streamlined registration and payment processing. A seamless registration is often the first touch point of every new season and the best way to set up your season for success.
#4 Look for Complete Program Management: Rostering, Scheduling, Communication, and More
Program management is a cornerstone feature of many youth hockey league management software solutions, but that proves just how important these features are. Youth hockey administrators should look for a solution that offers complete program management: handle all of your rostering, scheduling, communication, and more in one easy-to-use platform. No more running from platform to platform to handle daily, operational tasks.
Other Areas to Consider: Sponsorship, Tournaments, Websites
Some other areas to consider with program management include features like sponsorship, tournaments, and help building a website. A good youth hockey league management software will help with all of these areas. Sponsorships are an important way to add financial support and cash funding to your organization. Tournaments are a unique way to diversify your season’s programming, and building an efficient website is key to your growth.
#4 Support and Onboard Training
Heading into the youth hockey season and looking for the best youth hockey league management software, you’ve covered a lot of tasks. You’ve considered your budget and organization-specific needs. You’ve drawn up a wish list of features and capabilities the software should include. Now what?
Often overlooked, don’t underestimate the importance of continued support and onboarding from your new software partner. The solution should offer A+ levels of support and help get your season’s up and running from the start of this new partnership.
#5 Track Reviews and Recommendations
Looking for one last check before you pick a new youth sports league management software? Don’t forget to track reviews and recommendations from other youth hockey organizations. These experiences are a great insight into what your future relationship with the new youth sports league management software will look like.
TeamSnap for Business: Built For Your Youth Sports Organization
TeamSnap for Business is the right set of integrated tools for your youth hockey organization. Our central hub accomplishes all of the above tasks, including some additional and valuable capabilities:
- Registration
- Scheduling
- Website Builder
- Tournaments
- Sponsorships
- …and more!
Next Steps
Ready to learn more about TeamSnap for Business, an advanced suite of integrated tools that will help you simplify growth for your youth hockey business? Sign up for a personalized 1:1 demo today.
