The Administrator

Practices are fun it’s the planning that is the killer

It’s Sunday night and I have two practices to plan this week for my travel team I am coaching.  We are six weeks into the season and I need to liven up the practices to help reinvigorate my players.  I will spend the first practice working on refining their basic skills.  I know the basics are the foundation of a good player and if we don’t continue to improve on these, it will be difficult to raise our level of play.  My second practice will focus on one of our biggest problems—scoring goals! 

I wipe the dust off a book and DVD that my club provided for me but there is nothing that catches my eye.  I begin to comb the internet for those few elusive drills/games that my players may have not seen before.

I start with the US Youth Soccer website and then move to my state soccer association site.  I run into a lot of material but nothing that is fresh and new. 

I do a Google search and start clicking away from site to site.  I find a few good drills/games on a couple of sites but I am now 35 minutes into this process and I still have only 3 quality drills/games.  I have to sign up for a half dozen free newsletters in order to look at these drills/games and my inbox is already packed with special offers from these sites—HELP!

Here are a few tips to help you get through this time consuming process:

• Narrow down your list of sites you visit to the ones that continuously add new drills/games.  Fresh new content is a must! 
• Make sure the drills/games are understandable.  Too many arrows and dotted lines may add to your frustration when trying to decipher what player moves where.
• Look for drills/games that are supported with video and/or animation… it makes it that much easier to understand the drill and how it is supposed to work on the field.
•  Make sure you can print the drills/games from the site to bring to your practice, or better yet, the ability to email them to your smart phone to view them at the field.

As a coach, you cannot just print a few drills and expect to be done.  Plug the drills/games that you found into a practice plan.  Below is a simple format I like to use, which divides my practice into thirds:

1. Ball skills
2. Drills/games geared towards your practice theme (i.e. finishing, passing & receiving)
3. Small sided games keeping with the practice theme.  

Keep your format consistent each week and this will make the practice easier to follow for the players and the coaches.  Re-evaluate the format each season and make adjustments if needed. 

Bottom Line: If you spend a little extra time researching soccer sites and find one that has the qualities listed above and it costs a few dollars-JOIN!  The money you spend for the yearly subscription (usually less than $50) is well worth it.  It will pay for itself by the amount of time it saves you over the course of the year. 

Keep the practices fun and challenging and your players will reward you with improved play and maybe even a goal or two!

-Guest Author: Tyler Isaacson

Tyler Isaacson has 30 years playing and coaching experience and works with clubs across the country developing recreation& travel practice programs which are used by over 10,000 coaches.For more information visit: www.youthsoccer101drills.com.

Superior Service

 Recently I had the privelidge to visit the Corporate Office and Operations of Europort, the world’s largest soccer fulfillment company. As you may know, at Blue Sombrero, we are proud to be their exclusive partner for our Club Store service, which is available to all our partners nationwide as an effective fundraising tool.

When they allowed us to visit their Open House I was very excited to see how the uniform and customization process works behind the scenes. There were both current customers and prospective clubs attending as we all went to their off-site operations warehouse (which is 250,000 sq ft by the way).

Everything I witnessed from how fast they picked the purchased items at the warehouse for delivery, to customizing the logo on the exact spot on the jersey , to having over 250 call center representatives standing by for support was all top notch and professional. In fact their commitment to superior service stuck with me throughout my visit as we at Blue Sombrero strive for the same high service level with a similar passion for the game of soccer.

Overall, I left with a new found respect for what all goes into the uniform business and how much detail and service they provide day in and day out. It is not easy to remain the leader in any industry as you constantly have to stay ahead of the curve looking to improve. We at Blue Sombrero realize this too as we look to stay ahead and provide a superior service in our own industry.

About Blue Sombrero:

Blue Sombrero is the Leading Provider for Online Registration and Web Design for Youth Soccer [Sports]. With SombreroREG™ and SombreroWEB™, Blue Sombrero provides online registration and club management services to hundreds of clubs [organizations] across more than 40 states.

 

-Adam Abney: National Sales Manager for Blue Sombrero

A Blue Sombrero Holiday

This holiday season, we here at Blue Sombrero celebrated the holiday in true BSB fashion, by holding a holiday lunch consisting of pizza and our annual White Elephant gift exchange. For those of you who are just as confused as I was to what a White Elephant gift exchange was or the rules of such an exchange, simply read below!

You first need to find a tacky, awkward, or weird item you have in your home. No purchases allowed! Wrap your present and sneak it, “Mission Impossible style”, into the gift exchange site. This is so no one can tie your gift to you come exchange time!

Before you are ready to begin the exchange, every one involved needs to draw numbers from a hat to decide “choosing” order. Obviously, the person with the number 1 chooses from the pile first. The person with number 2 can either steal Number 1’s gift or choose another gift from the pile.

Note: In the case of a “steal,” the person from whom the item was stolen gets to open another item. And remember, a gift can only be stolen 3 times! This choosing/stealing pattern continues until the last person has finished stealing or choosing their gift from the pile!

Some items gifted this year included adult diapers, a dust buster and a martial arts sword.The exchange involved many steals, tons of laughs, and lots of fun. Longtime Blue Sombrero support veteran, Drew Howell, even stated in an intra office email, “Thanks everyone! [White Elephant] ‘twas FUN!”

CEO Erik Stadler opens his gift like a kid on Christmas or Hanukah (whichever you prefer)

Happy Holidays from all of us at Blue Sombrero!

Author: Kelsey Clark

 

RED LIGHT/GREEN LIGHT: WHERE DO WE STOP & GO IN 2012?

“Coach Qiana, can we play red light/green light?”  It is a question that I am always eagerly asked by my smallest students.

For those coaches who have incorporated this game into their practices, it is an activity that helps to develop a player’s dribbling abilities.  The participants begin on a starting line and dribble when the command “green light” is said.  At the time the coach yells “red light,” the players must promptly stop or risk taking 3 steps back.  The first person to the finish line wins.

I thought red light/green light would be fitting for this end-of-the-year blog entry because I believe it is the perfect time for us to reflect on and discuss our obstacles and goals in the sport of soccer for the upcoming year.  Both individually and collectively, there are habits we would like to stop as teachers of this game and new traditions that we would love for parents and players to move forward. 

In the last few years, a couple of red light/green light examples have been implemented to help give our players a better understanding of the fundamentals of the game, as well as to educate our instructors and parents on how to reinforce these principles.  Check out the examples below.

• Kicking is not soccer:  The time for encouraging players to kick and chase the ball is coming to a halt.  With state associations emphasizing “soft touch dribbling,” coaches are teaching the youngest players how to interact with the ball more and enlightening parents as to how their choice of words can support this effort.

• The New Ball Method: With practice times limited, scrimmage play seemed to go in fits and starts when the ball would repeatedly go out of bounds.  The new ball method keeps the play going constantly as coaches simply yell “heads up, new ball,” and toss another ball into the playing area.  Especially for those newest to the sport, goal kicks and throw-ins were irrelevant and putting a stop to this practice in favor of continuous activity participation has only benefitted development.

So now it is your turn.   “What would you like to give a red light in this sport for 2012?”  “What do you think should be given the green light in American soccer?”  Join in on the conversation.  Together, we can keep pooling our wisdom to help develop our athletes into great participants of this global game.

Qiana Martin is an international athlete, global soccer ambassador, Fila Body Toning Spokesmodel and owner of Eat Soccer.  Her for-profit and non-profit efforts introduce new communities to, and inspire participants of, the beautiful game.  Most recently, Qiana released her Soccer Mental 90 and Soccer Mission: View the Match downloads on iTunes. In 2012, she will be a featured soccer video expert on eHow.com.  To learn more about Qiana’s work on and off the field, connect with her on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

SEI Team Sports Receives a New Look

Sports Endeavors, the parent company of Eurosport and www.soccer.com, has partnered with Blue Sombrero to release a great new website to showcase their Team Sales for multi-sports, www.seiteamsports.com!

Everyone who has seen the new design is impressed by the outstanding look and functionality of the site. As a SombreroWEB customer, they now have a sharp new site, with the ability to update content as needed. "SEI Team Sports website is a clean, no-fuss web design. It's easy for customers to navigate while being professional, yet welcoming. The brands and sports are easy to find, easy to use, and easy to quote for. Some sports sites can be very complicated and busy-looking, but not SEI" - Magie Brennan, BSB Graphic Designer

About Sports Endeavors:

Inspired by a high school business project, Sports Endeavors was founded in 1984 by brothers Mike and Brendan Moylan in North Carolina. They are still family-owned to this day. As a corporate-community citizen, they have donated countless sports equipment and financial aid to disaster relief in Haiti and Japan. To learn more about Sports Endeavors and the services they offer, please visit their new website.

2012 NSCAA Convention -- Are You Attending?

Have you registered for the 2012 NSCAA Annual Convention? Made your hotel reservations? Packed your bags? Blue Sombrero is attending the 2012 NSCAA Convention and we have plenty planned for those who stop by our booth. Remember, just look for the inflatable Sombrero hanging from the rafters!

Blue Sombrero User Forum:

The first event we are extremely excited about is our 3rd Annual Blue Sombrero User Forum that will take place Friday, January 13th, 2012 from 3 pm to 5 pm. At Blue Sombrero, we value nothing more than our customers and this is a great chance for us to get to know you (and vice versa!). Some of our greatest enhancements have come directly from feedback in our user forums, so make sure to reserve your spot today!

The “NSCAA Cup” Presented by Blue Sombrero:

Another event we could not be more excited about is the return of Soccer Tennis or “The 2012 NSCAA Cup” Presented by Blue Sombrero. For those of you who attended the NSCAA convention in 2008, you might remember past professional soccer players joining in or even National Sales Manager, Adam Abney and Director of Support, Benton Carper dominating (or so they say) on the court! This year, Soccer Tennis has returned and Blue Sombrero will be holding an all day event on Saturday, January 14th, 2012 with the preliminary rounds being held from 10AM to 4PM and the finals immediately following. Reserve your spot to play!

Admin Sessions:

Last but not least, our CEO and founder, Erik Stadler will be presenting two workshops:

How to Handle Volunteer Staff Turnover & Best Practices for Your Club’s Operations

• When: Friday, January 13, 2012: 10:30am - 11:30am

Developing an Effective & Easy to Manage Communications Strategy for Your Club

• When: Saturday, January 14, 2012: 2:15pm - 3:15pm

We hope to see you there and don’t forget to stop by, meet the Blue Sombrero team, and join in the fun!

Fundraising 101

Running a youth sports organization is hard work whether you’re a competitive club with just a handful of teams or a large rec association, some challenges are universal across all levels of youth soccer.

One issue that consistently comes up at all levels of play is finances. We all know that playing team sports is important for the youth in our communities. However, in order to keep the teams playing, a non-profit association often needs assistants from parents or anyone willing and able to financial donate.

Contrary to popular belief, history has proven that the holiday season is a great, if not the best; time of year to collect donations for your organization. At the end of the year many are assessing their financial situation and for their own reasons, are more willing to donate funds. Here are a few ideas to capitalize on others’ overwhelming generosity and increase financial flow to your club:

Ease of Use: Provide a link on your website, encourage parents and community members to contribute to your organization.

Fundraisers: Holiday cookies, candy canes, or popcorn balls (if you are from the Midwest). Pick a product or service that your organization can easily promote and manage.

Apply for Grants: There are many companies looking to give money to non-profit programs. Do your due diligence; look up grant programs such as:

1. Nike
2. The Finish Line
3. Dick’s Sporting Goods
4. Liberty Mutual.

Set Goal: It is a lot harder to achieve something if you do not know what you are striving for. Set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals. From new uniforms to a new club house, providing an objective to your fundraising is important! It provides a goal for the collective efforts of your club and allows you to track progress towards that goal.

Did you know that Blue Sombrero has a Donation module? When using SombreroREG™ for online registration, administrators can display custom donations options to parents upon checkout. Blue Sombrero partners have raised thousands of dollars this way!

Blue Sombrero has also enhanced SombreroPAY™ to allow donation campaigns. It’s simple to set up an account and even easier to spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. Plus, you can post your progress using a Donations thermometer widget!

Have fun fundraising and please let us know how it goes!

Happy holidays!

2011 Best Places To Work In Georgia.

At Blue Sombrero we are excited to announce that Georgia Trend magazine, has named Blue Sombrero as one of the best places to work in Georgia, for 2011!

We were recently featured in the magazine’s November issue as a “frisky firm of 23 employees that combines athletic expertise with IT know-how, to develop web design for youth sports groups”.

One of the newest additions to the Blue Sombrero team, Shane Westerhold, states, "it's refreshing to work for a company that values it's customers as much as Blue Sombrero does."

Long time, Sombrero wearing, National Sales Manager, Adam Abney had this to say about the recent award; “to me, when you walk in the Blue Sombrero office, it is easy to feel the high energy around and to think, this seems like a cool, fun place to work.  Everyone enjoys working here and is passionate about helping youth sports in their respective roles. The positive vibe is contagious and I believe it motivates us to keep working hard, while having fun at the same time”.  

Blue Sombrero topped a list of 15 companies from across the state of Georgia and we couldn’t be more excited for this honor!

Make sure to check out the article  today!

At Blue Sombrero we are excited to announce that Georgia Trend magazine, has named Blue Sombrero as one of the best places to work in Georgia, for 2011!

We were recently featured in the magazine’s November issue as a “frisky firm of 23 employees that combines athletic expertise with IT know-how, to develop web design for youth sports groups”.

One of the newest additions to the Blue Sombrero team, Shane Westerhold, states, "it's refreshing to work for a company that values it's customers as much as blue sombrero does."

Long time, Sombrero wearing, National Sales Manager, Adam Abney had this to say about the recent award; “to me, when you walk in the Blue Sombrero office, it is easy to feel the high energy around and to think ‘this seems like a cool, fun place to work’.  Everyone enjoys working here and is passionate about helping youth sports in their respective roles. The positive vibe is contagious and believe it helps keep us all working hard while having fun at the same time”.  

Blue Sombrero topped a list of 15 companies from across the state of Georgia and we couldn’t be more excited for this honor!

Make sure to check out the article  today!