The Administrator

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

 

The Designer's Dime: Homepage Content

Hey guys, Magie Brennan here, BSB's graphic designer.  Going to give you a "dime" of my time to talk to y'all about keeping your websites up-to-date, navigable, and looking the best it can be.

The homepage on your website is the first thing every person that visits sees.  It has to be warm, welcoming, and attractive. Website homepages are like billboards or magazine ads: the viewer takes less than three seconds to glance at it and pass by it.  If it's intriguing enough, they'll look at it longer. The biggest issue administrators or webmasters face is wanting to pack all the information and everything you could possibly imagine about your club/organization all on the homepage.

This is where I come in running and screaming in slow-motion "NOOOOO!!!"

The homepage is the foundation, let your other navigation links do the rest of the work.  It should have the core basics about your club, with the interior pages having all the details.

Here is a an example of a clean homepage http://www.ussoccer.com/ (although I'm not fond of the second menu on the bottom, we can overlook that for now).  Why is this a good clean homepage, you ask? Well, let me tell you.

• It's not busy, it's not packed with information
• It's quick and straight to the point.
• You can learn more (if you're inclined) by clicking the links in the menu, rather than having to scroll down forever and ever on the homepage.

Here's what I think the homepage needs for BSB customers:

• Opening/welcoming statement or a short "About Us"
• The programs you provide, short description that links to another page
• Twitter feed/news update headlines/blog headlines
• A feature of some sort (feature story, tournament recap, player/team spotlight for example). Don't make it too long, link the rest of the story to another page.
• Your contact info in the footer at all times, and whatever social media you're connected to.

Things to consider:

• Keep the welcoming statement or the "About Us" introduction on the homepage simple, and link it at the end to a more detailed description on another page.
• If you have a blog or news updates, keep that on another page and have the headlines of the blog/updates only on the homepage... and either over to the side or on the bottom.
• Make sure to break things up so it doesn't look like a big block of text.
• Try not to clutter with too many images.
• If you're thinking "does this need to be here?", you've already answered your question.  Put it on another page.

That's it for now, check back in next time!

Next Designer's Dime Topic: Menu Navigation, How Many Is Too Many?

If you have any questions or topics you would like me to cover for future blogs, shoot me an email at magie.brennan@bluesombrero.com

 

Support a Fellow Sombrero

Steve Warriner is long-time maintenance supervisor at Rancho Capistrano and dear friend of the Southern California Blues soccer club. This year has been especially tough for Steve and his family as last May, 2010 Steve lost his job. However, recently Ranch Soccer Partnership hired Steve to assist the Southern California Blues in maintaining the fields. There is believe that without Steve’s love of the game, there would be no soccer played at Rancho Capistrano today.

Unfortunately Steve recently experienced a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital for heart bypass surgery. The early reports on the surgery were positive and Steve is now recovering from the invasive procedure. 

Today, because Steve has not had a steady income for over one year and he is dependent on his wife’s modest income that she gets from running a small day-care program for children, the Southern California Blues are asking for any and all support for the Steve Warriner Fund, in order to assist Steve with the financial burden that he and Gerri Warriner will be facing with medical treatment and loss of income as he rehabilitates.

Steve is a strong and proud person but he needs our help today. We are using SombreroPAY™ to collect donations to help Steve with the expenses that go along with his recovery. It's easy, fast and secure! Thank you for any financial support that you can provide.

We’re raising money for Steve Warriner Recovery Fund   Steve Warriner, long-time maintenance supervisor at Rancho Capistrano and dear friend of the Southern California Blues soccer club, www.scblues.com, recently experienced a heart attack and was rushed ...   Read More

Free Website Giveaway Contest

Did you know that September is Youth Soccer Month? Blue Sombrero is celebrating by giving away a free Gold Level website to a deserving youth club. Nominations are in and we’ve picked the top five most deserving finalists. It’s now your turn to vote for your favorite! The finalist with the most votes by September 22^nd will win!

 

Get to know the finalists:

 

Fusion Football, from Bristol Tennessee, strives to provide an environment to allow players to experiment, to think independently, to be creative and to rehearse the technical elements they are learning without fear of failure all the while continuing to foster a love for the game and simultaneously educating a player to an understanding of and a desire for excellence.

 

 

Northport Cow Harbor United, from New York, supports more than 50 youth soccer travel teams. They also host the largest Columbus Day weekend Soccer tournament in their area, with 350 teams attending in 2010!

NY HOTA Bavarian Soccer Club, from Long Island, New York, has been developing soccer players for more than 40 years and is one of the oldest clubs on Long Island. They strive to develop, enhance and promote the skills and abilities of talented young soccer players through quality training and a focus on teamwork, sportsmanship and respect for others.

 

 

Stafford Soccer Club, from New Jersey, provides opportunities for both recreational and travel soccer teams in the fall and spring seasons. They expect all their players, coaches and parents to follow the code of conduct that focuses on sportsmanship and teamwork.

 

 

Tallahassee United FC, from Tallahassee, Florida believes competitive soccer should be fun and rewarding for all participants. They focus on quality instruction, challenging events and actitivies and encourage high level of player, parent and program staff interaction.

 

 

 

Remember to encourage your members, players and friends to vote for the most deserving finalist! You must be a fan of Blue Sombrero on Facebook to vote.

 

 

 

Does a Little Bit of Tennis Belong in Soccer?

A recent study from the London School of Economics and Political Science has published a study claiming that penalty kicks are unfair.  They studied 2820 shootout kicks in major national/international soccer games and found that the team that shot first won 60% of the time and the team that shot second won 40% of the time.  The researchers went on to say that in 96% of the time the team that won the coin toss chose to shoot first.  They concluded from their research that the team that won the coin toss was given a 20 % advantage.

2011 Admin of the Year Winner Announced

It’s finally here... Soccer Administrator’s Day!

Today is the day we get to recognize, celebrate, and reward the people who work hard behind the scenes to make their clubs run smoothly and keep their kids out on the fields playing a sport we all love.

We had so many worthy nominees this year and as always, our staff has a tough time deciding on just one. So after narrowing it down to the 20 Finalists, we have determined a winner.

Voting is Open for Soccer Admin of the Year!

It’s that time of the year again! As we approach the 5th Annual Soccer Administrator’s Day, May 20th, we here at Blue Sombrero like to take the time to recognize, celebrate, and reward the people who work behind the scenes to keep their clubs running smoothly and the kids out on the fields playing.

They are the club admins working past midnight every night making sure each player has been placed on the correct team. They are the treasurers working hard behind the scenes finalizing budgets and pulling reports up for the next day’s board meeting. They are the registrars printing player passes and answering phone calls long past closing time. 

They are the unsung heroes of the soccer community.

The Bill of Rights for Young Athletes

Have you ever been to a sports game where all you hear is negativity and screaming from the parents sitting in the stands? Do you notice some parents yelling at their child(ren) after games, telling them they needed to play better? We all get excited when watching sports, and parents have a keen interest in making sure their children do well – no one likes riding home with a disappointed child.

The parent-child relationship plays a vital role in the development of a young athlete, and there is a fine line between being a supportive parent and pushing your child too far.  The support of the parent, or lack thereof, can often dictate the child’s perception of athletics.  The National Association for Sport and Physical Education’s task force has developed a Bill of Rights for Young Athletes. 

Success for Blue Sombrero at US Youth Soccer and SAY

The weekend of February 24-28th provided two great opportunities for Blue Sombrero: the 2011 US Youth Soccer Workshop and the 2011 SAY AGM. Having the opportunity to meet both current customers as well as prospective club partners face to face is extremely important to us. 

At both events we received some very positive feedback from those of our club partners that were in attendance saying how much our service has helped their communications and overall operations. When we asked the clubs what their favorite feature has been so far, just about all of them listed our Email Newsletter tool. One partner went so far to say they could not imagine managing their club without SombreroREG!

Blue Sombrero at SAY AGM and US Youth Soccer Workshop

Coming right on the heels of what was a great 2011 NSCAA Convention in Baltimore, Maryland, Blue Sombrero is preparing to attend the US Youth Soccer Workshop from February 24th-26th in Louisville, Kentucky as well as the SAY Soccer Annual General Meeting, which is set to take place February 25th-26th in Florence, Indiana.

If you're planning on being at either of these conventions, shoot us an email or give us a call at 866-981-BLUE (2583) and let us know so we can keep an eye out for you! We look forward to these chances to get to see current partners and meet new people!