The Administrator

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.

 

 

 

Is Your Soccer Club Doing More With Less?

Soccer has evolved over the past 10-20 years. Has your club?

Thousands of town soccer clubs keep reinventing themselves by using new technology, new equipment, new  playing formats for different ages and implementing new training systems, to name a few.  The end result for many of these clubs is the ability to run a club with fewer volunteers than ever before.

 

Are you still using the old style goals? 

Those goals are so heavy you need a half a dozen people to move them.  Pricing for these products has come down considerably over the years. 

Today: There are light weight goals with wheels that can be moved by one person or pop-up goals that can be assembled in minutes.

Find Your Job in Soccer with MySoccerJob.com

We all know how tough finding a job in the soccer industry can be, especially given how few quality online resources there are that speak directly to soccer people. That’s why David Knapp, et al., created MySoccerJob.com – to connect soccer employers with individuals who have a passion for the game and a desire to make it a career.

MySoccerJob.com is quickly becoming the nation’s top resource for soccer coaching jobs and soccer employment.  Having only started in January 2011, we made our major marketing launch at the NSCAA Convention where we had an overwhelming response.  The number of people who are in need of a job platform in this unique industry became glaringly obvious.  We instantly knew that we started a service that will help soccer people and the soccer industry.

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!

Blue Sombrero Club Store is Finalist in 2011 SPY Awards

This year, for the second year running, Blue Sombrero has made the finalist group in the 2011 Soccer Products of the Year (SPY) Awards. Our Club Store powered by Eurosport was nominated, and voting for the finalists began in December.

So, readers, now we need YOUR help! Please help us by going to the SPY Awards site and voting for the Blue Sombrero Club Store under Web Applications.

2nd Annual Blue Sombrero User Forum

With the New Year fast approaching, we are once again beginning to plan the Blue Sombrero Annual User Forum. This year’s forum will be taking place at the 2011 NSCAA Convention in Baltimore, MD, on Friday, January 14 at 3:00pm.  This is definitely one of the days I look forward to all year as the Director of Support at Blue Sombrero.  I rarely get the chance to interact face-to-face with our customers, and the NSCAA Convention provides a perfect time and place for such an event.  Last year’s forum was a huge success and we hope to continue to grow this event every year.

It’s no secret that the key to any company’s success is in listening to their customers.  Our customers use our software every day, in a myriad of ways, and therefore gain valuable perspectives on how it can best be used to run their clubs more efficiently.  Throughout the course of the year, I hear from hundreds of our customers, but the majority of the time those communications involve very specific scenarios facing their club in particular.  At the User Forum, however, I get to hear from some of our true power-users about features that have worked well over the past year, features that need improvement, and new features they would like to see implemented in the future.

Communications: The Glue that Binds Your Organization Together

Not too long ago, the only options clubs, leagues and associations had available to keep their players, parents, coaches and referees informed were through in-person meetings or a printed newsletter/magazine that would contain weeks- or months-old news. Today, there are a variety of low cost Internet-based applications to provide the sports community you serve with timely news and decisions within seconds.

But which ones among the many different applications available – including your web site, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr, to name a few – should you use? And with e-mail boxes overloaded, how do you overcome this clutter so your communications are actually read?

Website DOs & DON’Ts

We spend a lot of time looking at youth sports websites here at Blue Sombrero, and we have designed hundreds of them over the years. Here are a few useful and easy to implement DOs and DON’Ts to help you keep your website clean, informative and easy to use.

Homepage

DO keep your homepage clean and concise.  Post only the most important information in a clear and easy to read format.  Your homepage is the starting-off point for your membership, it is NOT the ONLY page on your website!

Youth Soccer Clubs and Their Part in the College Soccer Process

Players and parents often turn to their soccer club’s administrators and coaches for guidance when the potential of playing soccer in college becomes an aspiration. Each club’s ability and commitment to support these aspirations varies from club to club for many reasons. 

Years ago, as a board member, I had the opportunity to spearhead our club’s efforts to develop our college advisory program once we made the decision to dedicate the time and resources to this area.  Our efforts were very successful and our club has a very positive reputation in this area with college coaches and, most importantly, with our players and parents seeking guidance. I would like to share with you some steps we took in developing our clubs program.