In the Wake of The Wearable Market Exploding, Users Are Looking For More

Whoop’s $200 Million Raise Forecasts What’s Next for Wearable Users (And Companies) In the Wake of The Wearable Market Exploding, User Are Looking For More On August 30, 2021, WHOOP, the wearable device company known for their popular health-tracking wrist strap, announced a 200 million dollar equity raise, on a 3.6 billion dollar valuation. If […]

3 Ways to Successfully Resolve Conflict Within Your Youth Sports Organization

Conflict Resolution: Positions, Interests, and Solutions   Few of us enjoy conflict. However, there are ways to resolve it in less painful ways. Each of the five levels of conflict intensity can be described in terms of its goals, tactics, language, and options for resolution. The five levels reflect the underlying objectives of the parties […]

Terrific Tournaments – Staffing, Customer Success Stars, and Superheroes

Are you dreading your club’s annual request for volunteers to staff its summer tournament? Years ago, I took on the task of redesigning the volunteer program to staff an international youth soccer tournament for about 200 teams. The work included recruiting volunteers and managing the staff on-site during the event. Fortunately for me, the focus […]

Separation for Success – Balancing Coaching, Club Leadership & Parenting

Consider how your organization addresses the key roles adults play in the experience of your athletes. It is common for adults to play multiple roles as coaches, board members, and parents of your athletes. When we mix roles or play out of position, we create conflict that can adversely affect our players. Once upon a […]

Managing Expectations Around Playing Time — The Two Most Important Questions to Ask

One of the most dreaded conversations between athletes, coaches, and parents revolves around playing time. Nobody likes it. In my workshops on conflict resolution for coaches and directors of coaching, I ask them to identify the most common types of difficult conversations and conflict they encounter. Consistently across the country, the number one answer is […]

Tryout Questions Coaches Should be Prepared to Answer This Season

Spend Time Preparing For Questions When my sons were playing soccer, I hated tryout season. More than tax season. More than any other time of the year. I detested the stress and insanity around it all. Clubs would vie for players by scheduling multiple tryouts in a day and over a weekend resulting in players […]

How to Create a Sustainable Youth Sports Volunteer Program

Good volunteer program design decreases administrative costs, engages club members, increases program support, shares the workload, and improves support for coaches so they can devote more time to players. Volunteers are not free. The average value of a volunteer hour in the United States in 2020 was $28.54. This figure — which is also available […]

Outstanding Off-Field Teams – The Secret of Successful Youth Sports Clubs and Leagues

This article was written by Ruth Nicholson. Ruth is an internationally certified professional facilitator, mediator, and organizational alchemist helping sports organizations better support players and coaches. She is the founder of GO! offering proven governance, leadership, and administrative tools.  In 2020, Ruth was inducted into the International Association of Facilitators Hall of Fame. She was a co-creator of […]

The Spalding and HYPE Sports Innovation Global Competition

  MaxOne Founder and CEO Jason Mejeur stands in the winners circle at the Spalding and HYPE Sports Innovation Global Competition.   MaxOne Takes Home 3rd Place Honors Last week, MaxOne was selected from a global field of applicants to participate in the Spalding and HYPE Sports Innovation Global Competition. As one of the 10 participants, MaxOne […]