In the last couple of weeks, the world as we know it has seen unprecedented closures of all sports, restaurants, schools, colleges, retail stores, and workplaces and so on so we do everything possible to contain the spread of COVID-19.

As we work with so many youth sports organizations with volunteer board members this week who had to suspend their winter seasons or postpone the launch of their spring seasons and many organizations (including ours) shifting to virtual work from home (WFH) I felt best to provide some tips how we can do the necessary work needed to ensure that we are prepared to ramp up once the medical community across the globe gives us the green light to do so.

In addition to youth sports organizations, we also have been a sponsor of co-op university students for several years who have helped us build out our platforms and know that colleges and universities also have shifted to virtual classrooms as well, and we, in turn, have shifted so they work from home to complete their co-op hours needed and aspire to sponsor more this summer.

As we have been building out our various digital resources the last few years thru our digital arm “For The Love Of The Game” to include digital summits, podcasts, webinars, online courses we have experimented with various software and hardware configurations and below is our list of recommendations how can set up a virtual board room/office if still scrambling to do so.

A computer – Either a laptop or desktop (PC or Mac).

A camera  – either built-in (laptops/tablets) or an add on webcam to their desktop computer.

Best bang for buck Webcam – Logitech C920 (> $100.00) – 1080P video with a decent built-in microphone

A microphone – many USB cameras will include an integrated microphone.  If you are using a laptop, it will also have a basic integrated microphone.

Better quality Microphones for buck include those with corded/Bluetooth headphones or Blue Snowball/Jedi are used by many people for video chats, interviews, podcasts

Collaboration software – there are many remote collaboration tools available on the market.  Our recommendation is Zoom, a free to use service for smaller groups for short meetings up to 40 minutes or for small monthly fee that can add additional users. Zoom uses the same hardware as Skype but in addition to meetings, can also be used for webinars and sharing screens

Conference Headset / Microphone– for those seeking a cleaner overall experience you may wish to consider a conference headset.  This will deliver high-quality sound and a high-quality microphone for work from home and can also be brought back to the office when given the green light to do so

Plantronics has a system that you can get very cost affective on eBay that allows users to connect to landline (if houses still have), Zoom/Skype via USB or Bluetooth (Cell Phones).  Model W740 and suggest getting the how to swap adapter for battery charging and an extra charger

Data /Software – Google Docs (free) for collaboration and sharing or Microsoft One Drive (subscription based on number of users but can get 1 Tb cloud storage with office 365 subscription)

Email – can setup work emails remotely as aliases with a Gmail account or webmail access. This can take a little finessing as we experienced for our interns to work remotely (ISP, Email hosting or browser conflicts/cookies), I suggest all sports orgs set up a Gmail account for interns so they use either in offices or WFH (work from home)

Team Connection – We suggest What’s App, it permits users to do group texting and accessible both by phone/tablet but also desktop/laptop with web-based apps. This also will not impact users data plans although many of the cellular providers are waiving data charges

Phone – Suggest call forwarding to a cell phone or remote log-in for voice mail

Not only can board members have their regular or emergency meetings weekly, but the Zoom Platform can also be scaled to host online training (vs. live workshops), webinars and suspect even AGM’s will be hosted as can have up to 100 participants for 20.00/month CDN with meeting duration up to 24 hours.  All can be recorded as well, but to do so the device hosting the Zoom Meeting must have available storage to do so (approx. 1GB/Hour of recording)

Our Online Option for Resources, Tips for all stakeholders in youth sports

In the summer of 2018, we hosted our first virtual summit to incorporate many of the technology platforms we recommend above thru a lot of trial and error (hardware and software) so stakeholders in youth sports could get insight from some of the top leaders in the space across the globe and we will be resharing our most recent summit with 18 speakers April 3-5^th.  In addition to the insight all of the amazing speakers will share, we are also looking at sharing a live webinar on day one of this summit and encouraging all those that sign up to leave comments for all of the interviews to provide all youth sports stakeholders tips so they add to their tool baskets to implement when their upcoming seasons start up again.

The benefit, you can do so at home and access any device that is connected to the internet, phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, smart tvs or game consoles. The best part, it’s FREE to sign-up for vs. paying hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to attend live conferences (which have all be canceled for the foreseeable future also)

 

 

What: 2020 Youth Sports Digital Summit

When: We are going “live” with digital summit April 3-5^th

Who: Interviews with 21 different speakers (key takeaways will be posted on the event page)

Why: We continue to host the online summits so all stakeholders of the grassroots sports community so they can learn tips from experts from across the globe as cost affectively as possible

Where: Accessible by any device that can access the internet (computer, laptop, smartphone, tablet, smart TV, game console)

How: Click HERE to go to the registration page with more info to sign up for FREE

Starting April 3rd, we will release 6 interviews per day that I will preface each interview with the key takeaways followed by 6 more on Saturday April 4th and Sunday April 5th.

The schedule for the interviews will be shared in advance so you can prepare for also.

In the event that you are unable to see/hear from all of the speakers you would like, we are offering cost-effective on-demand options for your to do so for this summit as well as all of our prior summits and online courses that we continue to build.  We now have over 70 hours of digital content that you can access with any digital device at your convenience.

Many other amazing guests who share insight on their amazing programs, coaching tips, developing cultures of excellence so anyone that signs up when their seasons start up again will hit the ground running!!!

We also provide links to resources, their websites you can reference going forward.

I know that all organizations across the globe are implementing contingency plans to ensure that we contain the virus and although it is a stressful time for all of us while we do so, we are all in this together.

One thing that I have been thinking as each day goes by is I hope when we are given the green light to return back to sports that hopefully it will allow us all to look at it from a different lens.

Perhaps the adults will take it less seriously and recognize that it is a game played by kids, officiated by kids, coached by volunteers (many of which are parents who stepped up) with volunteer board members to ensure programs run.

Perhaps those chasing the dream for their kids in the money sports (scholarships, professional contracts) will see that the return on investment they are aspiring for will be moreso in terms of their kids becoming great people, great athletes as they return and if they reach a level beyond high school, that is just gravy.

Perhaps after this time away, we will take a breath next time we are at youth sports game in lieu of screaming a kid for making a mistake, an official for missing or making a bad call, a coach for a mistake made due to learning HOW to coach (not what to coach).

Maybe, just maybe, there will be a PARADIGM shift that we have been aspiring for where adults Just Love Watching The Kids Play again.

At the end of the day, that’s why we do what we do, to help all stakeholders in the space create the highest quality youth sports experience possible so kids love the season more at the end of the season than they did at the beginning and they have active, healthy lifestyles well into their adulthood.

Our best wishes also go out to those that have tested positive for the virus so they can fight it with vigor and condolences to all those families who have lost a loved one.

We also encourage everyone to not panic during this time, just as we have thru other illnesses, economic times of instability, the world WILL get thru this, now more than ever we have to come together and follow all the recommendations from the health authorities so we are safe.

We can’t wait for the time when it is safe for kids to return back to PLAY, whether it be organized sports or free, unstructured play.

Hopefully, it is sooner rather than later.