Discover six innovative features a youth sports app must provide the coaches in your organization.
Youth sports coaches juggle more responsibilities than ever before. In today’s digital world, they’re not only expected to run great practices and help our athletes develop, but they act as communicators, finance managers, weather forecasters, scheduler administrators, equipment staff, facility maintenance, and so much more.
The right set of digital tools can make a world of difference in the endless tasks a coach faces. These digital tools also lead to positive outcomes throughout a sports organization: better practices, better athletes, better lines of communication, better impressions from the parents, and better participation rates. However, from my years of experience working in sports tech and coaching my kids’ youth teams, I can attest that not all digital tools were created equally.
In this article, I’ll discuss 6 important features that most youth sports team apps do not provide a coach, but make a world of difference when you find the right technology that does.
The 6 Most Important Youth Sports App Features for Coaches
Ability to Collect In-Season Fees
Digital tools have come a long way when it comes to collecting fees and streamlining finances. There are many solutions for youth sports registration, budget tracking, and financial management. I can even track every bank transaction from a phone. But, what about unexpected expenses?
Coaches encounter a lot of unexpected expenses throughout the season. We often need to reimburse these costs — whether for a last-minute tournament, team dinner, or new equipment. However, tracking down payments from multiple parents can be like herding cats. The best youth sports apps make collecting in-season fees quick and easy, eliminating awkward conversations and saving valuable time. With a simple payment request system, coaches can focus on what really matters: the game.
Sending Out Urgent Alerts
Most digital tools or youth sports team apps help with a certain level of communication. They allow either email or chat communication, are easy to set up through team creation or directly from registration, and prevent countless calls or unanswered texts. But, what about a message that needs to get across ASAP from our youth sports app?
This would be a sudden weather change or field update, a critical last-minute reminder about waivers, you name it. The ability to send alerts to every parent and member of your team is crucial. I consider this a must-have feature for youth sports team apps. Alerts give you the ability to send push notifications directly to your members’ phones, making sure these important updates aren’t missed, no matter how busy our days get.
Think about the headache of a last-minute facility venue change, and half the team showing up to the wrong field halfway across town. We’ve all been there…
Practice Plans and Drills at Your Fingertips
This gets my vote for the most important youth sports app feature on this list. Most youth sports team apps are falling short in this area, but this makes a massive difference in a sports organization.
Imagine this: You’ve got practice in 20 minutes, you’re 18 minutes away from the field, and you haven’t had a moment to think about practice plans. With the right app, that’s no problem! The best youth sports apps provide pre-made practice plans and drill suggestions that coaches can access on the go. This ensures that even when life gets busy, the team stays on track and prepared with engaging activities for each session.
I would be doing readers a disservice if I didn’t brag a little bit about TeamSnap+. Whether you’re fine-tuning your coaching skills or working with your young athlete off the field, TeamSnap+ gives you access to expert-led team activities, practice plans, and one-on-one drills to unlock your team’s full potential. It’s also available for entire sports organizationsgiving leaders the ability to provide this feature to every coach at a fraction of the cost.
We partnered with the biggest pro names in sports. The Jr. NBA, MLB, FC Barcelona, PLL, MLS, and many more. This premium coaching content is complete with everything: video walkthroughs, equipment lists, and ways to adjust based on age and skill level. The bottom line… it helps every volunteer and full-time coach run fun and age-appropriate practices… even if they’ve never played the sport.
Task Assignment for a Smooth Game Day
Coaches aren’t alone in their management of a team. We know that it takes a village to run a youth sports team successfully. Fortunately, parents and family are usually on the front lines to offer help and pick up many of those extra tasks.
While this help is critical, it quickly turns into another group of people that coaches are forced to manage. Between game day operations (like snacks, stat keepers) or general team logistics (carpools, equipment managers), organizing volunteer tasks is a lot to handle. If only our youth sports team apps could help out…
Fortunately, TeamSnap can! With our built-in task assignment (directly available for your team), coaches can delegate responsibilities like running the scoreboard, organizing team snacks, or managing halftime logistics. Each person knows exactly what’s expected of them, ensuring game days go off without a hitch. This continues to ladder up to that idea: if you’re a coach, technology shouldn’t be a burden. Find the right team app that helps you get your attention back on the practice and game day field/court/rink.
File Storage for Easy Access
Just like most areas of life (taxes, work, school), every important document we have is now online. This is both a blessing and a curse. I love the fact I no longer have to store important documents in a file cabinet that takes up way too much space in my office or at home. But, how easy is it to lose a digital file that you need for the next meeting, next school assembly, the next practice (looking at you coaches)?! Too easy.
Lost documents are the bane of any coach’s (and parent’s) existence. From game-day instructions to fundraisers or tournament itineraries, keeping track of important files is often a headache. Youth sports apps that offer a file storage feature solve this problem by giving coaches a “locker” to store and share key documents. Everything from the scoreboard manual to the team’s dinner menu can be neatly organized and accessible by everyone in one secure place. TeamSnap has a great option for coaches to access files easily and store important documents throughout a long season.
Bonus: Tracking Completion of Important Tasks
Bonus time! We can’t forget this item. One of the most frustrating parts of coaching is chasing down parents to complete necessary paperwork or tasks. Whether it’s tournament waivers, team assessments, or signing up for volunteer duties, staying on top of who has (or hasn’t) done their part can be exhausting.
An app with a tracking feature allows coaches to easily monitor task completion, saving time and ensuring nothing slips through the cracks. With just a few clicks, you can check who’s up to date and send reminders to those who need them.
TeamSnap For Business: Give Every Coach Access to Our Top-Rated Mobile App
With TeamSnap for Business, each of your teams (and coaches) gets access to the top-rated TeamSnap mobile appwhich you can load with roster, team contact details, schedules, and more to set up your coaches and parents for a successful season. TeamSnap’s mobile app has a host of features that will make the countless tasks of a youth sports coach a lot easier. Every important feature in the above article can be accomplished on TeamSnap… get your free demo today!
Jim lives in Edina, MN, and is an active sports parent bouncing between the baseball fields, hockey rinks, and golf courses in the Twin Cities. Jim has spent the past 10+ years coaching and helping with local sports programs at night, and working on the software platforms to solve those challenges during the day.
At TeamSnap, Jim leads our product marketing and strategy team focused on solutions for sports organizations. By connecting with customers and identifying industry trends, Jim helps shape how TeamSnap products and services are delivered to youth sports organizations.
Work: Product Marketing and Strategy at TeamSnap, working in sports technology for 10+ years
Current: Director of Youth Development, Minnesota Blades | 13U Hockey Coach | Commissioner, U.S. Pond Hockey Championships
Former: Board Member Edina Hockey Association | Dean’s Advisory Board, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Labovitz School of Business.
