Sunday, 29 December 2019

Published Sunday, December 29, 2019 with 58 comments

New Year Resolutions For a Youth Sports Athlete





Working on your new year resolution list? Here’s a practical list of resolutions for student athletes that will not only help in your sports or study life, but will also help you become fare well in your personal lives and help you grow as a person.

Resolutions for a better sports life

·         I will work on being a good team player by assisting one team mate every week, helping them overcome a drawback, helping them learn a new skill or assisting them improve in their skills by practicing with them.

·         I will practice at least four days a week.

·         I will set personal goals for my game, and have them verified by the coach. I will also get evaluation done on my personal goals.

Resolutions for a better study life

·         I will complete my homework on time, every time invariably.

·         I will make a list of my strengths and weaknesses, and make a study plan.

·         I will seek help in areas where I am weak.

Resolutions for a better social life

·         I will stay in touch with my friends.

·         I will not bully my friends, classmates or team mates.

·         I will help if I can.

·         I will seek help of a trusted adult if I see a friend in desperate condition.

Resolutions for a better personal self

·         I will not do drugs.

·         I will seek help from a trusted adult if I am anxious or unsure.

·         I will not disrespect my parents.

·         I will not disrespect my privileges.

·         I will share if I can. I will help if I can.

·         I will smile more.

·         I will not react in anger how much ever provocation be.

·         If I am breaking due to pressure, I will not see it as a personal defeat and accept I may be good at something else.

·         I will pursue a hobby.


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Monday, 23 December 2019

Published Monday, December 23, 2019 with 20 comments

Creating Value for Youth Sports Sponsors





If you are looking for ways to provide your team sponsors a little more exposure, here’s a great way to do it – include your sponsor in all your social media posts.

Social media marketing has taken business to a whole new level. It’s like a tool in your hands that, if used correctly, can get you massive exposure in very less time with virtually no cost. Traditional marketing has its advantages, but social media marketing is cut-rate, fast, effective and virtually effortless. You can post messages on all social media through the InstaTeam app which will make your life even easier saving you from logging into different accounts and posting separately.

Facebook – Have the team members, their families and friends follow your team’s page. You can also have the whole school or the entire club following your page. Here you can post your sponsor’s promotion messages every once in a while.

Twitter – Use your Twitter account to post short team messages like if there’s a game scheduled or there’s a change. Although your InstaTeam app keeps you abreast with all the information, this can just be another platform for exposure. This also helps create a name and recognition for the team, team branding of sorts.

Create a YouTube channel – Videos have their own charm. You can put videos of important matches, sports highlights, winning moments, locker room motivation etc. 

Instagram – Create your photo posts, stories and interesting sports stuff to keep your followers engaged. Tag your sponsors to give them full exposure.

General tips:

·         Make creative and relatable posts that include your sponsors. Blatant marketing may not go very well with your followers.

·         Do make it a point to mention them frequently.

·         Make your content engaging, this platform is for both you and your sponsors.

·         Be prompt and be regular. Once in a blue moon accounts don’t work.

·         Use every opportunity to interact, Holidays, important events, some major happening, anything.

·         Stay away from controversies. Don’t take sides, you don’t want to end up on anybody’s wrong side.

·         Be generous. Use this platform to work for some voluntarycause, this will help increase your follower base, people who relate to the cause also join in.
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Wednesday, 18 December 2019

Published Wednesday, December 18, 2019 with 2 comments

Spread The Holiday Cheer With Your Team


 
“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.”

– Laura Ingalls Wilder


Want to pass on a special message to your team? This Holiday season, do a special spread-the-cheer exercise that brings in fresh energy, is good team bonding time for the kids and, teaches them an important life lesson – kindness. Here’s a list of some simple ideas to help you decide the activity you want to take up with your team.

1.    Old toys and clothes donation camp.

2.    A friendly game at a retirement home.

3.    A fund raiser that collects money for gifts for the homeless or a Christmas meal for the homeless.

4.    Stuff warm socks with little gifts for the homeless, a pair for a person.

5.    Secretly rake leaves, shovel snow, put lights and do outdoor holiday décor for an elderly person whose lonely.

6.    Neighborhood park cleanup.

7.    Offer holiday treats to garbage truck workers.

8.    Deliver holiday treats to the local police or fire station.

9.    Holiday play or caroling night at a nearby hospital.

10.  Muffins for homeless.

11. Flowers for firemen.

12. A friendly neighborhood game.

13.  Free hugs for strangers.

14. Plant trees drive.

15. Holiday decoration for a random neighborhood. 



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Tuesday, 17 December 2019

Published Tuesday, December 17, 2019 with 2 comments

It’s Holiday Time For Pete’s Sake




Everybody deserves a break. Especially during Holidays, since it is the perfect to enjoy time with loved ones, take rest and get refreshed energy to carry on for the rest of the year.

Unfortunately, some teams and youth sports athletic clubs use the Holiday break for rather intense training. They make kids practice in double shifts, longer hours ns sometimes even twin practices, morning evening, every day. Although they do not make it mandatory, a child who refuses to join, has the fear of missing out and having left behind while the whole team progresses. It is still understandable with senior kids who might have their career at stake, but with small kids, as small as nine years old, why?

The argument these clubs provide is, that it is necessary for competitiveness. This builds in pressure on young athletes who practice and play all year long. An athlete’s performance eventually reflects ion the coach’s and the club’s performance, which translates into business potential. In most clubs, coaches are incentivized based on the team’s performance, hence it becomes even more important for the coach to make kids perform well, even if it comes at a personal loss for the child.

This insanity continues, rather gets even crazier as the child grows up. Clubs tend to focus on state level, then national level and then even pro level. While this may be great for a child’s career who has talent and the potential to reach to the top. Not every player there is exceptionally skilled. There are kids who might not even get a college scholarship based on their sports performance. Why put them through the grind?

Clubs argue that until kids are trained and made to practice the game the way they do, how would you get differentiate the good players from the average ones. But what they fail to consider is, if a child really has knack for the game, it will show regardless of the grueling practice or not. Youth sports so much more than sports. It’s a great way to learn life skills like discipline, team-work, fighting spirit, accepting defeat and so much more. It is also a great way to unwind, refresh and rejuvenate. With clubs getting obsessed with practice and more practice, the very essence of youth sports is diluted.

On one end of the spectrum are clubs that give the game way more importance than it’s fair, and on the other end of the spectrum are parents who are equally desperate for their child to succeed in youth sports, aiming for a college scholarship. Kids suffer because of this insane obsession of adults around them.

Treat the game like an activity for the kids mental and physical development. Give time to the kids for living. They need to have fun, spend time with their loved ones, learn values and warmth Holidays signify. Let kids take the Holiday break, they need to, trust us.

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Published Tuesday, December 17, 2019 with 2 comments

Add Player Evaluations For A Great Season





InstaTeam app makes team life a whole lot easier by creating automatic rosters. But did you know that you can add player evaluations too on each player’s profile.

Grading and evaluation of each player will take the team to the next level since players will know where exactly they stand and the associated feedback will go a long way in helping them understand what exactly they need to work on. Here are a few reasons why player evaluation is important.

·         Helps in athletes’ skill development

Evaluations will show exactly where the player is strong and where she’s struggling. Access to this information helps both the coach and the player identify the weak spots they need to build upon.

·         Set a player benchmark for further evaluations

Evaluations can be more meaningful if there’s a reference range. A reference range helps quantify improvements which handy information for the coach and the team manager. This information can also set the basis for selections for future seasons.

·         Identify overall team performance

By consolidating player evaluations, coaches can identify the weak spots and strengths of the team. This can help coaches and administrators understand what more needs to be incorporated in the team’s training, if they need some external trainer for a specific skill set that the whole team is may be struggling with.

Here’s how you can add evaluations to each player’s profile in a team.
1.    Open the InstaTeam App.
2.    Tap on the team name where you want to add evaluations.
3.    Scroll down, you will see the players’ list. Tap on the name of the first player.
4.    Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Tap on ‘Add Custom Parameters’.
Here you can add all points of evaluation as new parameters. You will have to do this only once for the entire team. Once the Evaluation points are added, you can put each players evaluation in their profile. If there are additional points you may need to add, or a feedback you want to add, you can either put it in notes or add a feedback parameter.

Once you make it a practice to note down player evaluations, you can start working on building player skills and the team strength for the season. All the best! 


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