As places across the country and the world begin to open and start up once again, it is no surprise that the sports industry is especially ready to jump back in, having been hit particularly hard economically since the outbreak of Covid-19.

However, having been shut down for so long means restarting is going to need some economic creativity. What can you do to get your sports league or organization going again without spending tons of money to get everything up and running?

The best way to save money is to use a sports management software program that can put all your administrative tasks in one place. Really good sport and recreation platforms should provide a solution for organizers, administrators and participants to make sure everyone has an easy and affordable solution.

Here are some insights on how you might think about selecting an online sport and recreation management solution.

1. Avoid software that makes you pay an upfront fee just to get going. If the solution puts up a message like “contact us to get going” or “start your free trial” it usually means they are going to charge you a setup fee, or it’s not really free. Payment walls are unnecessary. There are many good solutions to getting all the administrative work to get a league going without any upfront fees and/or monthly fees.
2. Ensure the solution covers your most basic needs all in one spot. Sports management software should provide affordable software that helps you with the tasks related to website page, registration signup forms, payment collecting, scheduling and communications.
3. It should be easy so that time and money savings should be evident. If the software is complicated, you might end up spending more time than you should just learning how to use it. You shouldn’t have to spend so much time on these things, allowing you to free up your time for more important things.
4. Examine all the pricing packages? Research how ‘cost-conscious’ add-ons are. A good sports and recreation software should also be affordable making recovering from the sports drought due to Covid-19 much less stressful. Premiums features should also be financially reasonable. Instead of worrying about paying multiple different platforms extensive amounts of money, you should be able to easily manage your website, rosters, registrations, payments, and communications all in one spot for one cost-conscious price. Solutions like PlayyOn even offer a Free basic plan for those who just need basics like website, registration forms, schedules and communications.
5. Support should be available & free. When running into problems, you should be able to reach out to a service provider and get help that is readily available and free.

Richard, who helps organize a youth and adult social sport club that includes running several programs each quarter, told us, “When COVID hit, I finally got organized and moved online. I was looking for a way to set up training sessions virtually. Then I realized I could collect registration information and dues plus have an easy interface to communicate news and schedules. Now I can’t imagine my life without it.”

As we all attempt to recover from being cooped up inside all spring and into the summer, we need sports and physical activity now more than ever. Your online software solution should help you make that task a little bit easier for you.