September 7th, 2010
It takes many people to pull off a season of sports successfully.
It is ironic that, often in my observation, the better the contribution to that successful sports season the less recognition that contribution gets.
For example; the first four years my son was in soccer all of the soccer fields he played on were mud pits by the last half of the season because we live in the rainy pacific northwest. At some point the fields mostly seems to stay relatively mud free through most or all of each season. The value of this to all concerned was huge. Despite this value the contribution was not noticed at a conscious level and it certainly got no recognition or thanks.
The point is that while we may “get away” with not giving recognition for contributions, both the team spirit and the likelihood that the contribution will continue are much less without recognition in my experience.
At Bonzi we know our role and our contribution in most of the sports organizations we serve and only need one kind of recognition; that our teams continue to use our software every year. Sure, we like and want other forms of recognition but we really only need and hope for continued use of the software. Continued use really says it all to us.
Consider taking a look around at all that it takes to run a successful sports season and making that extra effort if you don’t already to acknowledge and recognize the wide variety of contributions that made the season possible. I have been impressed by some of the coaches and parents at the season end pizza parties that lightly but thoroughly cover many and maybe even most of the contributions, large and small, that made a season possible. I’ve also notices the smiles and glow coming from people who thought that their minor contribution had not been seen when to their delight they got a bit of recognition.
Tags: accomplishment, Bonzi sports software, Communication, youth sports software
Posted in Acknowlegement, Coaching, Communication, Developing Kids, Volunteers | No Comments »
July 13th, 2010
Team is a term that is thrown around so loosely that you’d think all you have to do to get a team together is to just say the word “team” and voila, you’d have a team… whatever that is.
When you search “team” on the www.amazon.com website in the books category you get approximately 172,000 results returned; obviously the world struggles with “team” otherwise why all the darn books?
So just what does put the team into sports team software? In my observation it’s when two conditions are met: 1) everyone has a shared goal that excites each and every person and 2) all proposed members of the team believe, to some degree, that achievement of that goal is possible … even if it’s not precisely probable.
What we’ve found is that if you got those two things going for you, you can skip all 172,000+ of the books, the seminars, and all the other whoo-haa about teams… because you will have a team. See, what we’ve found, and your mileage may vary, is that when you have a goal that everyone shares, is excited about it and believes that it is possible to achieve even if it might be hard work… then a team naturally and easily forms; that’s what puts the team in sports team software.
There is, of course, a bit more to the software part of the story. The one major threat to a team is a lack of communication. The Bonzi sports team software makes it a breeze to communicate with one or many teams, one or many team members and allows you to do so impromptu, automatically or both.
The bottom line is that as a leader it’s really you that put’s the “team” in sports team software. Yeah, Bonzi is here to help you keep the “team” in sports team software but only you can get it there to start.
Tags: Bonzi sports software, Communication, Sports software, sports team software, Youth Soccer Coaching
Posted in Acknowlegement, Coaching, Communication, Developing Kids, How to Choose, Motivation, Parents Win, Performance | No Comments »
July 8th, 2010
The world of sports, especially boxing, soccer and football, for both children and adults is only recently becoming broadly aware of the causes and effects of brain damage in sports. With this new awareness parents, coaches, volunteers and organizers are now realizing the following about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE):
- It is a result of concussions, particularly multiple concussions
- Most CTE happens to people who sustain trauma over many years – but can also develop from repeated trauma in rapid succession where the brain has not had time to heal between events.
- In most cases the onset of CTE happens later in life
In our culture we value being competitive to such a degree that both children and adults often feel internal and external pressure to just “shake off” the experience and “get back in there” only to take another hit often due to now slowed reflexes.
I’ve heard neurologists suggest that a solid concussion essentially tears portions of the brain apart. In many cases a player may not suffer adverse effects if they are allowed to take the weeks or months for the brain to recover. All too often though a lack of understanding has coaches and parents allowing, and even encouraging, a child to get back into the game long before their brain is fully healed.
Sadly these oversights can set up a child for a long term struggle with pain and loss of function that doesn’t always show up until long after the event and is therefore often not directly tied to the events that caused the condition. In some cases children have been known to suddenly collapse and die, while in other cases it can take from 12 – 16 years before major symptoms appear.
Boxing and football get the most attention as sports that have a high incidence of CTE. The condition was originally thought of as mainly a risk of a long boxing career. Football has had its share of CTE with the advances in helmets dramatically limiting skull fracture but doing little to limit CTE. At least 5 prep football players are reported to die each year during the season with an undetermined number suffering symptoms long after the football season.
With the World Cup taking center stage it is appropriate to also mention that there is a rapidly growing awareness of concussion in soccer and its potential for causing CTE.
Sadly a true diagnosis for CTE can only occur after death as the result of a brain autopsy.
Please do your homework for the sake of all the sports participants in your life and on your teams.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Discussion
Tags: Boxing, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, concussions, CTE, Support, Youth Soccer Coaching
Posted in Coaching, Developing Kids, Volunteers, Wins for Parents | No Comments »
July 1st, 2010
Parents are the key enabler to kids regular participation in any sport such as soccer, football, baseball, lacrosse, etc.
Kids can’t pay the fee’s, arrange the transportation, juggle the competing demands of a family’s schedule and all the other things that have to come together for a kid to participate in a sport.
Anymore it seems more and more unusual that only one parent in a two parent household can stay home and stay on top of all the logistics to make it happen. in many and maybe most families both parents work and depending on the size of the city or the nature of the work both parents are lucky to get home by dinner time let alone time to get a child a snack, make sure they have everything they need and get them off to practice or a game.
Today it seems that there are more than a few single parent households where the work must come first because it is the only source of income and there is no easy safety net if traffic is bad one day or the boss insists on work into the evening on the day of the big game or the crucial practice (aren’t they all?).
Despite all these challenges parents do their level best, in my observation, to do what it takes to get and keep their kids in sports simply because it is so central to a happy, healthy and well adjusted upbringing in this world. Ask many adults what their fondest memories of growing up were and I’ll bet a role in sports is one of the top three of the fondest memories.
So what’s the point? The point is that we all benefit from happy, healthy and well adjusted kids no matter our age or circumstances. These kids are our nations and the worlds future. This blog post is simply a plea for us all to look around and pitch in when we can to help each other get as many kids into sports as possible. I can’t do anything significant about the national debt, terrorists, or the price of beans in Beirut… but I can keep my eyes open and be sensitive enough to volunteer to provide a ride, give a word of encouragement, or volunteer my logistical support to help out a coach so that the most kids possible get to participate.
Bonzi sports software’s role is simple; we make it easy, fun and very, very affordable. We know that the harder it gets for parents and all the other caring folks who selflessly give to support kids participation the fewer kids get to play. Bonzi sports software can only make the sports registration, scheduling, coach background checking, rostering, and websites easy, fun and affordable… but we think that’s a lot. Beyond that it’s the coaches, volunteers and those dedicated parents who put their plans in second place in favor of the future of their kids.
Tags: accomplishment, Bonzi sports software, leadership, Little league baseball, sports registration, sports schedule software, Sports software, youth sports software
Posted in Acknowlegement, Coaching, Developing Kids, Motivation, Parents Win | No Comments »
June 30th, 2010
One of the most startling things my father ever said to me as I was growing up was “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach”. Being very visual this statement hit me with both the “Yuck” factor of the image and the conviction that the metaphor was spot on in the situation at hand in my life.
24 – 7 – 365; All any of us has is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days in a year. Exactly how many years each of us might be lucky enough to get persists as one of the primary questions in any life. Given all this we can only accomplish so much with our precious time. If this is so then why are we so loath to write down and commit to goals… that are somewhat realistic AND that we reasonably might have the resources to accomplish?
The power of “and”. Last summer I sent my then 16 year old son on a three week Outward Bound adventure. We were warned that the adventure would entail carrying a heavy pack for 10 + miles each day over rugged terrain. To get him ready I thought of all sorts of complicated exercise routines but in the end decided to opt for something simple that had a high likelihood of actually happening often enough that the end result would be a level of conditioning that would allow my moderately sedentary son to have a good time and not hate me the rest of his long life. At first I was just going to have him walk home from school each day; nice, simple and likely to happen. The magic was the power of the “and”. Each day he took a pack with him to school and each week we added 5 pounds to the pack so by the last week prior to his Outward Bound departure he was carrying 60 lbs for 2.5 miles each day.
So why am I telling you this? Because for once in my life I got real about the: 1) goal, 2) resources and 3) time that we had to accomplish something. Had I made this complex my son would not have been prepared for what turned out to often be 10+ hours of walking each day and often more than 10 miles over steep terrain including snow. As it turned out my son was by far the most physically fit kid on the trip and as a result he had a truly life changing experience.
The key was two-fold; first we got real and clear about what our goal, resources and time was for the mission at hand, second we kept it simple enough to get done but not so simple that it didn’t meet the need; we included the powerful “and” of both the walking and the gradually increasing weight in the pack.
Too often I fail and see others fail when we don’t get real with people in sports and recognize the reality of our goals, resources and time… and as a result we don’t accomplish anything other than creating chaos and frustration. Workout routines that are simple and have limited objectives can often achieve most of our goals for a sport while staying within our resource limits and the little time most modern schedules can allocate.
At Bonzi sports software we too are faced with being real about our goals, resources and time. As one of the fastest growing sports software companies in the world (according to our consultant) our growth consumes resources and time along with our commitment to world-class support, providing the best sports registration software, sports scheduling software, team website software enabled with an easy-to-use content manager all in a no contract customer relationship. All this comes back to our goal; a great and frustration free experience for our dedicated volunteers, administrators and parents associated with sports such as soccer, football, basketball, baseball, softball, lacrosse, hockey , little league and volley ball.
We have found that if we keep it simple and real we can leverage the power of the “and” thereby both delivering a great experience every day for our clients and growing faster than any of our competitors without losing clients.
So what do you think? Are we achieving our objective?
Tags: accomplishment, Bonzi sports software, leadership, Little league baseball, sports registration, sports schedule software, sports team software, sports websites, team websites, youth sports software
Posted in Acknowlegement, Coaching, Communication, Developing Kids, Motivation, Parents Win, Performance, Volunteers | No Comments »
June 29th, 2010
My 17 year old son is cleaning out his bedroom to prepare for a busy summer and to be ready to hit the ground running for his senior year in high school. This whole process reminded me of the new movie Toy Story 3 where the boy is getting ready to move away from home and go to college. My son and the Toy Story 3 boy were both at the beginning of transitions and both were packing up the remnants of the past in preparation for the future.
Having seen the Toy Story 3 movie tuned my awareness up for boxes marked “Store in Attic” and “Give Away”. I noticed my son too had a box marked “Store in Attic”… I just had to peak to see what prize had escaped the trip to Goodwill and was getting stored for a shot at another day. To my surprise a significant portion of those things being saved for the future was his collection of “participation” trophy’s from kindergarten on. Alas, my son has never been nor really wanted to be a competitor; he was just out to have fun and be part of the team. Still the recognition represented by the trophy must have meant something to him.
In the science of motivation we know that recognition is a powerful motivator for people to try harder, work harder and to have vastly more persistence than is likely without recognition. For many a kid the recognition that comes from a coach, other parents and a $2 trophy is all the recognition that they are likely to get in life. To my way of thinking this is one of the foundational values that make youth sports so very, very important in our culture regardless which game is played.
At Bonzi sports software we support the concept of recognition a couple of important ways. First we know that having your picture on a sports website or a video on your sports website is a powerful motivator. To support that Bonzi sports software allows for unlimited space so that coaches and volunteers can post all the pictures they want without being asked to pay more. We also make sure that we keep the cost of registration down without asking the sports club or league to compromise on what they get from the software. Finally, Bonzi sports software is unique in all sports software in that we have a content management system that makes it easy and fast for a volunteer or administrator to quickly post and title new photos or videos.
We know that appropriate recognition drives both effort and self-esteem in kids. When kids know how to go beyond their initial limits and the develop great self-esteem we know that our world will be a better place for everybody.
Tags: accomplishment, Communication, leadership, making decisions, Sports software, Youth Soccer Coaching
Posted in Acknowlegement, Coaching, Communication, Developing Kids, Motivation, Parents Win | No Comments »
June 24th, 2010
In keeping with the spirit of World Cup Soccer I want to pass on this little tidbit recently reported on the Freakonomics Podcast… it turns out that game theory almost explains penalty kicks.
As I’m sure you know a right footed kicker tends to kick a penalty kick to the left and left footed kickers to the right. Clearly the goalie would know the difference in advance. Also, as you may recall, in World Cup Soccer the penalty kicks are so powerful that the goalie literally has to make their choice of which direction they are going to jump before the ball has left the foot of the kicker.
Generally a goalie is better off trying to jump to the right for a left footed kicker and to the left for a right footed kicker… generally. Overall, however, the kicker would, mathematically speaking, score more often if they just kicked the ball straight ahead… but that rarely happens? Why?
It turns out that looking good is more important than scoring. See, in the calculus of a World Cup Soccer players life kicking the ball straight ahead on a penalty kick and having the ball easily caught or defended is viewed as a major sin. In fact they say it is such a sin that a World Cup level player actually could lose a sponsor over it. So even though they would score more often if they just kicked straight ahead it rarely happens because it just pays to worry first about how you look in World Cup soccer than if you score.
For the rest of us who don’t stand to lose a sponsorship you might want to try to just kick straight at the goal with your penalty kicks knowing that the math is on your side.
Tags: accomplishment, Youth Soccer Coaching
Posted in Coaching, Developing Kids | No Comments »
June 23rd, 2010
While precious few will ever play soccer at the level required to participate in the World Cup we can all watch and be inspired. As a father it is simply a joy to watch the World Cup with my sons and listen to them comment on the game as they stand in awe of the amazing quality of play on the field.
A funny thing is happening to my boys as they watch the best soccer players in the world play soccer; they are getting inspired to try harder, do their best and be their best… in all areas of their lives. No, they are not on track to ever play elite soccer but they are on the track to take the inspiration provided by the best to be the best that they can be in their lives. For that I am deeply thankful for soccer and the World Cup games.
At Bonzi we have always been inspired by the best in any sport. While the best of anything is always an inspiration our real excitement comes from watch and being able to support any kid, parent and adult as they get out onto the field of play in any sport (football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, softball, tennis, swimming, etc.). Kids who participate year in and year out, as you know, learn life lessons that just don’t seem to be available any other way.
At Bonzi we are inspired to produce the best, easiest to use, best supported, and most innovative sports software available anywhere in the world today. Certainly Bonzi sports software in very, very strong in soccer software but we are also strong in every other kind of sports software… according to our customers.
Please visit us or call us to explore our new content manager; it is one of the most exciting innovations in sports software today and it is only available from Bonzi sports software… that is just one of the ways that we are aspiring to be world class for all of you involved in sports… including soccer software for those who dream of being in the World Cup someday.
Posted in Acknowlegement, Coaching, Motivation, Parents Win | No Comments »
June 21st, 2010
Have you ever wished you could find just one place that brought all of a specific sports rules, drills, history, videos, etc. together in just one, easy to access spot?
If you have then you’ll want to drop by www.bonzicentral.com every so often during the rest of 2010 and watch how we slowly but steadily add new content about your favorite sports to the www.bonzicentral.com website.
If you have suggestions for us, think we’ve missed something, or just like what you see, we’d like to hear about it in your comments in this blog. If it’s a legitimate comment or suggestion we’ll respond and we’ll likely act on it. After all, that’s how we and our customers build what our customers tell us is the best sports software available on the market today.
We’ll still cover sports registration, sport team websites, great reporting, Email communication for leagues, clubs and teams, sports scheduling and how to make it all easy and fast to do… and we won’t forget all of that friendly unlimited personal support you’ve come to expect. The only thing that will change is that you’ll be able to find more interesting information on www.bonzicentral.com
Yikes, I forgot to mention the new Bonzi Content Manager; it’s just getting rolled out now with Beta testers… but WOW, is it ever cool according to the folks who have gotten a sneak peek. Just imagine, most of the web site work that required a programmer in the past can now be done by anyone who can type. So what’s in it for you and your organization? Well, first of all you’ll be able to have that website you’ve always dreamed of without all the cost and complexity of using a web designer. You’ll also be able to get it in place fast and make the changes you want fast. Above all it will be fun and save you money.
So please check back with us… good things are coming your way soon.
Tags: Bonzi sports software, league software, online registration, software sports, Sports software, youth sports software
Posted in Coaching, Communication, How to Choose, Parents Win, Reporting, Scheduling, Support, Upgrades, Wins for Parents | No Comments »
June 16th, 2010
Sports Software, league software, youth sports software… whatever you call it doesn’t matter as much as what your perspective is when you think of it. What do I mean?
Sports software (or whatever you wish to call it) and it’s impact on your life differs by the job or role you have when you encounter it. Your role gives you certain experiences and experiences give you a unique set of distinctions… meaning you can see things that others can’t. No kidding.
For example, a referee see’s a sports activity with one set of eyes while a participant see’s it with another set of eyes and an observer/fan see’s it with yet another set of eyes. No perspective is wrong… they’re just different.
If you have never used sports software then at first glance they all look about the same… therein lies some danger that you might make a choice based upon limited distinctions and your development of distinctions might come from having a lousy first experience using sports software, league software and youth sports software. This can be especially painful if you get signed up for a multi-year contract that locks you in because you were told that “everybody” requires a multi-year contract.
If you have used sports software then you have developed some distinctions related to how you interacted with that software and the comments you heard from others. The painful thing is that it is all to easy to either have your contract with your current provider “auto” extend for a year or two… the details around this are usually in the fine print of your contract, or jump from a bad experience with your current provider to another equally difficult experience with a new provider.
Finally, it often happens that the sports software you are using may be OK for a volunteer who just does rostering or registration but a nightmare for your coaches, the person who manages the team web site or the person who is responsible for generating reports each week. The bottom line is that it is very difficult to gain enough sports software distinctions fast enough for any one person to understand all of the questions to ask to make sure that you and your organization get the best sports software for the unique needs of your club, league or organization.
Bonzi sports software knows this oh so well because our friendly team of sports software support experts speak with both Bonzi sports software users and people who are frustrated with other brands of sports software not just daily but hourly. From that experience has come something called the Bonzi sports software “Best Choice Tool Kit” and the “Bonzi Challenge”. Essentially Bonzi sports software knows that if you ask all the right questions that you’ll be in a great position to make the best choice for your and your organization. Bonzi also has good reason to believe that if you do ask all the right questions that you’ll quickly see that Bonzi, according to our customers, has what most clubs, leagues and organizations feel is the best sports software for most them.
Are you curious? Is your sports software contract going to expire soon? Are you doing it all with Excel and sheer determination? If so then you might want to check out our free, fair, and easy to use tools to help you and your organization make the best sports software choice for you and your club, league or organization by going here: http://www.bonzicentral.com/bonzichallenge
Tags: Bonzi sports software, league software, making decisions, online registration, software sports, sports registration, sports schedule software, Sports software, youth sports software
Posted in Coaching, Communication, Costs, How to Choose, Parents Win, Scheduling, Support, Volunteers | No Comments »
