The Future is Here – Improving the Life of Soccer Players and Families Using Technology
Improving the Life of Soccer Players and Families Using Technology: Just turn back the clock to the early 80’s and realize that before FAX machines were in offices across the country and the Internet was a dream for 99% of the population. Now, with airplane tickets on iPhones, why is youth soccer behind the times? Youth soccer is embracing technology — at least those organizations that have Affinity.
Today, technology has connected all of us in new ways and images now fly through the air from one cell phone to another. Technology helped a paralyzed teenager kick the first soccer ball at the 2014 World Cup to the amazement of millions of soccer fans and goal line technology lets us know when a goal has been scored.
If we can travel to New York from London by plane with our ticket on our smart phone and pay for coffee at Starbucks an app, where are these technological advancements we take for granted in our soccer world? The smart phone has transformed how we operate today, so why not reap the benefits of the technology?
Spearheading groundbreaking use of technology, Affinity Sports is bringing the world of digital ease to American youth soccer. One of the best examples of taking advantage of technology to help youth sports is Player Cards – this form of identification no longer has to be laminated paper, but can be digital.
Think of the many advantages eliminating paper player cards — just imagine the nightmare of ‘Where are the player cards’ being a part of the past. Any State Association working with Affinity can embrace this technology today and start sharing the joy of our modern era.
When professional soccer no longer has to rely on the human eye to let us a know a goal has been scored, why should youth soccer have to rely on old fashioned practices to let us know that a player is born in a specific year? Why are team managers stressing not to forget the player cards while at the same time these busy parents never leave the house without their smart phones?
Who is Affinity Sports
? Affinity Sports is the software used by State Associations and other organizations for player registration. Affinity has registered 1.2mm records of US Youth Soccer participants in their ShareView system. Just so you know, 1.2 million players is 40%+ of all US Youth Soccer players.
Affinity’s goal is to be the leader of technological innovations in youth sports and they are well on their way to achieving this. One of their main goals is moving customers away from paper. We are living in a digital age, and it’s only a matter of time until paper is entirely a thing of the past and trees can breathe a sigh of relief.
How else can technology help our youth soccer players? Far beyond making life easier with digital player cards, Affinity Sports’ software can be used to make it safer as well. A player has a concussion and needs a letter from a doctor to get back on the field? Instead of trying to make sure the Doctor’s letter is seen by all the right people, why not have let technology help?
While everything always depends upon how the client wishes to use the software, the technology exists for the State Association, League, or Club to have an option of concussion management. At no additional cost to anyone, Associations can easily track a soccer player’s medical status related to concussions, and confirm a medical release for all to easily verify.
How would this work? “If an association wants, a team admin could report the concussion in our system,” said Mark Skeen, CEO of Affinity Sports. “By doing so, the player who suffered the head injury will be flagged. The player would show as an ineligible player on a team roster, disqualifying them from participating. Once a medical doctor clears the player to return to play, the player can be cleared in the software and return to play.”
Utah Youth Soccer is currently using a match report system and are evaluating digital cards. The Utah match report has both terms and all coach, administrator, and player eligibility requirements on one page. This can easily be view digitally on a smart phone or an iPad. Now that all the data is available online and can be disseminated in many forms, including cool digital player cards, youth soccer may be coming out of the pre-technology dark ages. Just imagine, when a player’s eligibility status changes, everyone can automatically be simultaneously updated.
Why are player cards not digital yet? “The technology is in place today to allow for youth soccer player ID cards to be digital,” said Skeen. “The data exists and we have the ability to do it easily. Using digital cards versus paper cards becomes a policy decision. The challenge is to get everyone to use the same platform to verify eligibility.”
Affinity has over 5 million records — a combination of current and former US Youth Soccer players plus their USASA Adult population. This is an enormous base of soccer loving players for analyzing past activity and forecasting trends.
Current Youth Soccer Association Clients
Alabama Soccer Association- Cal South Soccer
- CA Youth Soccer Association (Cal North)
- Georgia Soccer
- Hawaii Youth Soccer Association
- Kentucky Youth Soccer Association
- Massachusetts Youth Soccer
- Ohio North Youth Soccer Association
- Ohio South Youth Soccer Association
- Oregon Youth Soccer Association
- PA West Soccer
- Tennessee State Soccer Association
- Utah Youth Soccer Association
- Washington Youth Soccer
Related Article: Massachusetts Youth Soccer Has Affinity
