Organized sports is arguably the best way for kids and adults to experience healthy competition in a social setting while staying active. But whether you are a coach, parent, or waterboy you know the difficulties that the “organized” aspect of sports brings with it. Making sure you know who is actually playing, setting lineups, and managing the finances, are all necessary nuisances that accompany the activities you love most.
Why let these small things get in the way? With the new app MyTeamSpot, you have access to your team-schedule, team-documents, easy communication with your team, and more!
The creator of MyTeamSpot, Craig Weinstein, joins us today to explain how we will no longer have to fear wearing the wrong colored jersey on game day.
Tell us about the product or service.
MyTeamSpot is a low-cost membership-based sports management platform that enables coaches nationwide to stay organized, communicate effectively with all team members, while doing what they do best: coaching. The app and site feature an all-in-one dashboard, simple communication tools, plus an automated scheduling system designed to keep all team members—coaches, managers, parents and players—on the same page (and the same field!) all season long. With MyTeamSpot users can:
• Track and update schedules
• Communicate quickly with coaches, parents and managers
• Customize your team/season dashboard, including multiple teams/players
• Share team videos and photos with other team members
• Manage team/league documents
• Track attendance and manage RSVPs
• Gauge player availability for games, practices and special events
• Manage team finances and request payments from parents/players
How is it different?
Unlike most team management platforms, MyTeamSpot enables users to manage multiple teams/seasons in one dashboard/view. More and more we heard from coaches, managers and parents that they and their families participated on multiple teams—maybe you coach two teams, play on one and have children who play on several more. Whereas with other team management systems you’d need multiple logins, dashboards and views, MyTeamSpot consolidates all participating teams in one place—one view—to make season management easier than ever.
Overall ,we really had the coaches, managers and parents in mind when we developed MyTeamSpot. The system crosses over both website and app, ensuring ease of use, consistency and cohesion no matter your access point. The tools are very easy to use and, in just a few minutes, you can have your roster, season and next steps set and shared with team members and parents.
What market are you attacking and how big is it?
The youth sports market responded extremely positively to MyTeamSpot—youth coaches, tournament directors, team parents, travel coaches.
Competitive youth sports is a $7 billion industry with nearly 22 million 6-17 year olds participating each year, so we feel there’s a tremendous amount of potential for MyTeamSpot in this mix.
What is the business model?
The business model is simple: MyTeamSpot provides users—coaches, managers, parents and players—with an interactive, integrated team management tool to ensure everyone’s in sync and on the ball. For $5 per month a coach, manager or parent can sign up—all additional team membership are 100% free.
What inspired the business?
I’ve been involved in youth sports for decades, first as a player and now a coach, manager and parent—I still play in an adult league! As players get more and more competitive, everything gets bigger—there’s more going on and more to stay on top of. All too often I saw coaches sending emails out to the parents and players with schedules—that were constantly changing—field updates, permission slips, payment requests…you name it. As a coach, it was confusing—you don’t know what kids are coming to practice or games. You hope they wear the right uniform and get to the right field. As a parent it was even more confusing—especially when you’ve got other kids and other teams to consider. MyTeamSpot was designed to respond to all of this, and to help everyone in this landscape stay organized, focused and on the ball. Everyone is part of one unified hub that’s fully customizable to that particular user’s needs and experiences—no chaos, no clutter, no confusing chatter. It’s all right there, in your dashboard and always in real-time. And, based on the feedback we’re getting from coaches and parents, it’s working.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within six months?
We’re through the initial startup period and really beginning to dig in. We have some strong partnerships established with local and national organizations, tournaments and coaches’ groups, plus a number of bloggers who are covering the product editorially. Over the next six months we’re, of course, looking to build our footprint even more and gain valuable brand awareness in the marketplace. Going into fall we have lofty goals—this is our most important season so far, and we’re anticipating strong usage and a sharp uptick in team registrations coming out of summer. Beyond that, we’re anticipating some exciting app updates as well as, potentially, a tournament-specific add-on, since this is such a big piece of our business.
What is the one piece of startup advice that you never got?
Just because you build it doesn’t mean they’ll come! Just because you’ve built something great that fills a marketplace need, doesn’t mean the audience will automatically gravitate to the product or service. Everything has a curve—a learning curve, an acquisition curve, an engagement curve—and entrepreneurs need to anticipate and account for that ramp up period so you can identify, align with, educate and, ultimately, convert your core audience.
If you could be put in touch with anyone in the New York community who would it be and why?
MyTeamSpot has been developed our platform to serve coaches, players and parents. We know how busy their lives are, we live it too. We would love to have an open dialogue with any of our customers or potential customers so that we can continue to develop our products to serve them better.
Why did you launch in New York?
I live in Ulster County—New York is my home, and I gain a tremendous amount of inspiration from the vibrancy, excitement and innovation emerging from this area. There’s so much going on from a tech and sports perspective, and it’s really fueled the momentum of MyTeamSpot.
Where is your favorite outdoor bar in the city for a drink when it is actually warm out?
I have definitely shared a few pints at the Overlook in Midtown. The rooftop offers a great relaxing atmosphere and wonderful place to catch up with friends.
