Cloud computing is a fancy term for “being able to store my stuff on the internet”.  That simple phrase is revolutionizing many industries.  One of the industries benefiting the most from the cloud is the sports management industry.  If you’re a rec director, league director, tournament director, coach, etc, you should try to take advanatge of the cloud in as many ways as possible.  Ignoring the cloud can cost you a ton of time, and even worse, a ton of money.

Over the last decade and more, if you managed a sports program, you had two pretty unattractive options to choose between: (1) organize my program with spread sheets, flyers and email chains, which is cheap but painfully tedious or (2) spend thousands of dollars on a software that makes things easier, but is still a pain to set up and learn how to use.  THOSE DAYS ARE OVER.

The Stone Age vs. The New Age

The cloud has wedged a sharp contrast between the “Stone Age” of sports management (see above) and the “New Age” of sports management.  Here are three key laws of the new age of sports management:

1.) Any program, no matter how small or how low a budget, can have access to premium sports management software

2.) Using your software does not require you or someone on your staff to have a technical background

3.) Using your software does not involve downloads, installations or discs

How is this possible?  Without getting into too much technical detail, just realize that the internet is now advanced enough to permit large, multi-faceted things like software to exist on it.  As a result, you don’t have to install or download things.  This means that you don’t need to have technical experience to get started.  Finally, since software can now function like a website on the internet as opposed to a system isolated on a computer, it can be financially supported by things like ads, and thus, companies can stay in business without charging you anything.  This is how stuff like Gmail and Yelp work financially.

Since price and tech experience are now out of the equation, it means sports management software is now accessible by anyone with an internet connection.  Cool, huh?

Are you living in the Stone Age?

If you’re copying player registration information from index cards and manually typing it into a spreadsheet, you’re in the Stone Age.  If you’re combing through hundreds of files on your computer looking for a schedule, you’re in the Stone Age.  If you’re paying a dime for a sports management software, you’re in the Stone Age.

So, how do you get out?

Getting out!

If you’re living in the Stone Age, you owe it to the participants in your program, and most importantly, yourself, to get out.  We at StadiumRoar have played and coached sports our entire lives.  We know sports.  We build software for the New Age; free, instant, easy.  Have a look yourself at what we do; free sports websites, free sports registration software and free sports scheduling software.

Have any other tips or strategies for taking advantage of the cloud in the world of sports and recreation?  Leave a comment and let us all know.