Most parents and guardians expect an organization to have a website that is updated frequently, easy to navigate, and accepts online registrations. Having these available for your league can help increase your registration numbers and provide a more positive experience for your families.
For your local Little League®, embracing the many digital tools available today can have a profound impact on league operation, communication and promotion, recruitment of volunteers and players, as well as fundraising and sponsorship. This includes a social media presence, as well as a league website that integrates with online registration.
These powerful digital tools can positively influence any local Little League program and are an expectation of just about every family today. To help local leagues with their online presence, Little League Baseball and Softball has partnered with Sports Connect to provide the means for any chartered Little League to develop a unique Internet presence and register participants electronically.
Any local league has the ability to develop its own local league website using an assortment of Sports Connect template styles including a Little League exclusive design that provides news, information and updates direct from Little League International. Each league can use the templates to create a vibrant landing page with navigation links to specific information all designed and populated by the local league.
The local league’s Board of Directors is encouraged to utilize this free online resource. League’s that have recognized the value of establishing a web presence have improved their sharing of information such as updates to game schedules and announcements of league-related events. Having a league website also give leagues a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week vehicle to promote its sponsorship and fundraising efforts.
Tips to begin developing and maintaining a local league website:
- Appoint a webmaster as a member of the Board of Directors
- Use the Sports Connect website development tools to begin the website creation process
- Establish navigation and develop interior pages
- Be sure waiver release and forms (formerly model release) are distributed, signed, returned, and filed before the start of the season to be able to fully utilize photos of your players and volunteers on your website
- Create a league calendar that includes dates, times, and locations for all league-related events and functions and be sure to keep that schedule up-to-date
- Provide directions to your field or event locations
- Share team schedules and rosters as they become available; and update the website with photos and other fresh content on a regular basis.
- Populate links and advertising tiles to support your sponsors
- Add your league social media feed, which will help your league website be a one-stop online location for all the information your league is sharing, both on the website and through your social media accounts
- Track page views and report website traffic at each Board of Directors meeting