Convergence Capstone

Cordell Anderson

Aniqa Hasan

May 2011
Executive Summary

This semester, our goal with the Columbia Youth Football League was to develop an effective communication method between the league and its coaches, parents, and players. We first started out by creating surveys and sending them out to coaches and parents so that we could get a sense of how to best communicate with the two. From the surveys, we found that coaches and parents preferred email communication over phone calls, text messages, or Facebook.

Initially, Aniqa and I thought Facebook would be a great vehicle to communicate information throughout the league because of its popularity and ability to allow us to transmit information quick and easy. But after finding out that there were a lot of older coaches who didn't have a Facebook, and those who did did not want to receive news via Facebook, we scrapped that decision and focused on giving the people what they want.

With a monthly emailed newsletter, we would be able to push out news and information regarding the league in an effective manner. Not only would it allow us to control the news that is presented to the league and cut down on any misinformation or heresay, we could target specific newsletters toward certain constituent groups and find out how to best serve them through the use of Constant Contact.

With jumpstarting a monthly newsletter and having it structured in a way that would be successful for years to come being our main focus, while also creating a couple of multimedia pieces to add to the website, we were not able to work on the redesign of the league's website. Browsing the site together to find general information about the league, Aniqa and I quickly agreed that the website needed a boost; a major one at that.

The website as a whole was too cluttered and included an abundance of information. There were several tabs across the top of the site, which then contained many non working or incomplete links under them. It lacked photos, videos, and user interactivity to keep the user engaged with the page. These were just a few of the issues we found wrong with the league's website and spoke about with Stephanie and John. But with all of us having limited web development skills and not having the full amount of time to completely focus on the website itself, it was a task that went undone, but one that did gain our attention for improvement upon in the future.

So with these two being our most significant research findings, we feel that they present great opportunities for convergence journalism students to continue a working relationship with the CYFL. The first task would be writing and editing content for the monthly newsletter that would go out. With that, there would need to be photos, interviews for things like the Player of the Week section, ongoing conversations with sponsors, etc. So gathering and organizing data for the newsletter and being the main ones involved with getting it out every month would be a great learning opportunity for students.

Redeveloping the league's website as far as content and layout would also be a great job for a convergence journalism student. The challenge with this though would be having the necessary web development skills. But for a student who is proficient in layouts and designs, and love shooting videos, photos and just the overall work that we do in the convergence sequence, this would also be a great opportunity.

Review of Other Youth Sports Sites

Competitive Analysis

Weaknesses of the CYFL Web site / Strengths of the CYFL Web site / Other possibilities
CYBA / -Donate now button
-Quick sponsor/ coach app
-Official photos
-FourSquare check-ins (4) / -Easier to navigate
-Less clutter
-Faster load time
-Less material to download
-Updated information
-Photos / -Updated last minute notifications (practice cancellations, etc.)
-Interactivity
Diamond Council / -Organization
-Updated regularly (via Twitter/Facebook)
-Scrolling advertisements
-Parent/Coach Login
-FourSquare check-ins (1) / -Photos
-Availability of information / -Interactivity
Daniel Boone / -Facebook with 100 followers
-Comments from past players
-Photos / -More aesthetic/ interesting
-Updated information
-Not text heavy
-Easier to navigate
-Less text heavy
-Photos / -Customized log in
-Team/coach/player profiles
-Social media created but not updated
CLAX / -Simple
-Continuous blogging
-Search feature
-Facebook group page 20+ followers / -Informational
-Updated
-Sponsor ads / -Ease of online registration
USA Football / -Interesting apps such as “Click-and-create playbook”
-Tabs for every audience
-Strong presence in social media
2,000+ Facebook fans
-WePlay / -Less cluttered
-Easy to navigate
Pop Warner / -Newsletter
-Updated news stories
-Videos
-Photos
-2,000+ Facebook fans / -Easy access tabs / -Log-in
-Customization possibility
Upward Sports / -Colorful/ aesthetic
-Interactive
-Log-in
-Photos
-Options
-Search engine
-Wikipedia page / -Online registration
-More information
-Online forms
Columbia Soccer Club / -Organization
-Maps
-Forms and registration / -Easier to navigate
-Not as much text
-Less ambiguous tabs / -Customization
-Less material to download
-No printing required

Purpose: To discover how other sports leagues, both local and professional, utilize their online resources and create an online identity for themselves. We could then use this information to create content for CYFL and use it to improve the current online resources.

Purpose: To determine the strengths of CYFL and utilize them to improve our online content as well as our communications methods. It also provided us with information about what our weaknesses were and how we could prove to potential CYFL members that it was still a strong organization.

Research Findings

Multimedia Elements

Interview with Logan Gray

Media outlet: Slideshow

Sources: Logan Gray

Purpose:Logan Gray was a running back with CYFL for three years, before going on to be the quarterback at Rock Bridge High School and the University of Georgia. By interviewing him and putting it in a easy-to-read slideshow format, it allows potential and current CYFL players to have a role model who was in their exact position years earlier. It also may help potential parents see what their children learn in the league. We chose to do a slideshow format so it was easy to read and broken up into small segments, perfect for children and adults alike. The captions can be hidden so people can choose to only see answers to questions they are interested in.

Equipment Overview

Media outlet: Rollover graphic

Purpose:The main purpose of this infographic is to inform parents about the different types of equipment players wear and how they keep them safe. As you roll over each piece of equipment, a description appears on the screen that tells what part of the body the equipment protects and whether or not it’s provided by the league. A lot of parents worry about their kids when they’re on the field playing. So if we give them information that helps them know that their kids are safe with the equipment they arrive on the field with, it helps ease some of the concern.

Coaches Video

Media outlet: Video

Sources: Greg Holloway (Head Coach- 3rd Grade Rams)

Purpose:Some parents have safety concern about their kids when they’re on the playing field. So we wanted to speak with a coach about how they go about keeping the players safe on the field. Coach Greg Holloway talked about pre-warmup stretches and the teaching of good fundamentals go a long way in making sure players stay safe on the field while having fun.

Communication Method

Newsletter

Format: Constant Contact Newsletter

Purpose: To create an encompassing communication method so that all coaches, players, parents and sponsors can stay updated on the latest CYFL happenings. The e-mail comes with photos, updates and a calendar. All the links lead to the related pages, such as the registration link which leads straight to the registration page, which makes it very simple for CYFL members to receive the information and act on it as well. In the fall, this newsletter will come on a weekly basis and include photos from the weekend’s games, scores and standings. The newsletters also include spaces for sponsors to have their logos or digital coupons, as another incentive to sponsor CYFL at the various levels.

Future Sports Intern

Qualifications

•Interest/experience in sports, preferably football

•J2150

-OR: audio, video, photo experience and editing skills

•Experience with Flash, audio slideshows, video content

•Experience with social networking sites

•Willing to learn EverySport and Constant Contact

Job requirements

•Create a weekly/monthly newsletter

•Create fresh content for the web site

•Take photos/video at league events

•Manage all social networking sites

–Respond to complaints/questions

–Keep fans/participants engaged