Presented by John Engh, COO of the National Alliance for Youth Sports, at the Carolinas Joint Recreation and Parks Conference in Myrtle Beach, SC.

1. Marketing your
youth sports
programs
Are your results reflective of
your goals and efforts?
John Engh
Chief Operating Officer
Kate Nematollahi
Director, Marketing

2. National Alliance for
Youth Sports
 National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) is a non-
profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1981 as
National Youth Sports Coaches Association (NYSCA),
a training and membership program for the dads and
moms coaching their kid's sports teams.
 NAYS offers programs and services for everyone
involved in youth sports, including professional
administrators, volunteer administrators, coaches,
officials, parents, and young athletes. NAYS strives to
make playing sports fun, safe, and positive for all kids.
Marketing your youth
sports programs

3. Marketing your youth
sports programs

4.  What is “marketing” and how does it
apply to youth sports???
Developing a Marketing Plan
Marketing your youth
sports programs

5. Marketing your youth
sports programs

6. Marketing Realities
1. Marketing is REAL for you
2. There is no GENERAL PUBLIC
3. Build your own MEDIA empire
4. Everyone is ONLINE
5. Your BRAND is who you are
6. TIME is your most important asset
7. The BASICS are the most important
8. Never QUIT
Marketing your youth
sports programs

7. The REAL Definition of
Marketing
 The Marketing Mix – the four P’s
1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion
 Or is it 5 P’s? – POLICY
Which of these is most important in the
youth sports world?
Marketing your youth
sports programs

8. Marketing your youth
sports programs
Another “P” - Perception

9. Product
 Take a couple minutes to discuss your
product…
 Elements of your products
 Facilities
 Uniforms
 Instructors/Coaches
 Play Structure
 You!

10. Price
 Is pricing related to participation in your
program?
 How do you determine pricing for your
programs?
 Do your participants reflect your
community?

11. Place
 Where are your facilities?
 How important is their location to your
registration numbers?
 Are you attracting ALL of the play within
the range of those facilities?
 How are you registering your participants?

12. Promotion
 Share up to five ways that you promote
your programs.
 Examples:
 Online
 Email
 Print
 Postings
 Other?

13. The 5th P…
Policy
 What policies currently affect the marketing
of your programs?
 Think about the 4 P’s
 What policies if implemented would benefit
your programs?
 Mandates on training
 Field use restrictions
 Implementing published standards
 Pricing restrictions
 Screening costs

14. Elements of a Marketing Plan
1. Goals
2. Analysis
3. Audience
4. Message
5. Tactics
6. Budget/Staffing
7. Metrics/Post-Analysis
Marketing your youth
sports programs

15. Goals
 What are our goals with our youth sports
programs?
1. Present a mission statement that reflects
your goals for your programs.
2. List three specific goals for your programs.
Marketing your youth
sports programs

16. Analysis
Marketing your youth
sports programs

17. SWOT Analysis
 Strengths
 Weaknesses
 Opportunities
 Threats
Marketing your youth
sports programs

18. Audience
 Multiple Audiences
 Participants
 Stakeholders
 Leaders
 Volunteers
 Target Each
 Specifics
 Incentives
 Pricing
Marketing your youth
sports programs

19. Message
Marketing your youth
sports programs

20. Message
 What are some messages that we should
promote that would encourage
participation?
 “Save the Puppy”
What is YOUR “Save the Puppy?”
Marketing your youth
sports programs

21. Tactics
 What are you doing now?
 Future
 Define your communication channels
 Take your message to your audience
 Be a Social Media expert – or hire one!
Marketing your youth
sports programs

22. Budgets/Staffing
 Are there any financial resources keeping
you from implementing a plan?
 What are your options for getting
resources if needed?
 Prioritize the parts of the plan that need to
happen immediately
 Short term
 Long term
Marketing your youth
sports programs

23. Metrics
 What measures are available to you to track
your plan’s effectiveness?
 What would you like to track?
 Watch & Listen!
 Focus groups
 Email statistics
 Survey
 Web stats
 Social media growth
 Attainable Goals!
Marketing your youth
sports programs

24. The Down & Dirty
 Who are we trying to reach?
 What is our message?
 What is the best delivery method?
Marketing your youth
sports programs

25. Short Term
What are 2-3 immediate ideas that you
would like to implement from today’s
discussion?
Marketing your youth
sports programs

26. Marketing your youth
sports programs

27. Don’t Quit!
Marketing your youth
sports programs
John Engh
jengh@nays.org
Questions??