Coronavirus or COVID-19 has affected the youth sports a lot and mainly the youth sports organizers. Major plans and schedules are postponed, the events are canceled, matches are abandoned which resulted in lost jobs and revenues. The situation is not good for the kids either, who were actively participating in various sports activities and are now have to stay home and do nothing.
Here are some tips for youth sports organizers to handle various business and other challenges.
Impact on the next season
It’s a tough time to plan anything with all the uncertainties. It’s better not to make any concrete plans. Be open and flexible to incorporate changes. Communicate the same with everyone.
Resource management
You may have rented fields, collected participation fees from the people, and paid for travel arrangements. Negotiate with various parties to figure out a solution on how to handle each situation. Most companies are cooperating, but still, sports organizers have to cover some amount of the contracts that they had before this outbreak.
Continue communicating with the kids and parents
Many kids are left wondering in their home and asking their parents, “what they can do now?”. While parents themselves don’t know either in this situation. Youth sports organizers should remain in contact with the parents and kids and give them specific small tasks that they can do at home. At the same time, they also need to provide information to parents regarding future circumstances.
Stay organized even during bad times
It’s important not to lose faith and stay organized. Be optimistic and think positive which will help a lot.
Encourage parents and advise them to remain in their homes with their kids and have regular check-ups in case they are noticing any symptoms.
Revenue Loss (No new registrations)
Coping up with the revenue loss is hard. Work out plans like taking a bank loan or pausing certain payments. If it works out for you, collect advanced payments for future activities.
Refunding issues to customers
Depending on the program terms, you may have to refund the program fee collected. One solution here is instead of refunding the amount, try working out giving credits for future activities.
Rescheduling
It is challenging to reschedule the plans that you have working for quite some time. Use the right tools to reschedule certain activities based on the current situation, but be prepared for the changes.
Salaries and Expenses
In this situation, it’s hard to pay the salaries of the employees who are idle and who are bounded by contracts each month along with other expenses. These expenses can add up and make the survival of an organization very difficult. At the same time, this situation will not last forever, so make the right arrangements so everybody will come out strong and no permanent damage is done.
Supporting players
If you know of a family that tested positive, then facilitate the support network so that the family can safely navigate through the difficult times.
COVID 19 has limited all of us inside our homes, but we can still utilize this time to shine our sports skills. We just have to eat right, keep active with some or other home activities. Keep communicating with all the members with the right messages at the right time using a sports management platform like SportsPlus. More importantly, stay positive and help others to stay positive. 
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