The 6 Best Youth Sports Apps Your Coach Needs

There are over 622 sports apps out in the marketplace. So what are the 6 best youth sports apps your coach needs today. There is a lot and we are here to help you determine how to best navigate what you need and why. Apps can be a great way to help you run your sports organization easily, saving you time. With a minimal cost per month or year, it can also help with player retention and engagement. 

What are my goals with my players and families? 

Registration & Scheduling

Every coach or sports organization needs a registration platform that is easy to use for both families and organizations. The app must also be cost effective. What are some of the best registration and scheduling apps out today?

TeamSnap

Easy to use, cost effective for both coaches and sports organizations. We also like the health screening function that came out in 2020 to help with covid protocols. 

SportsEngine

SportsEngine.com is the place where they can search and sign up for local leagues, tournaments, and clinics, learn about successful athletes, access training programs and drills, and get expert advice. 

TIP: check out your governing body for your specific sport. They likely have an agreement with a registration platform where you can save money.

TIP 2: your families may need Tourney Machine depending on your sport. It is free for all to access and is an easy way to keep track of competitions. 

Communication

There are a lot of apps that help you communicate with families and players. Communication can come in many forms but we do know that when coaches, sports organizers, players and parents are connected and communicating, good things happen. 

Heja

This easy to use app, also provides availability functions for practices and more. It is also cost effective to use. 

iSport360

Our app helps coaches, parents and players stay connected. You can communicate in a virtual locker room that is managed by the coach and where all parents can see. You can also add a sticker reward to a player for a great play or how they were kind to another player during practice.  Our platform is COPPA and SafeSport compliant too. 

TIP: Use your communication platform to stay connected when you do not have practice or a game. It is a great way to stay in touch and give your players a boost during downtime. 

Player Development & Training

Youth sports training and development apps have taken off in the past year. With more and more athletes having to train at home, YouTube and Instagram have been widely used by athletes to help with everything from footwork or tactical training on their sports. Many professional athletes were training in small spaces and showing how you could train too. We even wrote a blog post about it. 

Famer

Famer works with organizations to produce custom videos of their unique training curriculums, which can then be used to create workouts that are distributed to athletes on the Famer app. 

iSport360

Our app helps coaches share practice assignments and specifically you can share video. If you have a player that needs to work on dribbling, add a video and send it to them. The player can comment on what they did and how it went. 

We also have a player evaluation tool that is aligned to the skills of your sports governing body, this way you are objectively reviewing players, providing feedback and helping them grow during your season.

TIP: We like the videos that show the basics and doing them consistently. Remember that not everyone on your team has access to more equipment so give them clever items to use that they have at home like cans, shoes or something else. You can move around these items instead of cones

Player Safety

Player safety is one of the most important responsibilities of a coach and sports organizations. When it comes to apps, we love the first aid app by the Red Cross.

First Aid – American Red Cross

Expert advice for everyday emergencies in your hand.

HitCheck

Early detection is the key to concussion recovery. HitCheck makes testing fast, fun and easy.

Tip: In addition to the app, make sure you have your own ice packs, bandaids, hand sanitizer and any other products where you can quickly take care of something small.

Have any other suggestions on apps that you use? Please let us know. We would love to add to this list.