ID Cards in Youth Sports

When it comes to competitive play in any youth sport, everyone wants to be sure that the competition is playing by the rules. This is especially true when it comes to the eligibility of a player on another team whether it's the player's size, age, or jurisdiction. This is where photo ID cards come in as an excellent way to assist in regulating these factors.

Through an online tracking system and photo id cards for coaches and players a process can be created requiring documentation to only be checked once. In many cases, governing organizations are required to check the player's eligibility documents several times during the year. And in most cases for several years as the player continues in the sport. People want to be sure the opposing coach is playing by the rules so every time a team plays in any type of event, documentation has to be reviewed. And still the question remains; was the right documentation shown for the player that is on the field?

By implementing a registration solution, an organization can eliminate most of the paperwork review when it comes to eligibility. A good registration system tracks the player from the day they first enter the program until the day the participant graduates from the organization. Upon the participant's initial registration, the paperwork can be provided and recorded and then tracked by the system from that point forward. But couldn't a coach bring the wrong documentation to the first registration? Of course he can, but someone will catch the player sooner or later and then the system can be corrected. Our company has produced millions of ID cards and it's a rare case that someone has provided the wrong documentation intentionally. Face it; the manager is the one being tracked on the system at the time of registration!

Team Registration VS Individual Registration

There are some sports that are handling registrations by the team and others by the players. One of the initials reasons that team registrations were created was in the ease of only tracking one name instead of every name on the team. I mean even an 11 man football team commonly has 25 players. So do the math: if an organization has 500 teams, it's a lot easier to track the 500 teams than the 12,500 players.

But now with the systems that exist today and others that will be developed, there are advantages to registering the individuals instead of the teams alone. The benefits span on individual registration from tracking player movements from year to year and team to team through getting better rates on accidental and liability insurance.

Incorporating background checks is another great thing that can be included in a good photo identification program. We are all aware that in today's society, there are bad people in the wrong places. As our children play in organized sports, it's critical to be sure that everyone on the playing field has been properly screened. We have watched several organizations begin to require their coaches and managers to wear photo identification badges whenever they are on the field. An effective registration system will only allow photo identification cards to be produced after individual has been through a background check.

There are many other things that can be integrated into a photo id program such as team and league management features. If all of the participant's information is captured in an online system, these records can be used to assist the coaches, tournament directors and league directors in better managing their programs. Printing rosters, building brackets, and scheduling league play can all be easier to manage if tools are developed to use those registration records. These tools can also be utilized to track the movement of the players from year to year, game to game and team to team.

Another good reason to add a photo identification program to your sport is because of the marketing and branding opportunity it offers. We always suggest creating two cards for every player; this way the coach has one to check the players into events while the player has a badge of honor that carries their picture and your organizations name and logo.

Ultimately, there are many reasons that you should consider doing photo ID cards for your organized sport if you presently are not, but the largest is probably the paperwork that will be saved and the mistakes that get caught early.