Ok, so I am a web geek, not only do I coach youth football, but I have been working in the Web / Internet industry since 1994. When I started coaching youth football again in 2006, I decided to develop a team web site and email communication strategy, since the Internet was entering more and more homes. I still use my original 2006 Team web site and email strategy today, but I am looking to upgrade.
I created my first team website with a HTML editor, MS Frontpage. The site is very simple. A HTML editor is almost as simple as using MS Word to develop and update your website. I also integrated a private Yahoo Group which acts as our email communication tool, calendar, picture gallery and private file area. What’s nice about the Yahoo Group is that it stores all email communication with the team in a Blog / Forum like feature, and you can email practice, game, snack reminders from the Calendar to the entire team. I have found that email is the key communication tool with my teams. Many parents just do not have time to visit a website, but email works great because it is proactive vs reactive. If you don’t need a fancy front end to your team site, a simple and FREE Yahoo Group will work just fine.
Last year, we started taking more video and pictures and the Yahoo Group picture gallery was getting full, so I opened a Pro Flikr account so I could post as much media content as we needed. You can tag the media public or private depending on what you need. The Flikr account has really worked out great.
As you can see, all of my web features are not really integrated into one site. I have integrated them by developing a HTML website. I would like to find one solution for a TEAM web site that intregates all my current features into one stand alone solution.
Web Features that I am looking for in a Team Web Site Builder
- eMail – Listserve type feature (Historical record)
- Calendar – eMail reminders
- Picture / Video – Upload & Storage
- Roster / Stats Features
- Customizable Page Templates
- Domain Name Use / Upgrade
- Public / Private Membership
- Polls
- Fundraising Capabilities
- Private File Storage (Playbooks)
- Chat / Personal Messaging
- Blog / Forum / Bulletin Board
My youth football league went to an integrated league solution two years ago. It has a team feature set. So I decided to start my quest for a team website with them, League Athletics. Here’s a list of other team web site builders:
- http://www.ellistonsport.com
- http://www.hometeamsonline.com/
- http://www.eteamz.com
- http://www.teampages.com
- http://www.mysportsite.com/
- http://www.teamsnap.com/
- http://www.teamlobby.com/
- http://www.teamopolis.com/
- http://www.teamsporttech.com
- http://www.seasonplanner.com/league/
- http://www.teamzonesports.com/
- http://www.vicid.com/
- http://www.hitssports.com
- http://getmyteamsite.com
- http://www.leaguerepublic.com/
- http://www.rosterbot.com/
- http://www.rosterspots.com/
- http://www.fullsquad.com
- http://www.myteamcaptain.com/
- http://www.tcteams.com
Over the next several months, I will review these sites and post my reviews. If you have a team builder site that you like, please reply to this post and I will add it to my list.
I did a quick initial review of the above sites today. I like the following after my initial look.
- http://www.teampages.com
- http://www.teamsnap.com/
- http://www.teamopolis.com/
- http://www.teamzonesports.com/
Read the post replies for my initial comments.
Play for Fun and Winning is Funner!
League Athletics
Well, I signed up for the free trial and it dumped me to a $575 payment page. I can’t find where I can start the trial website. I did receive an email with the trial link. But for $575, I think there are cheaper solutions. On to the next site.
Elliston Sport
Registration was easy enough. Nothing about a payment yet. Says an email is on the way to our new site. Cost is $86 according to website.
The layout of the website looks nice, but its not very user friendly.
HomeTeamsOnline
This site was very limited in its free trial area. It was confusing to me.
TeamPages
My initial opinion of TeamPages is that it has potential. I like it. It has most of the features I am looking for in a quick and easy free site. Plus the upgrade is $54 a year or $11 per month. The no ad option is $66 a year or $13 a month. Not bad really. The site is very user friendly.
ETEAMZ
I have a few friends using eTeamz. My initial opinion is that it is very powerful if you want to spend a lot of time learning how to set it up. It was not as user friendly as some other site builders. I will come back to eteamz, but not a starting choice.
MySportSite
The tools are a little clunky for the non experienced user. I am not impressed. I’ll keep looking.
TeamSnap
This is the easiest set up so far. I like TeamSnap a lot for its simplicity. It has most of the features in a nice package. It is missing video and storage space. But if you want a basic site, this might be the quick answer.
Team Lobby
I did not like interface. Sorry Team Lobby.
Teamopolis
Although not as user friendly as TeamSnap, Teamopolis has potential. I will continue to review.
SeasonPlanner
I would not recommend this product. Its not web based.
TeamZoneSports
I really like this site builder. Has just about everything you need, plus it is free. Very user friendly. Stay tuned as I review more in the future.
HitsSports
British based, culture language issues. Do not like.
Vicid
This site has potential but is missing some basics like calendar reminders. A lot of good page template customization, but need more calendar / roster features.
TeamSportTech
Not what I was looking for. A lot of features just not there.
GetMySite
Too clunky, better options out there.
League Republic
Missing some basic calendar features. Moving on.
RosterBot
This is a communication tool not a website solution. Moving on.
RosterSpots
Its ok. not a lot of page template customization. Better sites out there.
Full Squad
Not robust as others. Moving on.
TCTeams
Nope, mush better site builders out there.
MyTeamCaptian
This solution has potential but there are better.
So, I did an initial test of the sites above. I like the following
1) TeamPages
2) TeamSnap
3) Teamopolis
4) TeamZoneSports
So late last night and today, I continued to demo TeamPages, TeamSnap, Teamopolis and TeamZoneSports. All four are worth considering, but I have narrowed my search down to TeamPages and TeamZoneSports based on my personal preferences.
If you like a Web 1.0 and text look Teamopolis would be a good choice. I like TeamSnap but I think they are about one year from having a solution that compares to my two finalists.
TeamPages and TeamZoneSports are very user friendly, have the Web 2.0 look and feel and have the email reminder features that I like.
Hey Steve, just stumbled across your site, this looks like a pretty comprehensive review!
It’s not really in the same group, but kind of in the same vein, have you checked out OnePlaybook.com? I’d love to hear what you think either on this blog or through email.
Talk to you soon!