Washington Youth Soccer Embraces Affinity Sports Technology To Improve Soccer

SAN DIEGO and TUKWILA, Wash., March 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Affinity Sports (http://www.affinity-sports.com) and Washington Youth Soccer (http://www.washingtonyouthsoccer.org) announced a five-year contract renewal of their technology partnership.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160321/346592

Specialists in bringing technology to the soccer fields across the USA, Affinity Sports continues to exceed the expectations of satisfied customers and expand its customer base with next-generation solutions that deliver better performance, security and innovation. In the last thirty days, Affinity Sports added US Youth Soccer's South Carolina and West Virginia State Associations as new customers for Online Player Registration and Sports Management Solution.

"At Affinity Sports, we are focused on bringing the best business technology to the soccer market," said Mark Skeen, CEO of Affinity Sports, a rapidly growing San Diego company that has developed the premier association compliance platform with integrated online registration and is currently serving the needs of 26 State Associations and their more than 2 million players, coaches, volunteers and staff members.

"We are our clients' technology partner and our goal is to show people how our technology drastically reduces the work involved in registering players and managing a sports organization, so that people can focus on growing the game of soccer in America," said Skeen. "Affinity Sports is committed to customer satisfaction and to providing excellent B2B and B2C customer service, and therefore, it is with great pride we announce Washington Youth Soccer's five-year contract renewal. Washington is celebrating its 50th anniversary of fostering the growth of soccer and we look forward to helping them harness technology to make their 100,000+ players, coaches and administrators lives even better in the future."

"In my years of experience, having the best technology creates the best opportunity," said Terry Fisher, CEO of Washington Youth Soccer. "Staying relevant with technological advances is a requirement for modern service to our members and anything we can provide that makes the process easier, and can protect their personal information and privacy is a priority.  Affinity Sports gives us that opportunity and advantage."

One of the benefits of Affinity Sports is that all of their technology is based on unique player, volunteer and coach IDs.  "In a world where data rules, integrity of information i everything. Without unique records at the individual player, parent and volunteer level, the accuracy of the specific data record becomes very difficult to confirm," said Jay Woodcock, Vice President of Finance at Affinity Sports. "And, this is simply unacceptable in our digital age."

Why are unique player records important in sports?

Without a unique ID record, how does anyone know if the John Paul Doe who signed up for the fall soccer season is the same as John Doe who signed up for spring and had several concussions?  Whether it is confirming the background screening of volunteers to protect a child from a pedophile, the management of player concussions, or simply enforcing the competitive rules of play across multiple leagues/clubs in a state wide tournament, unique records are critical. 

"Without a unique record, it's impossible to know exactly how many teams a given player is rostered to, or if a volunteer has passed their most recent background check," said Joel Myers, Director of Customer Success who has been with Affinity Sports for over fourteen years. "In our electronic age, with all the concerns for protecting personal information, the accuracy and security of our information is of paramount importance. Unique player records are important if we want to protect our children and eliminate fraudulent activity."

"We are thrilled to be moving away from paper and pen and welcome online youth soccer player registration and interactive digital player cards with their nimble, clean interfaces for managers and referees alike," said Todd Lincoln, Administrator for Washington Youth Soccer's Regional Club League.  "Affinity Sports' simple interface brings together separate information threads to help reduce the workload on volunteer managers, field assignors, and club and association staff."

"We are very excited to continue our work with Washington Youth Soccer. Terry and Todd are amazing to work with.  They are both leaders in the industry and are very knowledgeable on how technology can help grow soccer. Washington is one of the largest youth soccer states in the USA and is an influential leader," said Shannon Stewart, Affinity Sports VP of Customer Success. "We can't wait to kick off our advanced technology — Affinity's online registration, interactive digital cards and ability to score the soccer game from any mobile device."

Affinity Sports provides a total solution to help grow the game and provide financial safeguards to reduce the costs of technology. Affinity Sports affectively launched the Affinity Advantage program in 2015, a revenue sharing technology platform which empowers players and coaches to take advantage of group type discounts and advantages from a highly select, best of breed market leaders.  "Affinity Advantage's API-centric approach to shared data is the 21st century model for growing organizations," said Lincoln. "Keeping our league platform updated with leaders in innovation, such as ePact, allows us to provide parents the best tools for managing their emergency contact information and their experience."

Over the past 3 years, 8 out of 9 US Youth Soccer State Associations who chose to leave their online registration vendor have switched to Affinity Sports. "Affinity Sports has successfully migrated association clients from Active, GroupNet, GotSoccer, and Demosphere," said Skeen. "We are especially proud of our renewal record and approach to long term partnerships. Washington Youth Soccer first became a client of Affinity Sports in 2011, selecting our software solution to manage the state's highly competitive State Cup youth soccer tournament."

Over the next 12 months, Affinity Sports anticipates processing over $100,000,000 of payments through its online registration service. "Washington Youth Soccer recognizes Affinity Sports' online registration will deliver better performance, greater security and a far superior ease of use on any mobile or desktop environment," said Skeen.

About Affinity Sports
Since 2002, Affinity Sports has invested over $10,000,000 in continuous technology improvements to become the nation's largest integrated software solutions provider to state youth and adult soccer associations.  Today, Affinity Sports assists more than 1.2 million players, 250,000 administrators and 4,500 leagues and clubs through 17 US Youth Soccer State Associations and 9 US Adult Soccer State Associations.  Partnering with its association clients, the Affinity Advantage Sponsor Program offers integrated marketing services and value added products and services to soccer teams, players and parents.

For more information, photos and interviews please contact Andrea Garcia, Affinity Sports Communications Manager, Direct: 619.207.2603 | Email: [email protected]

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/washington-youth-soccer-embraces-affinity-sports-technology-to-improve-soccer-300239384.html

SOURCE Affinity Sports

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