In the middle of the summer, its a bit hard to think about the Fall sports season kicking up again.  For the coach and the players, it is all about the practices and the games.  But for the administrators of the teams, leagues and tournaments, it is all about the new mounds of paperwork.

For some, the work comes as a volunteer.  It is perhaps both a labor of love and sheer necessity.  For those larger clubs, it is a paid position, but it is still paperwork.  While Excel spreadsheets can speed the work, it is still not the complete answer.  Someone still has to enter the data.

The answer comes in the form of online registration management systems.  Teams, leagues and tournaments can all be managed online.  For tournaments, real time results can be posted.  Roster and player cards can be managed here.  Even tryouts can be managed here.  Referees can be managed online.  The data entry is done by the player/parent.  The data is managed by administrators.

Just this past Sunday, I noticed that even Sears is going online.  Their printed Sunday flyer had in big bold blue letters:  "Next Sunday's Advertisement will be online."  The labor intensive nature of the printed document calls for online management.  Likewise, it's time we move our leagues that direction.

--William High is a freelance writer.