Tag: #highschoolsports

50th Anniversary of Title IX

Jennifer Motze, CMAA

50 years ago on June 23rd, Title IX of the Education Amendments was signed into law. This game changing law “is a comprehensive law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in all programs or activities in all federally funded educational institutions including high schools and middle schools” (Pennepacker, 2021). When you interpret the law, it allows women and girls to participate in middle school, high school, and college sports without discrimination. To this day, women and girls have accomplished and broke through many barriers thanks to Title IX. BigTeams finds it important to highlight some of the pioneers/advocates of this movement and to thank them for their relentless efforts: Edith Louise Starrett Green, Billie Jean King, and Peg Pennepacker.

1. Edith Louise Starrett Green

Edith was an integral part of creating the legislation of Title IX. Known as “Mrs. Education” and Representative of Oregon, Green was committed to the educational program and women’s issues and social reform. With these two passions of hers, Green documented discrimination for hearings and fought for gender equity in schools and employment that later helped pass Title IX.

2. Billie Jean King

We all know the name, Billie Jean King. She was the number 1 tennis player in the world during her time. She was the first woman in any sport to earn over $100,000 which helped pave the way for other female athletes. Not only was she a fierce competitor on the court, but she was an influential voice for women’s rights and Title IX. One of her biggest pushes, she fought for equal prize payment as her male counterparts. She was and is a role model for female athletes and her fight still lives on today.

3. Peg Pennepacker

Peg Pennepacker is an avid advocate/consultant for Title IX. She is the founder of High School Title IX Consulting services that pushes and teaches the law on how it can benefit your athletic program. Not only does she have her own company, she also serves as a consultant on the Executive Council of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association, the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrator’s Association, and the Association of Title IX Administrators. Pennepacker is encouraging Athletic Directors and their staff to not fear Title IX, but to understand it and embrace it.

These women advocated and still are for Title IX. Even though the law doesn’t directly mention sports, it has been a huge key in the success of many female athletes today. Because of these women and other important pioneers, Title IX gives women and girls the right to freely participate in activities that make them who they are without discrimination.

Works Cited

50th anniversary of title IX coming in June of 2022. NFHS. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.nfhs.org/articles/50th-anniversary-of-title-ix-coming-in-june-of-2022/

Title IX – the Nine. American Civil Liberties Union. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.aclu.org/other/title-ix-nine#:~:text=Edith%20Louise%20Starrett%20Green&text=Working%20alongside%20fellow%20Rep.,of%20Title%20IX%20in%201972
 
Image used from Circleville City Schools

No Luck Needed with BigTeams

Jennifer Motze, CMAA

Whether it be selling tickets or sending reminders, we have you covered. We strive to be the company that delivers quality, time-saving products, and launches updates regularly. We work behind the scenes so your game day runs smoothly. You don’t need luck, just need BigTeams! 

Introducing Design Central

Design Central (DC), our latest tool, allows you to build a professional, active online presence. Don’t have time to build eye-catching images for your website or Twitter page? Not a problem! Let us be your leprechauns. We provide countless designs customized to your school. All you do is change the text and image. Quicker than you can type a short note, you’ll have a great design that will impress even the toughest critics.

Click HERE to learn more!

HomeTown Ticketing: E-Tickets

Our HomeTown Ticketing (HTT) integration connects Schedule Star to the HTT platform to minimize data entry. Sell tickets from your Fan Central website and get rid of cash boxes and long lines. This process is efficient and eliminates human error. It’s an effortless way to keep track of attendance and sales. You and your staff can sit back and relax while watching that green money roll in.

Click HERE to learn more!

Eligibility Central: Paperless Tracking

Compiling and validating eligibility is a tedious task if you don’t have BigTeams. Our paperless system automates everything from registration to eligibility submission. No more filing cabinets! Plus, coaches can see who is allowed to play instantly, with no extra work on your part. Don’t fall behind on getting your athletes on the field; use BigTeams to your advantage. It is efficient, green, and easy.

Click HERE to learn more!

Special Eligibility Update for PA Schools: Check out our new & improved PIAA Eligibility report below. Coming soon with enhanced participation tracking!

eligibility at 12.09.14 PM

Reminders: Set it and Forget it

Have you utilized ‘Reminders’ in Schedule Star? If not, this little gem is going to be your new friend. When set, these automated reminders alert opponents, officials, game help, & transportation directors of upcoming events. Customize the frequency and time of your reminders once, and you’re done.

Click HERE to learn more!

This year, leave the luck to the leprechauns and depend on BigTeams instead. Sign up for a game plan to learn more about each of these features and many more you might not be utilizing!

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Do You Have a Game Plan?

Jennifer Motze, CMAA

Would your football coach enter the most important game without a plan? Of course not. Everyone knows that a solid game plan is critical for success. So what’s your Game Plan for leading your athletic department? Don’t have one? Luckily, you’re in the right place because BigTeams has one for you. 

What is a BigTeams Game Plan?

As a part of our customer outreach efforts, we want you to know all the plays in our playbook. Our experienced team will review key features, highlight new additions, and provide PRO tips to save you the most time. During the 30 minute virtual meeting, we’ll also answer any questions you have to ensure you get the most out of your subscription. 

Why do I Need a Game Plan?

BigTeams offers a lot of tools, many of which our customers either do not know about or take advantage of. For example, have you heard of our Game Wizard, Quick Edit, or our integrations with HomeTown Ticketing, Social Media, or Live Streaming Services? We are continuously adding new features, faster than your All-Star wide receiver. And we know it can be hard to keep up with all the updates. These game plan sessions are a quick way to boost your BigTeams knowledge. 

Small Investment Now for BIG Rewards

You might be saying to yourself, “I truly do not have any time to spare right now” and that is A-Okay. Schedule a Game Plan whenever your schedule allows, we promise it will be worth your time. We’ll be here for you, when you’re ready.

We also encourage your administrative assistant or assistant AD to attend, the more, the merrier.

Finals Notes

Oh, we forgot to mention… these appointments are completely free. The reason for this is because, as stated earlier, we want to make sure you are getting the most out of our platform. BigTeams is completely customer-focused, we want to advance your athletic department. So take this time to sign up for a game plan session by clicking HERE. They are available year-round because, remember, our game plan is always evolving and we want you to grow with us.

Image used from Canva.

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5 Time-Saving Tools you should be using in 2022

Jennifer Motze, CMAA

At the start of each year, we always think of ways to better ourselves. From eating healthier to budgeting smarter, you can start the new year on a positive path. But why stop at just improving yourself? Why not carry this positive drive into other aspects of your life? Maybe perhaps… work. I’m glad we’re on the same page because we have some efficient suggestions for you! BigTeams offers various features that can help you save time so you can focus on more important tasks at hand.

1. Social Media Event Integration

As an Athletic Director (AD), you are more worried about scheduling games, communicating with coaches/teachers, coordinating events, and so on. You have a lot on your plate, so we know you don’t have time to constantly post updates to social media. To make life easier on ADs, BigTeams implemented Social Media Event Integration into Schedule Star (SS). When you go to postpone or cancel a game on SS, it gives you the option to alert your followers on Facebook and Twitter about the change. It even automatically sends out a biweekly schedule of games. Tell us that’s not easy!

To learn more about Social Media Integration click HERE.

2. Roster Sync

This next feature we know you’re going to love. It can be annoying having to recreate the same roster just so they can match in Schedule Star and Student Central. Well, guess what? You don’t have to do that anymore. With Roster Sync enabled, any updates made to a roster will replicate in both platforms. Doesn’t matter where the change is made, it will transfer over to the other!

To learn more about Roster Sync click HERE.

3. Notify the Press

Extra, Extra, read all about it! Notify the press of your teams’ scores with a click of a button. In our Fan Central platform, when you go to plug in your scores you can send them directly to your preferred local news sources automatically. The fact you don’t even have to worry about talking to anyone nor take extra steps to send out those scores is such a win in itself. Not only are your teams winning, so are you!

To learn more about Notify the Press click HERE.

4. Game Wizard

The name Game Wizard itself sounds pretty cool. So it has to be a cool feature, right? This awesome tool enables you to set defaults for facilities, transportation, departure, and return times for events you create in Schedule Star. In other words, when you go to create an event it automatically inputs the info for the field your team is playing at, what buses they’re taking, and times for when they show up and leave. You have to make sure it is already set up before you make your events when you want to use it. When you use this feature, it pretty much makes you a cool game wizard if you think about it.

To learn more about Game Wizard click HERE.

5. Online Registration

Okay, so we all know how much of a hassle it is when it comes to getting students and their parents to submit athletic forms. On top of that, keeping all those papers in a filing cabinet and trying to find certain forms when needed can get messy and frustrating. But worry no more because BigTeams is here to help. With online registration through our Student Central platform, students and parents can submit their health forms there. You can check each form and have the option to accept or decline it. This will notify the students and parents of their status on whether they are cleared or not. Another perk to mention, these files are all online. Meaning, you don’t need that old filing cabinet for hundreds and thousands of athletic forms anymore. Our software keeps track of forms for 10+ years. In the future, if you need to get to a student’s file from years ago, you are able to do so. Such a time-saver in our opinion, that’s why it’s in our top five.

To learn more about Online Registration take a look at this VIDEO.

We hope you utilize these time-saving features this year to help you use BigTeams’ platforms more efficiently and to their full ability. Use the time you saved to treat yourself or maybe focus that time on something work-related. Whatever you feel is necessary for success. If you’d like to learn about these tools in more detail, visit the link below to schedule a meeting with one of our product experts. Thank you for your trust and confidence in BigTeams, we truly appreciate you. If you have any questions you can email us at support@bigteams.com. Image used from Canva.

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