Happier families & greater value: how TeamSnap enabled growth for a non-profit Little League association in Florida

Helping a local league get kids back out and moving, while saving time and stress, so the league can continue to grow.

Three years ago Jose Santiago had an idea. Just coming out of COVID, and all sports had stopped for eight months. He sensed his south-Florida community needed a boost, and Santiago had an idea to make it happen: Starting a youth-sport experience to get the kids in the community and moving.

Fast forward three years and that idea has taken hold. Now the Florida Recreational Sports Organization, based in Doral Florida, has more than 275 athletes playing baseball across levels ranging from recreational to travel. And he’s got plans for this organization to grow even further.

Making the first move

When Jose Santiago started the Florida Recreational Sports Organization, he knew he wanted to bring some hope and life back to kids in Dural after they’d just spent the last eight months at home during COVID.

“I worked with some of the community leaders to design the program,” says Santiago. “But I wanted to make sure it was inclusive for all the kids in the community, not just the elite ones.”

So, with an eye toward increasing efficiency and accessibility, he got started registering kids for his new program. “Back then, we were just coming out of COVID, so everything was contactless,” he remembers. “Our first software provider didn’t have a great digital option, so it made everything a pain.”

As registrations came in, Santiago found he was spending untold hours managing registrations and lacked true control. He knew there had to be a better option.

“Another program in the area mentioned TeamSnap and how happy they were with the program,” Santiago says. He liked what he saw, finding TeamSnap to be a better value and offer more robust functionality.

“You can’t even compare the two products. The other software is like a basic economy car, and TeamSnap is a high-end performance machine. It’s an altogether better experience.”

Total control of program management

As expected, the Dural community was ready to get back to sports and Santiago’s program took off. Maybe even more than he was ready for.

“With our previous program, I was collecting registrations and needed to sort and assign players manually,” he says. “Now I can segregate all the levels, sort digitally, and drag and drop on the team.”

He transformed a process that used to take more than a week into something that he can complete in less than half a day.

“All that time I was spending on admin, now I can spend on growing our program and giving more kids more opportunities.”

With all that extra time, Santiago is excited to grow the program and even start offering new sports.

An investment that's truly paying off

One of the things that Santiago appreciates the most about TeamSnap is the value it provides his program and its athletes and families. As a municipal program that receives city funds, he wants to make sure he’s a good steward of finances.

“Anytime you pay for a product, you have to ask, does this bring value? Does this justify the cost to our members? And with TeamSnap there’s absolutely no doubt,” he beams. “TeamSnap has paid us back in time and growth
many times over.”

“TeamSnap gives me the infrastructure I need to grow. This is the spine of everything we’re trying to do,” he says.

Here Santiago points out how TeamSnap balances power and flexibility with ease of use. “Everything is just so intuitive and easy to use,” he says. “Not everyone has a technology background, so I appreciate how easy it is for
our admins, coaches, and parents to use.”

The program now uses the mobile app to send out invoices, and parents can pay in a couple of clicks. That means no more lost hours spent tracking down payments and sorting through spreadsheets.

But behind all that simplicity, lies a powerful functionality giving Santiago and other admins the control they need to run the program how they want. “I can set up discount codes, make payment adjustments, and customize
registration.”

“With TeamSnap, everything is integrated and easy-to-use. This isn’t just software. It gives us control of our website, social media, sponsors, and so much more.”

Delivering happiness and more sport experiences

Asked to reflect on his experience with TeamSnap, Santiago really opens up. “I started this program to deliver happiness to the kids,” he says. “TeamSnap allows me to do that every day.”