FFA Cup streaming on Kayo – what benefits do NPL clubs get

Recently, it was announced that live streaming service Kayo would be streaming FFA Cup matches from the round of 32 onwards.

Kayo is a predominantly sports-based streaming service that streams elite sport such as the AFL, A-League and Test Cricket.

Having Kayo on board as a streaming partner for the FFA Cup is a great achievement for the game at the NPL level, one that must not be understated.

NPL football has seen a resurgence in recent years, thanks in part to the exposure gained through the FFA Cup. Teams such as Heidelberg United, Bentleigh Greens and Hume City, clubs who have defeated A-League opposition in the past, have had the most exposure.

It’s been an inspired decision by the FFA to create such a competition, one that allows clubs at the community level to thrive.

But with Kayo now on board, more people than ever will have access to the fixtures. A-League clubs especially, will benefit the most from this unprecedented access,

As we know, A-League sides like to use the tournament as a way of scouting the talent in the lower leagues. Current Melbourne Victory players Jai Ingham and Kenny Athiu are perfect examples of this.

But now, clubs from outside their respective states will have greater opportunity to scout and target players they may want to offer contracts to.

In turn, aspiring young players with the ambition of playing at a higher level will now be motivated further knowing that there is more people watching than ever before.

With Kayo being a streaming provider for elite sports, broadcasting the FFA Cup will hopefully draw in a larger crowd of people who don’t usually watch the competition.

It will benefit the game at the community level to no end and with the FFA clearly taking steps to try and implement a second division, it seems just a matter of time until that happens.

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Mingle: Elevating your grassroots club

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Image credit: Mingle

Founded in 2021, Mingle is a Dutch sports start-up aiming to elevate grassroots clubs through its impressive technology portfolio.

Mingle’s core product, the Mingle Sport app, strives to be a one-stop place for club members to easily access every piece of information they need.

The company offers three packages for clubs to use, from a basic free package to an extensive pro tier.

Team Management 

At its core, the Mingle Sport app is an easy to use, extensive and fluid way to organise a team. Users can implement a highly detailed schedule to track games, training sessions and other events.

This schedule can then be synced to a range of digital calendars, including Google, Outlook and iCloud. Through the schedule, players and coaches can RSVP and set up reminders.

To help identify how healthy a club is, Mingle also allows users to track attendance over a season by identifying trends.

Line-ups

One of the most important and enjoyable aspects of coaching is creating the team line-up, knowing this, Mingle provides an incredible degree of creativity within its native line-up builder.

The Mingle Sport app offers a range of formations for teams that are not only 11-a-side but also 7-a-side and lower.

Additionally, if the available formations are not to the liking of the user, Mingle enables users to drag and drop players to a desired location.

During a match, the line-up builder can also be used to track substitutions.

In higher tiered packages, match minutes can be live tracked, enabling users to see how many minutes each player is getting.

Team Communication 

The Mingle Sport app ensures club information is quickly available and accessible through its team chat.

Members can message through individual channels, or sub-groups can be created to deliver information quickly to multiple people at once.

Mingle’s line-up builder allows for team sheets and line-ups to be shared through the app to players, preparing them for games ahead.

Furthermore, notes and comments can be added to media posted on the app, allowing for updates and fun discussion to take place.

Performance Tracking 

The Mingle Sport app caters to a wide range of performance tracking, holding both quantitative and qualitative data.

Users can use the app to score keep, tracking stats such as goals, assists, and cards.

The app can then be used to measure trends, such as win rate, goal scoring, and goal difference. Additionally, members can rate matches from one to five.

Furthermore, Mingle Sport can be linked with Mingle’s Homebase, a desktop app focused on deeper analysis.

Mingle Sport also enables every team member to vote for three players of the match, for three different awards – MVP, Playmaker and Workhorse.

These MVP awards feed into Mingle’s monthly awards, where players can be awarded for receiving the most MVP awards within a month.

In addition, Mingle features leader boards which can track a range of stats, such as goals, assists and even attendance. These awards and leader boards act as a way to further motivate players into training harder and performing.

Content Sharing 

Mingle understands not everyone can access every game, so the app provides a live feed option in its premium tiers.

Users can customise the live feed to include the score, line-up, commentary, videos and blogs.

The live feed can then be enhanced by sharing updates and push notifications to members on key match moments.

Fortunately, the live feed is not exclusive to club members, outside fans can access the live feed through a shared link.

Besides the live feed, Mingle allows for a range of content sharing, users can post videos and photos in the app, which can be commented on. These can then be collated into albums, such as an end of year highlights package.

Conclusion 

Through its doctrine of ease, simplicity and accessibility, Mingle has proven itself as an incredibly and innovative successful start-up.

For any grassroots club looking to streamline and elevate their club communication, the Mingle Sport app is a perfect solution.

How to grow your soccer club through SEO

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Image credit: PxHere website

Members are the lifeline of any soccer club, but it can be a tricky task to gain more. Fortunately, you can grow your soccer club through SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, and potentially boost memberships exponentially.

SEO is the process of refining online content to be deemed more favourable by search engine algorithms, therefore placing it higher in search results.

Web goers are far more likely to visit higher search results than lower ones, and thus sites that can consistently place at the top of search results will receive far more web traffic.

For your soccer club, the greater level of web traffic you have, the greater your chance of gaining more memberships.

While the process of SEO may seem large, complicated and ultimately daunting – this guide will provide simple ways to boost your SEO practices.

Understanding your club’s online position 

Before you begin implementing SEO practices, it’s important to acknowledge how your club is tracking online.

If your club has a website, check for an analytics section. Website builders like Wix and WordPress offer analytics information such as the amount of web traffic a site receives, or which pages on a site are accessed the most.

If you do not have a club website or want to improve it, click here for Soccerscene’s club website guide.

If you want to upgrade the level of analytics at your disposal, Google Search Console is an incredibly useful tool available. It allows you to see which search queries are bringing visitors to your site, in addition to far more.

Once you have checked your website’s analytics, make note of the successes and areas for improvements across your website. These notes will help you start your SEO practices.

Targeting the right audiences 

To attract new members, it’s important to target the right people and not just the most amount of people.

As a club, your SEO practices should always prioritise your local area. Your local area is where you are going to find the most likely people to join your club, and also the least competition from other clubs.

To target your local area effectively, create a Google My Business profile and add your club’s address and contact information. Here you can add your club to Google Maps, add photos and much more.

In addition to targeting your local area, consider what type of soccer club you are marketing for. Is it family friendly, social, competitive, or something else?

SEO Tips and Tricks

When you know the audience of your club, you can start implementing SEO practices.

Keywords: Keywords are the words people are using to search for content online. As a club, you want to be using specific keywords to draw in the right visitors, such as “inclusive”, “all-levels welcome”, “professional”, or “competitive”, depending on the audience you’re aiming for.

Keywords should be used multiple times across your website, especially in your title, Web URL, and in the first 100 words of text on a page. You should also include synonyms to your keywords across your content.

Linking: Search engines find sites easier when they are linked elsewhere. There are two types of SEO linking, internal and outbound links. Internal links are links within your website, while outbound links are to other websites.

When internal linking, try linking articles within your site to related content. When outbound linking, always link to trustworthy sites, and to related content. Outbound linking is also an SEO bonus to where you link to, so consider linking to your sponsors or local community directories.

Readability: It may seem obvious, but it is incredibly important to have a readable and navigable site. When visitors quickly click on and leave multiple websites, search engines assume the websites are unhelpful and thus lower the website’s rankings within their algorithms.

To prevent people from rapidly leaving, ensure that information on your site is easily laid out and concise. Bullet points and short paragraphs can assist with this.

Additionally, ensure pages are easy to access and avoid cluttered website designs.

Mobile Optimisation: The majority of searches are performed on mobile phones, so it’s vital to cater to them. Make sure your website design is navigable on a phone. Furthermore, ensure that image or file sizes do not cause lengthy load times on phones.

Chrome Lighthouse can run reports on how successful your mobile site is.

Conclusion 

In the modern footballing world, it is crucial to grow your soccer club through SEO. With so many businesses and clubs flocking towards it, now is the time to jump on board to boost the number of people interested in your club.

If you would like to know more, feel free to contact Football Pro Directory.

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