YourTeam Online

We Need Your Help! Which One Do you Like?

2008-06-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

Maybe it was the recent trip to NYC, but we have decided to slightly change the brand and positioning of YourTeam Online to The Sports Zen. What do you think? Please say you like it, because we have already started the logo process :-)

Currently YourTeam Online is an online community where teams can communicate with other teammates, parents and coaches online during the season, with the two main sports being soccer and hockey. We are still going to keep the key team components, but we are integrating a community for all individuals to interact with other YourTeam Online members, outside of their team. We are looking to create more collaboration outside of the team, but still keep the team part. Hence, the new name, The Sports Zen.

Here is where you can really help us. Which logo do you like best? Please leave your top 2 selections in the comments section. We truly appreciate it!

Composition 1

Composition 2

Composition 3

Composition 4

Thank you to all of our current YourTeam Online members for your great support and we look forward to seeing you Get Your Game In The Zone at The Sports Zen!

Updated SportsWire Section

2008-05-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

We've recently improved our SportsWire section of the site and added more interaction with user stories. You can now vote & comment on the stories you love (& hate). It's a great venue to get the word out about your team news. We give it a big thumbs up!

Check it out here

Get Notified Easily About Team Stuff

2008-03-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

YourTeam Online now notifies all team members by email whenever actions are taken on YourTeam Online that involves your team.

Each YourTeam Online section has its own email notification settings. Click on or off to manage each section of YourTeam Online

As new components are added to YourTeam Online, we will add the option to be notified or not within the notifications section.

This is a great way to easily stay connected with your team online. (no pun intended) :-)

Dangle the world with your team's favourite video highlights!

2008-03-10T07:44:00.000-07:00

YourTeam Online is excited to add video options to our list of team media options.

Easy to upload in any format.

Check it out here.

Keep it private on your team page or click the option and have your video added to the SportsWire & let fans & scouts from around the globe see how much you rock!

Even more features coming soon!

Contact us with any questions here.

YourTeam Online SportsWire LIVE! Episode 2

2008-02-19T11:06:00.001-08:00

Add Your Player Card to Team Website

2008-02-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

So you want to show your ugly mug on your team website?

Well it is really simple. When you log into your YourTeam Online player account, click on the Player Card & Stats tab. From here you can add as many player cards as you want. You could have a different one each day if you really wanted to. Fill in the required information, add your padded stats and upload your mug. Click submit and you are done.

GEEKS LACE UP FOR THEIR COMMUNITY

2008-02-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

Moncton, NB – Registration is now open for the 5th Annual Geeks on Ice gentlemen’s hockey tournament co-sponsored by the City of Moncton and Enterprise Greater Moncton. Since 2003, individuals and organizations across Atlantic Canada that share a passion for information technology, their community and hockey have participated in this family oriented event. This tournament, in partnership with the United Way of Greater Moncton and Southeastern NB, raises funds for IT investments for community non-profit agencies

“The City of Moncton is very proud to be a co-title sponsor for the 2008 Geeks On Ice Hockey Tournament. This event is another opportunity to showcase Moncton as a leader in information technology, a leader in community development, and a leader in hosting great events,” said Ben Champoux, Business Development Specialist with The City of Moncton. “We know the importance of strengthening the IT capacity of our community non-profit sector and we are proud to be partnering with Geeks On Ice and United Way to make the 5th Annual event an even greater success.”

“This event truly enhances the benefits of doing business in the Greater Moncton region by matching economic development and community involvement,” said John J. Thompson, Chief Executive Officer at Enterprise Greater Moncton. “It is another testament that Greater Moncton is working together and continuously finding new and unique ways to increase the economic prosperity of the region.”

To date Geeks On Ice has invested over $15,000 back into the community to help agencies better serve the youth and families of Southeastern New Brunswick. “Being a non-profit organization, it is very difficult to acquire and maintain reliable computer equipment capable of handling the operations of our Club,” explains Andrew LeBlanc, Program Coordinator for the Riverview Boys and Girls Club. “The equipment and technical support from Geeks On Ice has allowed us to better track programs and opportunities for the youth we serve. Our focus can remain on the youth and the Club instead of hours wasted trying to send an email, access a program or design a simple graphic. We also upgraded the computers in our drop-in centres’ Homework Computer room; connected to the internet, we are now able to give our kids supervised internet access.”

Geeks on Ice will run from April 17-20, 2008 at the Moncton 4 Ice Centre. “Last year we were very impressed with the families that came out to support the players! Many folks traveled from Saint John, PEI and elsewhere,” added Warren Frizzell, General Manager of the Tim Horton’s 4 Ice Centre. “This year we are really looking forward to supporting Geeks on Ice with their focus on family fun during the tournament.”

Deadline for registration is February 29, 2008 and the first 16 teams registered will play in the event, so register early! For more information on the tournament and the IT fundraiser, or to register go to www.GeeksonIce.com or email geeksonice@gmail.com.

Look for the YourTeam Online Chiefs to make another appearance a this years' tournament. See if we can improve upon our last two seasons losing to Canada Post in the semis.

Instant Updates From Your Cell Phone To Your YourTeam Website

2008-01-31T17:30:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't it be cool to update your team site after you just won your league championship? Or how about minute by minute updates during OT. Well you can now do it with the YourTeam Online/Twitter mix. Here's how:

First of all...What is Twitter?

Twitter is a "micro-blogging" and social networking site where you can send updates or "tweets" to your website through various methods including through the website itself (Twitter.com), IM, cell phone or a third-party program. Your updates are broadcast to everyone or just to your circle of friends. You can also receive your updates via SMS on your cell phone.

Here's how you set up your Twitter account with your YourTeam Online website:

Step One
Join Twitter for free.
Go to Twitter.com and hit the "Join For Free" link.

Step Two
Go to the "Settings" link on the top of the page.

Step Three
Select the "Phone & IM" link on this page

Step Four
Enter in your cell phone number, including your area code, in the "Mobile Phone Number" text box and hit the "Save" button. If you wish to receive updates on your cell phone from Twitter, check the box next to "It’s okay for Twitter to send txt messages to my phone. Std. rates apply."

For Canadians your short code is probably 21212

Step Five
Wait for Twitter to send you a text message saying "That worked! What are you doing now?"

Step Six
Update Twitter by sending text messages from your cell phone when you're on the road, riding mass transit, waiting at the doctor's office, or whenever you're away from the computer. If you opted to receive updates, you'll get text messages from Twitter whenever your friends send their updates.

Step Seven

Go to twitter.com/badges Then click on Other

Then select HTML/Javascript

Then give your updates a Name in the Title section and Copy the Embed Code. (Get the Code)

Step Eight

Paste your Twitter code in your News Feed (Under Team Website) section of YourTeam Online. For example, call the News Feed "Team Instant Updates"

Click the "Source" button in the editor and paste the Twitter code in the white box. Click ok on the box and then Submit.

You are now on your way to adding instant updates to your team website.

SportsWire LIVE! Submit Your Story to the World

2008-01-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

Fill out my Wufoo form!
Powered by Wufoo

Setting up your Team Website

2008-01-16T07:53:00.000-08:00

So how do you set up your site to communicate and broadcast your team results to the world? It is actually quite easy and it only takes a few steps.

If you are an administrator for your YourTeam Online account you can set up your team website. Here's how:

Click on your Team Website Tab. From here you will see a tab called, Set Up Website. Click on that and you can then add your team information. You can add your Team URL Extension (Example here: TeamCanada), Team Introduction, Change Team Color for your Website, Team Contacts and Add your Logo.
Once your a set up and you click on your Team Website Tab, you can edit your website information, you can add/edit team news and view your team website.

Now you have a team website. To get help with adding news, photos and videos to your website, invite players, parents and other coaches to Join YourTeam Online.

Maximal Development - Minimal Ice

2007-12-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

Mike Johnston
Associate Coach – Los Angeles Kings

At this time of the year many teams are beginning to wind down in terms of volume of practice but quality practices are key to the development of individuals and also preparing your team to play its best.

Remember it takes approximately 12 games to simulate the amount of skill repetition and individual development that takes place in an effectively run 60 minute practice.

I have always found that 22 players is the optimal number to run a quality practice with adequate rest and intensity periods. Therefore, if you are looking for extra ice or to keep the costs down then share ice with a team of a similar calibre. When sharing ice there are a number of ways you can split the ice or run part of the practice together. Even if you have a rep team sharing with a house team there are numerous drills you can do together and all players will benefit. Some coaches even run special teams against each other, it is much better than no resistance or working against teammates who know your system.

Listed below are some keys to running a successful practice.

PREPARE YOURSELF AND YOUR COACHING STAFF

Use a set practice form and keep a file for future reference
All coaches on the ice should know the drill sequence and teaching points
Energize your self prior to practice especially if you are just coming from work. These 60 minutes are very important to the kids. Leave your problems at the door.

PROVIDE PRACTICE RULES

Keep them simple but definitely have structure.

CREATE A POSITIVE LEARNING ENVIORNMENT

Positive talk and positive gestures by all staff
Talk to every player every practice
Provide feedback throughout practice

BALANCE INDIVIDUAL SKILL WITH SMALL GROUP AND TEAM PLAY WORK

Vary the drill formations and alignments. Alternate small and large group work and use full, half ice or one zone drills.
Use stations for skill repitition

REPETITION – REPETITION – REPETITION

Have a set bank of practice drills to teach your systems play and also reinforce your team identity
Repeat drills often but change the focus or teaching points
Push for better execution

INCORPORATE CHALLENGES AND FUN GAMES

Open and close with a bang. Your first and last drills should be great.
One fun drill per practice
Create competitive challenges in drills where you keep score

HAVE TEACHING AIDS AVAILABLE

Ropes…tires…balls…spray paint…chairs…pylons

CONDUCT YOUR WARM-UP AND CONDITIONING OFF THE ICE

Stretch as a group prior to going on the ice. Don’t waist time stretching on the ice, let the players have a couple of minutes each time you explain a drill and make sure your drills build in intensity in order to allow a players muscles to warm up.
If your work to rest ration is right players will be conditioned throughout practice and rarely will have to do a lot of skating at the end. Some arenas have mini gyms where a team can do conditioning work before or after practice without wasting valuable ice. We like to have our guys work out before practice.

Track Stats Forever Using YourTeam Online

2007-12-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

One great thing about using YourTeam Online as a coach and players, is you can use it from season to season, even if you switch teams. Our users asked for tracking stats and you can now do it forever.

So how do you add stats?

First you must go to the Gametime section under the My Teams tab. Only coaches and admin can track stats for the entire team. Players can keep their own personal stats under their player profile.

Once you click on Gametime you can click the Seasons tab and add your first season.

After you add your season you must then add your player roster for all positions. Once your rosters are created you will then have to add opposing teams.

Roster

Opposing Teams

Once season, roster and opposing teams are added you can then begin creating post game reports after each game you play.

Good luck this season!

Easily Change Team Website Colors

2007-12-12T06:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we launched a new feature that allows you to change the background color of your team website. So if you don't want blue, you can change it to match your team colors. Just takes a few clicks.

Login to your account and go to the Edit Website Tab, which us under Team Website. You will see a "Color" option there. Click on the color and a palette will appear.

Pick the color you want and then click submit and your website is a new color. Here are some examples.

Burgundy

Yellow

Adding Events to Your Team Calendar

2007-12-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

How do I add an event to my team calendar?

You can add an event two ways:

The first way is to Click the Add Events link in the Upcoming Events section on your profile page
You can click the My Team Tab and then the Calendar Menu.

Click on View Calendar and then Add Event

Select the event type from the drop down - either event, practice or game
Select whether or not you want to display this event on your public website. If you keep the event unchecked then users will have to login to their profile pages. Only admin can add/edit events on the calendar.

Enter the event title and event location.
To Add a Location, click the "Add Location" Link. Add the name of the location and the address which will then create a Google Map for your team

Add the time and date for your new event in the boxes provided. Finally, click "Submit" to publish the event to your calendar immediately, or click "edit event details" to add additional information.

Introducing SportsWire LIVE!

2007-12-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

We are so excited here at YourTeam Online to introduce our coolest new feature: SportsWire LIVE!

SporstsWire LIVE is our hot new highlight show that serves up the best of what's going on across the YourTeam Online network. Each month we pick interesting stories from the SportsWire section of YourTeam Online and broadcast the top stories to the world on SportsWire LIVE!

Check out the premiere episode:

We encourage all YourTeam Online users to submit stories to be part of the next episode of SportsWire LIVE! It's great exposure for you and your team. Let the world know how much you rock!

To submit stories click here. It's easy!

Adding Accounts

2007-11-30T11:11:00.000-08:00

YourTeam Online is a great tool for managing your team, but it becomes even more powerful when you get the whole team involved. To add new accounts you have two options. To add accounts here are the steps you should follow:

Step 1

Step 2

Once you get to the above screen you have two options:

You can add the accounts yourself and then email the web address for YourTeam Online (www.yourteamonline.ca) to your players and parents. Include their username and password in the email. An easy way would be to use the first initial and last name as the username and the team name as your password.

OR you can invite the players and parents to join by sending an email through the YourTeam Online system or you can send the join link at the top of your accounts page via regular email

Once you get your team signed up, you and your team will never miss a beat and always be on the same page.

Take Your Game To The Next Level, We Did!

2007-11-26T18:30:00.000-08:00

Take Your Game To The Next Level

It's officially not August any more, and while you've all been digging in at the soccer field or in the weight room training for the upcoming hockey season, the YourTeam Online team has also been hard at work reading your emails, blog posts, and forum suggestions.

And so, to kick the fall off in fine fashion, we've got a bunch of new goodies coming soon to get you ready to take your game to the next level with the new YourTeam Online!

We are reworking YourTeam Online with a hot new look & loading it with a ton of kick a** new features that are designed with input from you. Broadcast your team and your results to the world!

Here is a sneak peak at what is coming soon:

1. Track Your Stats Forever!

The YourTeam Online player page is going to be your new baby. Here you can track your stats for hockey and soccer. Not just for one season, but forever! Click here to see what your career online will look like.

2. Easy To Use Team Website

The new team pages are designed to help give your team a more professional look and easy to use features so you can broadcast your team to the world. Click here to see more.

3. The "SportsWire"

The SportsWire offers teams the chance to broadcast their results to the world. Fans, scouts and media can pick up on the results and react instantly via online comments & discussion. The Sportswire will surface the best stories as voted on by our users.Thank you to all of our teams, players, parents and fans. We are thankful for all your support and we enjoy all the feedback you provide us with. We are looking forward to the upcoming months.

Get in the game! Get YourTeam Online!

Thank you for using YourTeam Online.

The YTO Team

YourTeam Online Releases Soccer Edition Website

2007-11-26T18:28:00.000-08:00

YourTeam Online Releases Soccer Edition Website
Saint John based YourTeam Online to assist minor soccer for free

We are very excited this week to announce our “YourTeam Online: Soccer Edition”

YourTeam Online: Soccer Edition offers soccer teams a free central web area to share games plans, schedules, statistics, photos, video and information amongst their fellow players, coaches & families. Your Team Online: Soccer Edition is a follow up to the already successful “YourTeam Online: Hockey Edition that was released to the hockey world last fall.

We’ve been working on this product all winter and we are happy to launch it this summer in time for the 2007 soccer season in a free BETA format.

As you know we’ve developed “YourTeam Online” to simplify communication for teams of all levels, but also to give them a tool to take their game to the next level. When we launched the hockey beta product last year we had always planned on introducing other sports down the road but only in consultation with experts in each sport. For the soccer product, we brought in former pro soccer player Nick Papadopoulos as a project advisor to recommend functionality that was relative to a competitive soccer team. Everyone associated with the team can log into a shared password–secured private online area where they will find a whole selection of features designed specifically for the modern soccer team. Players can check out their season stats & game photos, coaches can upload their practice drills, and parents can review the game schedule. Team-wide email and SMS text message alerts can be sent out instantly for such things as a cancelled practice.

As our hockey users know, beyond just team information, YourTeam Online also offers teams a free mini-website to post pictures, scores and schedules for other friends, grandparents and extended family members to enjoy. Plans are in the works for a common area for soccer fans from across Canada and the world to share video clips, share stories and have fun.

Our goal here is to make YourTeam Online the best online community for amateur athletes. We’ve got major innovations planned for the fall hockey edition and our eye on other sports such as lacrosse, rugby, basketball and curling.

At the end of the day, we are really excited to give back something to the games that have provided us with so much fun & opportunity over the years.

Register Your Team at: www.yourteamonline.ca

Strongest Dad in the World

2007-11-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

the story of Rick and Dick Hoyt.

Here is an article a friend of ours shared with us from Sports Illustrated:

Strongest Dad in the World
Rick Reilly for Sports Illustrated

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I'm lousy.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars -- all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much -- except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution."

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain."

"Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.

Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that."

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks."

That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

"No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way," he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 -- only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

"No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15 years ago."

So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once."

And another inspirational video we found on the web. Lets remember that we can do whatever we put our minds to and take a page out of Dick Hoyt's book.