LA JOLLA, Calif. - March 31, 2003 - More than one million teams are using eteamz (www.eteamz.com) to build Web sites, register their players online, raise funds and communicate, according to recent data from The Active Network. As one of the largest and most complete online resources for recreational sports, eteamz - part of The Active Network - has continued to build a viral, worldwide community across 80 sports with partners that include organizations such as Little League Baseball and NFL Youth Football.
Adding an estimated 1,000 new teams each week, the company attributes the user volume to its product and relationships with teams, leagues, tournaments and camps. "It's a snowball effect. The bigger our community gets, the better it gets. We've been at it for a number of years now and never stop making the product better, faster and easier to use, but the bottom line is we have a great product that was created based on what our members told us they wanted," said Gregg Vincent, vice president of Active Team Sports, The Active Network. "We want eteamz to be a fun and rewarding experience for anyone involved in recreational sports and we've built our tools with that in mind."
Since 1998, eteamz has been connecting coaches, players, family and friends in over 120 countries to the world of recreational sports. National sports organizations such as Little League Baseball, NFL Youth Football, Amateur Athletic Union, MLS Soccer Camps, and Sport & Social Clubs have trusted services from eteamz and The Active Network to provide Web-based communication tools for their members. At www.eteamz.com, teams can build Web sites and then post news, schedules, rosters, photos, forms and more. Teams can also use their sites to set up online registration and payment, purchase equipment, access fundraising services, or even create a donation page to collect donations online.
Right from their team Web sites, coaches and administrators can manage these online transactions ranging from entry and membership fees, sponsorship donations, and even t-shirt purchases.
They can collect fees and registrant information, download or print registration reports, view statistics and send group e-mails. Online registration is a free service for administrators (www.eteamz.com/registration/). The Web sites are priced reasonably, easy to build, and offer customization to display team colors, photos or music.
Each week, eteamz adds about 10,000 new members. As Vincent explained, "Building and hosting Web sites isn't difficult, but building a large and dynamic community is, and we've accomplished this. Our members all share a common passion - recreational sports - and eteamz offers them a place to come together, share ideas, learn from one another and take advantage of a wide array of targeted services."
The success of eteamz services such as spotlight sites, epointz and the new buddy program validate the tight, viral community. Each month, spotlight sites are selected based on sites that show the best team spirit through rich team/league-related content, photos and images, and helpful tips and tutorials. These sites are featured prominently on eteamz, driving traffic to these sites and earning epointz, which can be accumulated for prizes. The eteamz buddy program rewards teams with new uniforms, equipment or upgraded sites when their referrals become eteamz members and create new team sites (www.eteamz.com/buddy/).
"Our popularity has a lot to do with the fact we are honest and upfront with our members, very responsive and have built everything based on their direct feedback. Our members trust us to be up and running, and always working on new enhancements, so they can communicate with the world. And the best part is our members use eteamz, like it and tell their friends," said Rob Costlow, Community Manager, Active Team Sports, The Active Network.
For more information about eteamz, visit www.eteamz.com. To find out about The Active Network, which specializes in participatory sports and recreation by providing data management, transaction processing and marketing services to organizers and their participants, visit www.theactivenetwork.com or call (888) 543-7223.