Attention: Sports editor 1st August, 2009 sportsnet 1 back
Sporting clubs
exploit the net
Amateur sporting clubs of all kinds around the world are joining social networking web sites like Navsports, Interactive Sports Network or Twitter and using them to keep in touch with their players, organize team activities and enlist more members.
Tens of thousands of players are joining sports social networks globally on the internet each month, as indicated by web site statistics and membership lists.
The director of Navsports, Stewart Whicker, says younger sports men and women quickly recognize the convenience and other benefits of using their mobile phones, laptops or personal computers to network socially online.
Sporting club executives see the cost, efficiency and other benefits of informing their members over the internet, he says.
Sports social networks range from those which cater for sporting fans to those which cater for players, from those which cater for only one sport to those which cater for most sports, and from those which cater for one local club to those which cater for many clubs internationally.
Navsports is an example of a sports social networking organisation providing free, interactive, online, multimedia services for most types of sporting clubs throughout the United States of America and Australia.
Hundreds of sporting clubs have joined Navsports in all states of Australia, where the online networking service has been developed over recent years. They include clubs for soccer, rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules football; cricket and baseball; squash and tennis; basketball and softball; wrestling, kung fu and jiu-jitsu; and bowling, archery; swimming and athletics.
More clubs, including amateur baseball and gridiron clubs, are joining in the US, where the service has been launched only recently.
Navsports gives its web pages to sports clubs and lets them post their information on them free. Information can include a club profile, contact details, a member list, an announcement, a program, notice board, newsletter or the like. It can be about the club itself, its officials, members, players, trophy winners, coaches, sponsors, supporters, fans, practice times, games, venues, dates, prize presentations, membership drives, competitions or tournaments, fundraisers, socials and other events, and so on.
So the clubs do not have to pay for their own web sites and can save web design, domain registration and hosting costs.
Club members can also join Navsports and post their personal profiles and other information on the web site. They can view the latest information posted by their club and can communicate and socialize with other members of their club and members of other clubs throughout the sports network.
Clubs and members can post their videos, photos and other images on their web pages.
Navsports also provides a directory of more than 14,000 sports clubs in Australia, making it the largest sports networking web site in this country.
It also presents sporting news coverage.
Membership and use of the Navsports network is free. Its web sites at www.navsports.com and www.navsports.com.au are sponsored by advertisers such as suppliers of sporting equipment and clothing.
Interactive Sports Network, another example, provides similar services but offers them on separate web sites for different sports, such as its Hockeybarn web site for fans and players of ice hockey.
Most sports social networks do not offer a universal or comprehensive range of services.
Other general sports social networks include Sportsvite, Ilovetoplay and Sportsmates.
Some sporting organizations promote themselves online using the Twitter social network to interact in real time with members and fans.
Online social networks which cater for specific, non-team sports include: GolfLink, for golfers; ZexSports, for participants and fans of sports like BMX bikeriding, river rafting and wake boarding; Sk8site, for skateboarders; SkiNet, for snow skiers; FitLink, for gym workout partners; WalkerTracker, for walkers; and UltimateFrisbee, for frisbee players.
Also there are sports media networks like the CBS College Sports Network, which provide news and other information online to college players.
Then there is Sports Passions, an online dating and networking service for fans and players of various sports.
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Media contact: Stewart Whicker - phone mobile 0412571963 or
landline 9609 3937, or email swhicker@navsports.com.au .
More information is available at www.navsports.com and www.navsports.com.au .
A high-resolution photograph of Stewart can be downloaded at www.wbpublicity.com.au/ns/ns.htm .
_______________________________________________
Navsports Ltd
ACN 118 594 504
200 Badgerys Creek Road
Bringelly, NSW, 2556
Post: 43 Cobbett Street, Wetherill Park, NSW, 2164
Phone: 9609 3937. Email: enquiry@navsports.com
Web: www.navsports.com and www.navsports.com.au