What makes grassroots sports organisations different when it come sto digitalisation

Implementing new digital solutions in grassroots sports organisations differs from implementing digital solutions in companies in terms of the time required since grassroots sports organisations are generally defined by having fewer human resources with lower digital expertise.

Classic employees or volunteers working in the sector are defined by their passion, knowledge and experience in sports whereas digitalisation cannot be expected to be an area of comfort.

Last but not least grassroots sports organisations generally have fewer economic resources available for digitalisation, which is one of the main reasons you would often have to choose solution providers, such as startups, offering lower prices in return for your organisation being a test candidate and case for their future growth.

In a DigiFit survey with the participation of +300 grassroots sports organisations in Europe, 118 organisations (33%) answered that there were digital management solutions, recruiting or funding, that they are not currently using though they have considered doing so. They were given the same question regarding the usage of digital solutions in the sports activity, and 71 organisations (20%) answered the same. When asked about the main reasons for not using the solutions they had considered using, the main reasons were:

• Lacking financial resources
• Lacking available staff
• Limited time for development due to focus on day-to-day operations

In short you would typically need a lower price, more time and more support to successfully implement new digital solutions. Therefore, two main topics are extra important for you to evaluate when choosing a solution provider.

1. the economic sustainability of your solution provider
2. their understanding of your requirements regarding support and time (without those elements increasing the price of the solution).

Tips to evaluate and choose your digital solution providers

Evaluating the solution provider’s/startup’s economic sustainability is of high importance. Especially when it comes to solution providers with limited track records such as startups or potentially established companies who have created new solutions and are thereby entering new markets. In the latter case, the focus should be on evaluating the company’s ambitions and resources allocated to entering the new market, where the focus regarding startups should be on their economic runway (existing capital vs. expenses) and their potential future plans regarding external investors.

Evaluating your solution provider’s understanding of your requirements regarding support and time should be based on creating a win-win collaboration where your testing and feedback should be used to negotiate the best possible terms, and aside from lowering the price of the product, should give you, for example, additional customer support, easily understandable video tutorials or webinars.

One extra point of attention for grassroots sports organisations -where volunteers are a main part of the organisation- is to assess the timewise availability of the solution provider’s customer support, since volunteers are often only available outside normal office hours.

Additionally, it will often be the case that a digital solution implemented in a grassroots sports organisation, will be used by many people (coaches, members/athletes, parents and potentially even competing clubs and their employees and members). This should be seen as a marketing opportunity by the solution provider and increase your bargaining power, increasing the likelihood of a well established win-win collaboration.

Key Takeaways

📟 Gain an insight into the main specific areas you as a grassroots sports organisation need to focus on and evaluate when choosing a solution provider.

📟 Work towards achieving an understanding of the main goal when creating the collaboration.

Topic materials & Resources to go further

Name of the material	Why it matters / What you will find
DigiFit survey report 🔗	WHY – To help you understand more about the grassroots sports organisations status and digital readiness. WHAT – A detailed report from the DigiFit European survey conducted from June 19 till September 6 2023.