Welcome to our new club platform and website!
After many years of using Sports Engine, CKHA is switching to a new club management platform designed specifically for hockey. Welcome to Crossbar!
Why the change? Sports Engine offered some great stuff, but managing the association has become increasingly more difficult over the past few years. Both the app and website have been plagued with bugs and inconsistencies causing frustration and wasting time.
Why change now, right before the season? There is no good time to change, but the board discussed it and decided it was time to move forward. We're hoping that a little bit of extra work to get things up and running before the season starts will make everyone's season more enjoyable and easier to manage.
What are some of the benefits of Crossbar?
-- Over 90% of people use their phone for club notices and functionality. Crossbar is designed for mobile use.
-- Ability to modify player payment plans. No invoicing, no re-registering to enact a change.
-- EASY scheduling interface. No more spreadsheets once the slots are uploaded. Massive time saver.
-- Clean, modern website design and content management system.
-- Parent/team/coach communication interface. State of the art team specific app with chat feature.
-- Syncable Family calendar. Once children are synched, they are always synced year after year.
-- Online Jersey # management system.
-- Freely move players from House to Travel, and back. One touch rostering. Able to move up or down an age level.
We understand that no one likes change and that there will be a learning curve, but we're really excited to move to Crossbar and think everyone will be happier once they overcome how things were done in the past. The people we've dealt with from Crossbar are great, the company is based out of the St. Louis area, and Crossbar was developed by a hockey director for hockey teams and leagues. For more info on the Crossbar story, you check them out here: https://www.crossbar.org/about .
So, what do you need to do? First, sign up for an account on Crossbar and add your children (participants). Next, register for your program - House/FLEX, Travel, High School, Learn To Play, etc. If you already registered for this season on Sports Engine, there's no cost to re-register on Crossbar. If you're trying to register for House/FLEX or travel and you're new to the program or didn't get registered and pay on Sports Engine, please contact the CKHA Registrar (registrar@centralkentuckyhockey.com).
The next items are optional, but recommended. Download and install the Crossbar app from your app store. Update your account settings and notification preferences, and upload pictures of your players! That's it! Once we get your player registered on Crossbar, we will add them to their teams, assign jersey numbers and you'll see for yourself how simple and powerful Crossbar is.
Two final things -- 1) Bear with us as we rebuild our website content. Our primary goal was to get the important stuff (registration, teams, etc.) up and running. We'll continue updating our content as the season goes on. 2) If you have any problems getting signed up, any questions about registration or how something works, please reach out to us at help@centralkentuckyhockey.com. We're confident there shouldn't be many problems, but we know things can happen and something new can be confusing, so we're always happy to help.
Don't forget to spread the word to your teammates and have them sign up! We will be sending out communications, but word of mouth always helps! We look forward to a great season and some awesome changes on our new platform!
Thanks,
CKHA Board