The Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association (Mass Youth Soccer) is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the task of promoting and enhancing the culture of soccer in Massachusetts. Established in 1977, the Association is the second largest state youth soccer association in the United States, with more than 185,000 registered players.

Mass Youth Soccer approached Synthenet to develop a web site that that would allow visitors a more interactive and informative experience. It is critical for the development and continued growth of the Association that their members easily access information required to expand the mission of Youth Soccer. In addition, the Association set a goal to market the majority of their programs through the web site. Mass Youth Soccer intends for their web site to be the “central resource” for Youth Soccer.

Because visitors to the web site ranged from youth soccer players age 5 to 18; to their coaches; to their parents; to administrators, the new web site must appeal to a variety of needs. Visitors range from the very knowledgeable to the person coming to the web site for the first time and knowing nothing.

Mass Youth Soccer needed a way for visitors to easily and quickly gather relevant information pertaining to statewide and national youth soccer issues, trends, philosophies, at all levels of the youth game. Secondly, they needed a way to obtain useful feedback to assist them in program development to better address the needs of the overall membership.

Synthenet redesigned Mass Youth Soccer’s web site using their Online Management System, with a crisp new look reflective of their mission and personality. In addition, the web site provided easy to use navigation tools with bold images to highlight their program offerings. New entry points were also created to meet the needs of their four key audiences, youth soccer players, parents, coaches and administrators.

This project included several key modules of the Online Management System which allow Mass Youth Soccer to easily manage the web site and information without any knowledge of HTML. These modules include the Content Module, Form / Survey Module and Messaging Module. The Content Module gives the Mass Youth Soccer staff the ability to manage pages, documents and images and make updates to the site at any time. The Form / Survey Module allows them to garner critical information from visitors. And the Messaging Module allows Mass Youth Soccer to create targeted email marketing messages.

Finally, to meet their goal of becoming the “central resource” for youth soccer, the new web site offers visitors access to information unique to Mass Youth Soccer’s website. An events calendar was created providing visitors to the web site up to date event information. In addition, an interactive League Locator map was developed providing critical information to visitors looking for information relevant to their area.

Mass Youth Soccer’s web site is now more reflective of their mission and the professionalism of the Association. The new design better captures the mission and program offerings of the Association and appeals to all audiences.

The wealth of information now available on their site brings them closer to their goal of being the “central resource” for youth soccer. An incredible amount of critical information is organized and easy to find through a custom designed, user friendly navigation system.

New search tools allowing visitors access to useful event information and League Maps were developed positioning the web site as a valuable resource. The Online Management System provides an easy to use interface for Mass Youth Soccer personnel to manage site content, e-mail marketing, form and survey submissions and events without any knowledge of HTML.

Mass Youth Soccer’s membership is nearing 200,000; consequently it is necessary for us to keep up with today's hi-tech advancements. Our web site is our main tool of communication for the soccer community throughout the state, so the need for reconstruction was a must. Working with Synthenet has not only made MYSA more technologically savvy, the new site is extremely user-friendly and very easy to navigate to meet our visitor’s needs.

Julie Longo
Marketing Director
Mass Youth Soccer