A Pandemic Shift in the Future of Youth Sports

Thursday, September 10 | 12:30 PM ET

From the elite levels on down, the sports industry is navigating a tenuous return to activity. And while much of the discussion has been around pro and college sports, the success of those leagues depend on youth sports to foster the next generation of athletes. More than ever, technology, innovation and a newfound spirit of collaboration are at the forefront of youth sports—especially when it comes to logistics and operations. In this week’s episode of The Way Back, we’ll expand upon our three-part written series that looked at how the pandemic is affecting sports at the grassroots level and what it means for the industry at large. 

Speakers

Rich Abend is the co-founder and CEO of Famer, a sports coaching platform that enables group. team and personal training programs with interactive feedback between coach, club and athletes. Famer works with top trainers, coaches and sports clubs across several sports including the NBPA, US Sports Camps and Athletes Unlimited. Rich has a deep background in the youth/amateur sports technology market and was one of the early employees at the Active Network where he played a role in 47 mergers and acquisitions of youth/amateur sports and fitness companies over the course of 8 years. He also comes from a family of coaches and he coaches his two kids in Basketball, Football and Baseball and is extremely passionate both personally and professionally about youth/amateur sports

Kim Ng is a 30-year veteran of the baseball industry, currently serves as Major League Baseball’s Senior Vice President, Baseball & Softball Development. In her current role, Ng oversees MLB’s efforts to propagate the game globally, working with baseball leagues and entities around the world, as well as oversees many of MLB’s female youth initiatives. Ng, who has been named to Forbes Most Powerful Women in Sports List, is the second woman ever to hold an assistant general manager position with a Major League club and is the first woman to  interview for a General Manager position in any major professional men’s sport. She began her baseball  career with the Chicago White Sox before becoming the Director of Waivers and Records for the  American League Office.

Alex Wu is a founding team member and the Vice President of Strategy, Marketing, and Partnerships at NEX Team, a mobile AI company and the makers of the HomeCourt basketball app. Since its launch, HomeCourt has tracked over 40 million shots and 50 million dribbles, been recognized as one of Fast Company’s 2019 Most Innovative Companies in Sports, Times Best Inventions 2019, SportTechie Technology of the Year 2019, and a winner of a 2019 Apple Design Award.

Registration is free. All registrants will receive a link to watch the recording once the session concludes.

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The Way Back: How Sports Innovate and Thrive is a SportTechie Live series of interactive and engaging conversations examining how tech and innovation will bring sports back (safely) during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Sessions are free to attend.