Sometimes your team needs a little help. You KNOW there are enough players at your school but you just don't know how to get their attention to get them to sign up! Maybe you are looking for a few more players to form a 'school pure' team or maybe you are just trying to grab a couple to be eligible for a combo team! Regardless here are four tried and true strategies that work every time!
#1: Be a Social Media Master
We have seen this technique work time and time again. Here is what you can do and it takes just a few minutes.
Facebook:
Go to your Facebook page, copy and paste the MSM website URL and share it our with a short description about how your athlete is super excited to play this year (we also have some easy buttons below). Then tag your school, your league, and any baseball parents you know and ask them to share too! We have seen whole teams built with in a few hours this way but it's really important to tag others or they may not see.
Use Facebook Groups (Current #1 Strategy!!!):
Yes, we're going back to the well - but you know how big of an impact Facebook can have!
This time, we're saying to post into groups so that you can get the word around to a wider audience. Find the neighborhood group (most recommended!), baseball (or even other sports) groups, school groups, and even mom groups.
You can copy and paste the text below
and we have a lot of sharables on this page too! Just right-click, copy, then paste into social media, text, and emails!
Copy/Paste this Text to Facebook
Hey! If you have a middle school baseball or softball player, you need to sign them up for Middle School Matchup! It's a weekend tournament where kids get to play with their school friends - just for fun! Everyone seems to love it (especially the kids) and I know you would, too!
https://middleschoolmatchup.com
Twitter:
Twitter works great too and its the same strategy. Click the button below and mention your school, league, parents, teams...anyone! Then you can also use hashtags like #youthbaseball #happybaseball
Players Social Media:
We ran a poll recently and it turns out about 50% of MSM players are using social media (snap and insta mostly). That is a really great way too. Have them promote it to their friends and post to their profile! They typically know all the players and word can spread very quick this way too!
#2: The Breakfast Club Strategy
School admins are busy and don't always have time for parent requests but they love to see their students excited about something. Have your athlete grab a few other players, if possible, and have them go to the school office and talk to your school principal! Arm the player with a few flyers and some facts about MSM and let the principal see the excitement in the kids.
Then kindly ask if he could:
1. Promote it in the announcements.
2. Place some flyers around school.
3. Have the PE/Athletics coaches mention it in class.
Its super helpful to mention if there have been any teams in the past or that you know a rival school has a team and you certainly don't want the rivals to have all the fun!
Also, have the players ask if he can come out and support the team that weekend. Its a great way to show the same support they give to the other formal teams to your baseball athletes.
*note this same strategy works great by going to the athletic coaches too. They want all their athletes to have a great time and are usually happy to promote to other students in class (and we see them all the time during the tournament)
#3: Be a Flyer Ninja
All this one takes is a few flyers and some tape! Arm the player with a few flyers and have them post flyers in locker rooms, bathrooms, anywhere they can get to!
#4: Become "That" Parent for a Day 🙂
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All this one is just about you , a parent, sending an email to any one at the school that you think could help spread the word. The principal, APs, ADs, coaches, teachers. It doesn't have to be fancy and can be short and simple. You can even swipe the text below!
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Hello,
Did you know we have a baseball team? We really do!
Check out www.middleschoolmatchup.com. Its a really neat event where we form a baseball team for our school and play other local schools like [INSERT RIVAL SCHOOLS].
The thing is we still need a few players...and if we don't get enough we can't compete against [BIGGEST RIVAL SCHOOL] and I don't want [YOUR SCHOOL] to miss out.
Can you help us out by possibly announcing it or hanging up some of these flyers...anything to help spread the word would be helpful.
Thanks!
Shareables
(Right click-Copy)
Parents Love MSM
This weekend wasn't about winning or losing....It was about playing MIDDLE SCHOOL BASEBALL!!!! It brought boys together that have never played together but showed what a passion for baseball can do. Thank you!!!!
Players Love MSM
I have played in nearly 1000 games now, all over America and I still think MSM was probably the most fun I have ever had playing baseball. Playing with the kids I grew up with was amazing. Even in high school we still talk about how fun (and crazy) our games were!
What is Middle School Matchup?
MSM is a unique weekend tournament for middle school baseball players in areas that do not have formal middle school teams. At MSM we align players by middle school, regardless of skill level, and give them the special chance to take a short break from their current team and play ball with the kids they have grown up with! Smiles and high-fives are guaranteed.