This week, the LeagueApps team came together safely for OTA20—short for Organized Team Activities—at Bryn Athyn College in Philadelphia. Over the course of two days, we participated in team building activities like Olympics, a talent show, and exercises that helped us broaden our knowledge of the LeagueApps mission; connected with our coworkers on a deeper level; and heard from some of the youth sports leaders we serve. 

It was a unique opportunity to reflect on what being a member of the LeagueApps team means to each of us—increasing access to sports by supporting the organizers that make them happen.  

The theme of OTA20 was Gold Medal Moments—which gave us each a chance to think about our highest achievements so far in our career, both at LeagueApps and elsewhere, and reflect on how we can use that moment to inspire us going forward.  Read on for a few highlights of OTA20:

In Conversation with Benita Fitzgerald-Mosley

One of the many amazing things about working at LeagueApps is being colleagues with so many interesting, intelligent, and driven individuals—one of whom is Benita Fitzgerald-Mosley, Olympic gold medalist (1984) and our Head of Community & Impact and President of FundPlay. Our president Jeremy Goldberg spoke with Benita about her literal gold medal moment, when she won first place at the 1984 Summer Olympics in the Women’s 100 meter hurdles.

Benita said that she still thinks about her gold medal moment the same way she did almost 40 years ago. “It’s still sweet,” she says.

“I feel like the gold medal is the gift that keeps on giving.  It gave me this gift of LeagueApps. If it wasn’t for my gold medal, I wouldn’t have met you. We wouldn’t have had this opportunity,” said Benita. “And I think that every aspect of my life, my husband and kids (I met my husband through another Olympic athlete friend), every job I’ve ever had has been a result of my participation in sport and also having won the gold medal.”

Hearing Benita discuss her gold medal moment reminds us that one shining moment in our career can set us up for success for the rest of our lives.

Gaining Insight from Our Partners

Some of our partners came in to speak on a panel and give us insight into how we can provide more value to them. We were lucky enough to hear from Callie Smith, Director of Hockey Operations at NJ Colonials; Logan Kosmalski, Director of ProSkills Basketball, and Tom Sinnott, Director of Sports Operations of HEADStrong Lacrosse. Here are some of the reasons our partners switched to LeagueApps from other platforms:

• Better customer service and support 7 days a week
• A more professional website design service
• The ability to effectively communicate with parents, players, and coaches 

To read more about what we learned from our discussions with our partners, read this.

Supporting Our FundPlay Partners

At LeagueApps, we believe everyone should be able to play sports. Unfortunately, children from underserved communities often miss out on this opportunity, so we created FundPlay to provide technology, training, and support to sports-based youth development organizations across the country. One way we supported our FundPlay partners at OTA20 is by breaking off into groups to learn more about the organizations and then create testimonials for our group.

Some Friendly Competition: Our Own Olympic Games

As a way to foster teamwork and stronger bonds (and very fitting given the Summer Olympics going on right now), all of LeagueApps participated in a number of physical and mental games as well as a talent show during the OTA20 Olympics. We played sports like soccer, volleyball, knockout, and dodgeball; lawn games like corn hole and lawn bowling; ran in relays; did trivia; played tug of war; had a dance battle; performed comedy skits; and so much more to ultimately determine the winning team: Gold! 

The Gold Team’s prize was the opportunity to donate $5,000 to its chosen FundPlay Grantee South Bronx United—a nonprofit that uses soccer as a vehicle for social change and has reached 1,300 youth annually with a 100% high school graduation rate.

OTA20 was a unique opportunity for us all to get together again (most of us for the first time ever in person) and learn about the company and each other in a new way.  We can’t wait until we can all be together again.