Putting the Player First: How Steel City FC Uses TeamSnap for Business to Centralize Their Long-Term Player Development Path

When envisioning the future of soccer programs in the Pittsburgh area, Steel City FC Owner/Founder Tommo Ovenden knew the right technology partner was crucial in developing his unique approach to youth soccer development.

With the help of the TeamSnap for Business suite, which continues to evolve as Steel City FC evolves in its own growth, Ovenden created the first club in Pittsburgh with a full pathway from youth to adult for both men's and women's soccer.

“The [TeamSnap for Business] technology and the centralization of this is really, really important for what we wanted to do,” said Ovenden.

Ovenden and his Steel City FC leadership team envisioned a club where long-term player development was at the forefront of everything they do; to play their role in the US soccer development pyramid by always putting the player first.

How exactly does that work? Originally founded as Hotspurs SC in the 1980’s and Arsenal FC of Pittsburgh in the 1990’s, the two organizations partnered to form Steel City FC in 2021. They teach a sustainable, attractive style of soccer that fosters good long-term habits from an early age and yields consistent results in later years.

But, this collaboration wouldn’t be possible without the centralized program management features of TeamSnap for Business. “I knew I would want to make sure that as much of the business side of things and keeping the technology towards families as centralized as possible, and keeping the friction as low as possible to the end user, so I was trying to look for something that solved that,” said Ovenden.

Steel City FC combines important club organization features into one centralized location with TeamSnap for Business. That includes their registration, rostering, scheduling, and communication lines with each family, and markets this centralized model with a TeamSnap for Business website. Additionally, the Steel City FC team takes advantage of TeamSnap Sponsorship and the ability to connect with targeted, local sponsors to aid with registration costs, travel costs, and more.

Steel City FC’s phase model puts the athlete and their development at center stage. “This is how all of the top academies in the world are separated. You have your players develop through each stage and move onto the next coach. This two or three-year window that you get developed by a coach and then moved onto the next coaching team has worked really well for us.”

Their phases cover different age ranges with the U8-U12 group training to love the game and focus on the foundation of skills. Those players then move into the youth development phase (U13-U14) where they train to understand the game as they place a greater emphasis on tactical development and begin competing in 11v11 matches. Finally, players move into the college prep and performance phase (U15-U19) where training focuses on developing to win games and allows players to train and compete with the club's First Teams. Each phase uses coaching staffs that specialize in that phase/age group, instead of moving up with a specific group of athletes.

The centralized and flexible nature of TeamSnap for Business makes this phase model possible for Steel City FC, who continues to grow the beloved game of soccer in Pittsburgh.

[On-Demand Webinar] Tom Ovenden Discusses Phase Model with TeamSnap