Key Takeaways

• Ankored integrates compliance management across the Players Health network, creating a single platform for safety requirements
• The integration consolidates background checks, training, waivers, age verification, and athlete health data into one workflow
• Youth sports organizations typically use multiple disconnected systems, creating compliance gaps and administrative delays
• Real-time tracking allows leaders to see exactly who is cleared and what tasks remain incomplete before athletes compete
• Both companies cite administrative burden reduction and clearer insurance standards compliance as primary partnership goals

One Platform for Multiple Compliance Requirements

Ankored, a youth sports safety and compliance automation platform, has partnered with Players Health, a national athlete safety and insurance solutions provider. The integration brings compliance management tools directly into the Players Health network, allowing youth sports programs to handle safety requirements through a single system.

The platform consolidates background checks, training modules, safety education, forms and waivers, age and grade verification, athlete health data, and ongoing compliance tracking. This workflow aligns with Players Health best practices for risk management and mitigation.

“Ankored gives everyone in youth sports a single source of truth for real-time safety and compliance, so organizations can protect kids, reduce risk, and operate with total confidence,” said Seth Lieberman, CEO at Ankored. “This partnership with Players Health is a unique opportunity to help organizations close safety gaps with a 360 degree approach.”

Addressing Disconnected Systems and Compliance Gaps

Youth sports organizations have traditionally managed compliance through multiple disconnected systems. According to the companies, this creates confusion, delays, and risk exposure when requirements fall through the cracks.

The Ankored and Players Health integration allows leaders to identify who is cleared to participate, which tasks are incomplete, and where action is needed before athletes take the field. The system provides a unified view of safety-related information across registration, background checks, and training.

“As leaders in athlete safety, our priority is making compliance easier, clearer, and more actionable for every organization we support,” said Lisa McCoy, AVP of Athlete Safety at Players Health. “Partnering with Ankored allows us to support organizations with solutions that remove administrative barriers and strengthen real-time compliance.”

Impact on Administrative Operations

The partnership targets a reduction in administrative burden for youth sports programs while providing a clearer path to meeting safety and insurance standards. By centralizing compliance data, the integration aims to reduce safety blind spots and volunteer drop-off related to complex administrative requirements.

Organizations using the integrated platform will have access to state and sport-specific compliance requirements through a single workflow. The system is designed to prevent circumvention of safety protocols by maintaining consistent tracking across all users.

Looking Ahead

The partnership positions both companies to expand their reach within youth sports organizations seeking streamlined compliance solutions. Ankored’s platform integration across the Players Health network provides access to programs already using Players Health’s safety and insurance services.

McCoy emphasized the partnership’s role in creating safer environments: “This is a meaningful step forward in creating safer environments where athletes can thrive.”

Lieberman connected the compliance infrastructure to broader organizational goals: “We’re enabling safety-first environments for young athletes, creating trust and driving long-term participation so sport-focused organizations can scale safely and efficiently.”

via: Ankored, Inc.

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Are you a brand looking to tap into the world’s most passionate fanbase… youth sports?

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About Play Up Partners

Play Up Partners is a leading youth sports marketing agency connecting brands with the power of youth sports. We specialize in youth sports sponsorships, partnerships, and activations that drive measurable results.

Why Sponsor Youth Sports?

Youth sports represents one of the most engaged and passionate audiences in sports marketing. With over 70 million young athletes and their families participating annually, the youth sports industry offers brands unparalleled access to motivated communities with strong purchasing power and loyalty.

What Does Play Up Partners Do?

We’ve done the heavy lifting to untangle the complex youth sports landscape so our brand partners can engage with clarity, confidence, and impact. Our vetted network of accredited youth sports organizations (from local leagues to national tournaments and operators) allows us to create flexible, scalable programs that evolve with the market.

Our Approach

Every partnership we build is rooted in authenticity and value creation. We don’t just broker deals. We craft youth sports marketing strategies that:

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We’re positioning youth sports as the most desirable and effective platform in sports marketing. Our mission is simple: MAKE YOUTH SPORTS BETTER for athletes, families, organizations, and brand partners.

Common Questions About Youth Sports Marketing

Where can I sponsor youth sports? How do I activate in youth sports? What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? How much does youth sports sponsorship cost?

We have answers. Reach out to info@playuppartners.com to learn how Play Up Partners can help your brand navigate the youth sports landscape.

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Oakley has been a recognizable brand in the football world since the ’90s, when former NFL players like Mel Gray and Warrick Dunn wore Oakley sunglasses under their helmets before visors were common.

A few decades later, football looks a little different—and not only when it comes to players’ preferred eyewear. Both the audience and the athlete pool of the sport include more women, and the team at Oakley wanted to be a part of that growth, Corey Hill, the brand’s VP and head of global sports marketing, told Marketing Brew. Enter flag football, which, without helmets and visitors, might present an even clearer path for Oakley to promote its brand and products than tackle football.

“In flag, there’s this culture of eyewear already in 7-on-7 boys football that has carried into girls football,” Hill said. “We felt like it’s a great space for us to continue to cultivate that opportunity with a new audience.”

Oakley has spent the past few years supporting flag football organizations and athletes from youth tournaments to national teams, with the ultimate goal of growing both the sport and the brand’s appeal among women and younger consumers, Hill said.

Full field

With flag football set to make its debut as an Olympic sport in 2028, the NFL has been working to grow brand involvement among its partners, including Oakley, which has been a league sponsor since 2019. Hill recalled that NFL representatives reached out about flag opportunities a few years ago, around the same time he happened to be coaching his daughter’s flag team, leading to a “symbiotic relationship” and Oakley’s initial involvement with flag on a local level, he said.

Since then, the brand has had a presence at regional and national flag football tournaments, including the NFL Flag Championships. Oakley is also serving as the official eyewear partner of USA Football’s men’s, women’s, and junior national teams through LA28.

Though Oakley’s involvement with flag now reaches up to the highest levels of the sport, Hill said his team’s primary focus for flag remains connecting with younger audiences, especially girls.

“One of the things that we want to make sure that we’re doing is talking to the consumers that we think can help grow the brand,” he said. “In the past, I would say our consumer had skewed a little older and male. Bringing in younger, female [consumers] really helps to grow our potential market base.”

One way to do that is through the Oakley Icon Alliance, the brand’s women’s flag football tournament that has plans to expand to include 16 teams in its regional rounds in 2025. The event is meant to provide girls with an opportunity to play at a high level while also giving them a “premium-level experience, much like what the boys get” at their tournaments, Hill said. That includes recovery stations, streaming and broadcast coverage, and games held at NFL facilities.

“The whole point was to put that top-level experience out there that right now, they’re not necessarily getting from any other brand,” he said.

End zone

Oakley has been seeing movement among the youth demographic, and engagement rates among that audience have increased by double digits in the past three years, according to Hill. While that growth isn’t entirely due to flag football, he said, he credits it as a factor, and Oakley has clocked sales growth for products it’s promoting specifically in flag, like its HyperGrip technology, he noted.

While flag football doesn’t have the reach of the NFL, this summer’s championships aired on platforms including ABC, ESPN Deportes, and Disney+, and games reached a total of 7.7 million fans, up 65% from last year’s tournament, according to ESPN. Oakley “got some really good exposure” during that coverage, Hill said, and also had some standout moments on social: Wide receiver Brysen Wright, for instance, celebrated a viral catch with a backflip while wearing Oakleys.

“We couldn’t have built a commercial that was any better, because the product then stayed on his face when he did the backflip,” Hill said.

Oakley is currently in the midst of its Oakley Icon Alliance regionals, with the championship on the horizon in February. Beyond the youth level, Hill said his team is also focused on the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships that will showcase its sponsorships of Team USA and deal with Mexican flag football star Diana Flores.

In the midst of those moments, and in the run-up to LA28, the Oakley team will continue to prioritize efforts to foster a stronger pipeline for young girls to get into football and develop their skills in between the youth and national levels, Hill said.

“We’re really all about making sure that there’s opportunities for sport for young people,” he said. “We think [flag] is a super disruptive space. It’s obviously different than anything that’s been out there.”

Opening day at Woodward Park City brought more than the return of lift access this winter. As the Hot Laps lift began spinning, the day also marked the first Play Forever Friday of the season, drawing excited opening day guests into nonprofit-led activities focused on safety education and youth programming, both indoors and outdoors.

Through its Play Forever Friday series, Woodward Park City pairs discounted access with community education and nonprofit support, connecting guests with local organizations while promoting safety, awareness and long-term access to outdoor recreation.

Each Play Forever Friday offers $35 access to Woodward’s indoor facility or $35 mountain lift tickets, compared to $169 for a regular weekend all-access ticket, with 15 percent of all ticket revenue split between two featured nonprofit partners.

While the foundation provides grant opportunities year round, the Friday series is built around conversation and participation rather than formal fundraising alone.

For Woodward Park City, the Friday format is about meeting people where they already are. While Play Forever is a nationwide program, Jay Burke, director of marketing, said the Woodward Park City team shapes each Play Forever Friday around the local community, selecting nonprofits that reflect how guests use the facility and the surrounding mountains.

“Our team dove in with a big list that we narrowed down to some of the bigger local nonprofits and some of the smaller ones, and we tried to align those with nonprofits that we feel really benefit the local community here that visits Woodward on a frequent basis,” said Burke.

This season, Woodward selected eight nonprofits and paired them across four monthly events, with a fifth bonus day at the end of the season, expanding on previous years when the program featured just four nonprofits across the entire winter. Each pairing matches a larger, established organization with a smaller or growing one — a structure designed to broaden participation while allowing nonprofits to leverage one another’s audiences and experience.

“This year, we wanted to pair them together where these smaller nonprofits can work with a bigger, more well-oiled machine and hopefully learn from them, too,” said Burke.

The December Play Forever Friday featured the Utah Avalanche Center and the Carry On Foundation. For the avalanche center, their first time participating in Play Forever was an opportunity to reach new audiences through a setting that felt accessible and familiar.

Burke said the Utah Avalanche Center was a natural fit for December, particularly given how many young athletes are watching backcountry content and starting to think beyond resort boundaries.

“We have tons of kids coming through that door every day that are starting to think about, ‘Oh wow, I see all these really great segments, and they’re all in the back country.’ We’re catching them at the ground level,” said Burke. “We’re just able to intercept and start feeding them some good messaging on safety in the backcountry and getting educated.”

The Utah Avalanche Center hosted a Community Avalanche Rescue Practice, or CARP for short, a beacon clinic designed to reinforce real-world skills and reduce panic in emergency situations.

Woodward’s audience overlaps directly with the sidecountry and backcountry users they’re trying to reach. Development director Kate Waller said the partnership helps reinforce the reality that even short trips beyond resort boundaries require preparation. She emphasized that avalanche safety isn’t just about owning gear, but knowing how to use it — something that can only come from practice.

“It’s important to practice your skills because if something does happen, panic sets in, and you need to know how to use your gear — and that extends to every piece of it. You don’t just need a beacon, but also a shovel and a probe,” said Waller.

Inside Woodward’s skatepark, the Carry On Foundation hosted a skate session to help reach more kids with their mental health programming. Carry On uses action sports, skateboarding in particular, as a vehicle for teaching mental health skills. 

Programs are designed to put mental health first, with skateboarding serving as a structured environment where those skills can be practiced in real time. The nonprofit combines classroom-style instruction with skate practice, a “lecture and lab” approach. 

Participants learn specific mental skills like confidence building, breathing techniques and how to recognize internal thought patterns before applying those lessons directly in the skatepark.

“We’re actively training them on confidence and thought patterns and what happens when you’re in the red mindset, or the ‘I can’t’ mindset? What about when you’re in the green mindset, ‘I can do it,’, and you’re willing to move forward despite risk or fear or failure,” said Executive Director Cole Parkinson. 

Parkinson explained that the goal is to help kids recognize what they are feeling in moments of hesitation or fear and to develop strategies for moving forward at their own pace. Instructors act as mentors rather than traditional coaches, emphasizing progress over performance.

“You can imagine this 9-year-old girl wanting to drop in, but she’s hesitant and scared. As mentors, we ask what she’s feeling and talk through the yellow mindset and the tools that help her move forward, creating a dialogue that’s much deeper than the ‘send it, don’t be weak’ mentality that often shows up in action sports,” he said.

Parkinson said the collaboration with Woodward allows both organizations to support the same audiences while reinforcing shared values around belonging and resilience.

“We’re in kind of the same space, and it’s important for us to be able to join forces and support the world of action sports and the world of community,” said Parkinson.

During Play Forever Friday at Woodward Park City, Carry On brought that same philosophy into the skatepark, hosting a session designed to introduce kids to skating while making them aware of Carry On’s programs and facilities in Provo and South Jordan. Mentors were available to help first-time skaters get started and to support more experienced riders looking to progress.

Waller agreed that the structure of Play Forever Fridays, pairing two nonprofits together, creates a multiplier effect for outreach and education between both the Utah Avalanche Center and Carry On.

“Combining the two of us with Woodward’s network, it’s three pretty different groups of people,” said Waller. “We work together to promote our causes and also help Woodward tap into user groups that might not otherwise be part of their core audience.” 

Nonprofits featured during a given month benefit from ticket revenue throughout that month, not just on Friday night. Looking ahead, Play Forever Fridays continue monthly through the winter. January will feature Youth Sports Alliance and the WILS Foundation. February pairs Wasatch Adaptive Sports with Save A Brain, followed by March’s partnership between Live Like Sam and S.T.A.Y. 

The nonprofit pair that generates the highest total ticket revenue will be invited back for a final Play Forever Friday in April and a second month of fundraising through Woodward’s lift ticket sales. 

Burke said the discounted tickets are intended to reduce both cost and hesitation for people who may need an extra push to try Woodward. By connecting those nights with nonprofit organizations guests may already know and support, the familiarity can help draw people in and create opportunities for first-time visitors to engage with Woodward and its programming in a low-pressure setting.

“Play Forever is about community and keeping these opportunities for having these adventurous lifestyles alive, not only today, but into the future as well,” said Burke.

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Flora Dedeaux was born and raised in Gulfport, Mississippi. She graduated from Mississippi State University in 2022 with a communication degree, concentrating in broadcast and public relations and minoring in marketing.

Flora began working at WLOX in June 2022 as a Digital Content Producer. In October 2023, Flora was promoted to Digital Content Manager.

In addition to writing stories, creating social media content and managing the digital team, Flora enjoys working on multi-media projects and documentaries. In fact, Flora has won multiple awards for investigative and in-depth projects throughout her time at WLOX.

Flora loves editing, videography and photography, discovering new music genres, learning about media law, watching documentaries, writing, trying new restaurants, and traveling. She also sings, plays guitar, and writes/records her own music, which can be found on Spotify and Apple Music by searching for “On Our Own,” her first released single.

If you have a news tip or digital-related questions, you can contact Flora on Twitter @FloraDedeaux or email her at flora.dedeaux@wlox.com.

ONEIDA (WLUK) — Hundreds of students at Oneida Nation Elementary School have new books to read over the holiday break.

Book fair day is always a big day, but it was even more special this year after the Green Bay Packers donated over 2,400 books to the school and its students.

Packers players encourage literacy with reading events at Green Bay, Oneida schools (WLUK)

“Reading, to me, means that it’s very imaginary for me, and I like reading because it puts pictures in my mind and it makes a book come to life for me,” said sixth grader Eliia White.

On Monday, students in pre-K through eighth grade got to shop for books that peaked their interests.

According to Principal Tracy Christensen, “They got to choose what they wanted to read. So now, they have three books for the winter break that they can read and have that opportunity to continue their education, even over break.”

The Packers not only bought each student their three books, but the team also provided an additional 250 books to the school.

“The Big Cheese” was a popular choice, as it was one of two books read to students by Green Bay Packers players Lecitus Smith and Dalton Cooper.

Smith read “The Big Cheese” and Cooper tackled “Hope is a Rainbow.”

“Just to be able to come in and read to the young kids, I know they’ll never forget it. They’re going to cherish this moment forever. And I hope it inspires them to come in the library and school library and pick up books, if they don’t already,” said Smith.

Oneida Nation Elementary School held its annual book fair. The Green Bay Packers buying three books for every student in pre-K through 8th grade, as well as, donating another 250 books to the school. (WLUK)

Reading is fundamental. It doesn’t matter if you’re into something cheesy or hopeful — there’s always something to gain with a book in your hand.

Smith said, “To the kids, I mean, they have a future. I mean, what’s a world? What’s this country alone without books? So, just putting a book in the kids’ hands and into the future’s hands — I mean, come on.”

In addition to reading to kids at Oneida Nation Elementary School, Smith and Cooper also took their reading talents to Doty Elementary School in Green Bay.