An editable certificate template is a fun and easy way to recognize the players on youth sports teams.
We caught up with Greg Johnson and Mike O’Halloran (Mike is also the editor of Sports Feel Good Stories) to discuss their new editable certificate templates for sports called The Coaches Series. The Coaches Series includes offerings for baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, and volleyball.
Each product features six award certificate templates in green, red, dark blue, light blue, orange, and purple. The user can customize the players’ names, team names, dates, coaches, and certificate titles. Some 60 titles are provided as examples, but you can also come up with one of your own.
Interview with The Coaches Series Sports Certificates Creators
SFGS: How did you come up with this line of certificates?
Greg: Well, we’re committed to offering both individual sports certificates for golf, running, tennis, and the like, but our best-selling printable certificates are popular team sports like basketball, soccer, and baseball.
Mike: We heard back from our customers that they wanted more color choices so they could match a team’s color to the certificate color. Plus, many coaches wanted to be able to create their own award names. The Coaches Series accomplishes that. With each editable certificate template, you can create an award certificate in the color of your choice and with the title of your choice. Greg, who created the certificate design, really made the templates easy to use.
SFGS: Greg, how easy are these to create?
Greg: It’s really a pretty simple process. Customers receive a link to a pdf that is dragged to their laptop or desktop computer. The pdf is read by Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is typically installed on most computers, but if not, it is free of charge (Get Adobe Acrobat Reader).
For each text area, the user types in the desired text. It’s a what-you-see-is-what-you-get interaction. When you’re satisfied with the way it looks, print it out, and it’s ready.
SFGS: How long does it take to create certificates for a team?
Greg: If you figure basketball teams have 12 players, a couple of coaches, and maybe a team parent, you might be looking at printing out 15 certificates in all. Each certificate might take a couple of minutes, so you’re probably looking at about 30 minutes to complete the task. If someone orders the certificates in the afternoon, they could be ready for an evening award ceremony that night.
SFGS: Who is the typical purchaser of your sports certificates?
Mike: Purchasers of our certificates typically fall into three groups: coaches, team parents, and administrative folks for sports organizations/athletic directors. The biggest group is coaches, and that’s how we arrived at The Coaches Series for a name.
SFGS: How do most coaches use the certificates?
Mike: Many coaches will wait to use the certificate maker until the end of the season. Maybe the coach or team parent organizes a pizza party to recognize the players. In addition to the certificates, the coach might think of a few words of praise for each player. Each player is called up separately. The coach calls out the player’s contributions to the team, and the certificate is awarded. In addition to the kinds of words from the coach, the player might receive some applause from teammates and parents and the certificate to help remember the moment.
Greg: We’ve heard from some coaches who like to award the certificates throughout the season. Maybe a “Practice MVP” is awarded to one player at the end of each practice, or maybe the whole team is recognized with awards after a good tournament.
SFGS: What other sports do you cover with your certificates?
Greg: In The Coaches Series, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Softball, and Volleyball are featured products. In all, we cover about 30 different sports and activities.
SFGS: What is your favorite thing about these editable certificate templates?
Greg: When you factor in the multiple colors, the opportunity to create any title of your choice, and the ability to use these for multiple teams year after year, these templates are of great value.
Mike: Confidence is king in all sports – especially at a young age. When kids are called out and specifically recognized by their coach, their eyes light up, and you know it’s going to create memories that stay with them for a long time. These certificates make it easy for coaches to give kids that experience. And, kids will likely keep the certificate posted at home for a long time to remember what a fun season they experienced.
Extra Points
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