Oelker an expert in his field

Sport Ngin's Andy Oelker, a longtime football coach, is master of team management

When Andy Oelker gets to talking about topics such as online registration and managing youth sports teams and how coaches can best communicate with players and parents – which amounts to dozens of conversations most every day – he speaks with an unmistakable air of authority. 

Like Bobby Flay demonstrating how to barbecue ribs or Les Stroud explaining survival techniques in the woods, Oelker has reached an expert level – minus the worldwide celebrity status – when it comes to meshing technology with amateur sports organizations.

“I help where I can,” says the Mounds View (Minn.) High School and University of Minnesota graduate. 

Oelker’s fingerprints can be found on several of Twin Cities-based websites. The Sport Ngin senior sales representative, who spent years volunteering in the Irondale Youth Football Association, now is heavily involved in the online operations of White Bear Lake high school football and, just recently, White Bear youth football.

The 31-year-old Oelker, a former high school linebacker, has been coaching football for 10 years. These days he’s an assistant at White Bear Lake High School, working under head coach and good friend Ryan Bartlett.

Oelker’s impact goes far beyond on-field instruction. His fluency with the Sport Ngin platform makes him a natural to teach coaches and managers how to best use the technology.

QUICKIE BIO

NAME
Andy Oelker

AGE
31

RESIDES IN
White Bear Lake, Minn.

FAMILY
Wife, Katie.

JOB
Sport Ngin senior sales representative.

AREA OF EXPERTISE
Team management. As a longtime football coach and youth football volunteer, Oelker has spent years helping connect coaches with parents and players using the Sport Ngin platform. 

“Just making sure the coaches have all the tools that they need to properly set up for all the players, so really from registration to rostering,” said Oelker, who has been using Sport Ngin products for seven years, the last two as an employee of the company. “I just took it on my end to help out the coaches so that they can communicate with the parents directly.”

Oelker said he often helps parents manage their Sport Ngin accounts, ensuring they are set up properly to receive communications. 

“Especially now, with the new team management tool, being able to text and email is going to be very important,” Oelker said. “As well as having that RSVP system. That is going to make life very easy on coaches.” 

Oelker’s experiences aren’t limited to football. His wife, Katie, is vice president of the North East United Soccer Club. She also serves as head coach of the North St. Paul High School girls’ soccer team. Andy has helped manage and maintain sections of the North East United site, and he helps keep the North St. Paul girls’ information updated on the Minnesota Soccer Hub, part of the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s network of high school sites. Oelker also keeps the White Bear Lake information up to date on the Minnesota Football Hub.

Back to those daily conversations, “I tell people all the time, 'I’ve used the system for years,' ” Oelker said. “I wouldn’t have come here if wasn’t a product that I knew would help. That’s kind of the core to everything, understanding that it is a solution.

LEARN MORE
To find out how your organization can take advantage of Sport Ngin's team management tools, schedule a chat with a Sport Ngin expert: sportngin.com/get-started