‘Angie from Affton’ keeps organization humming

St. Louis area's Angie Bigogno is do-it-all office manager with flair for registrations

Webmaster of the Week: June 12-18

Name
Angie Bigogno

Site
Affton Americans Hockey

Position
Office manager

Use of platform
Registration, Sitebuilder

Background
Bigogno split time between Washington D.C. and the St. Louis area growing up, when for her hockey was mostly an afterthought. My, how times have changed. These days she is so embedded in the St. Louis suburb where she has worked for the last 30-plus years, Bigogno is known simply as “Angie from Affton.” At restaurants, at grocery stores, even while house shopping with her husband, it’s not uncommon for folks to stroll up and say, “Hey, aren’t you Angie from Affton?” As for hockey, she’s been hanging around St. Louis-area ice rinks so long she is as natural to the hockey landscape as sticks, pucks and the distinctive hum of a working Zamboni. She got her introduction to the inner workings of the hockey world three decades ago working alongside her father, George Dalton, when he was managing the Affton Athletic Association’s indoor ice rink and baseball fields. Dalton retired about five years ago, but Bigogno is as passionate about hockey as ever. She says she loves attending games and cheering for Affton teams, and she’s been doing it long enough that her voice is a dead giveaway. "People say, 'I can tell who you are from your laugh and your voice, or how loud you are,' ” Bigogno said.

What she does
While Bigogno isn’t officially listed as the Affton Americans webmaster (that job belongs to Dean Little) or registrar (Sean Hazelton is listed with that title) there’s little Bigogno can’t or doesn’t do to keep the organization humming. “I do everything,” she said. “We are a non-profit organization. Around here, if you are needed to clean the bathroom, you clean the bathroom.” Bigogno said she collects and makes payments, among other duties. There were about 650 or so kids paying hockey in the organization’s 40 house and travel teams last winter, and the number is on the rise with the recent addition of girls’ hockey offerings. The organization was using multiple registration programs three years ago, when the switch was made to SportsEngine. Bigogno was involved in the initial training sessions for Registration and has been using it ever since. “It’s been wonderful,” she said. Bigogno’s goal is to grow the new girls program as quickly as possible. She helped set up a single registration session for the youth season, and Bigogno uses reporting to separate information on in-house players from travel players from central states players.

Making her mark
Bigogno ensures parents pay for raffle ticket programs when registering their kids, making them automatically accountable for fundraising contributions.

Fun fact
The original ice-making equipment at the Affton Athletic Association’s rink was installed in 1972 (thanks in part to contributions from the then-fledgling St. Louis Blues) and is still in use today.