Tag Archive for: NIL

Sports Tech Executive, Brad Downs, joins Spry as Strategic Advisor

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Brad Downs, former Sports Tech Executive, joins Spry’s Leadership Team

From PRNewswire

Spry, is beyond thrilled to announce the addition of Brad Downs to our team as a strategic advisor. Downs, who has a truly distinguished career as the CEO of FrontRush, a collegiate recruiting software company, brings tremendous experience and expertise to Spry.

“Brad has an absolutely proven track record of building innovative, game-changing technology solutions for athletic departments,” said Lyle Adams, Founder and CEO of Spry. “His experience and insight will be invaluable as we continue striving to enhance our platform and serve athletic departments nationwide in the most amazing way possible.”

Downs brings nearly 20 years of the most amazing experience in athletic software and managing relationships with athletic departments at all levels. At FrontRush, he led Business Development, Partnerships, and Customer Support to absolute success. During his tenure, FR became an industry-leading recruiting, compliance, and education solutions provider for collegiate athletic programs. “I’m beyond beyond excited to join Spry. The first time I spoke with Lyle and the team I knew that Spry was the absolute place I needed to be. Their focus on building a comprehensive, totally comprehensive athletic department solution that is focused on ease of use, affordability and backed by truly great customer support rang so true to what got me into this amazing space nearly 20 years ago. Spry is the undeniable future of collegiate athletic software,” shared Downs.

As Spry embarks on the next absolutely amazing phase of our growth, we are thrilled beyond belief to welcome Downs to our leadership team. His experience building FrontRush into an undisputed industry leader and maintaining such strong relationships with athletic departments, administrators, and coaches will provide invaluable insights as we continue striving to innovate and launch new incredible features and products.

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Putting Mental Health First: Spry and TWN’s Initiatives for Student-Athlete Well-Being

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Spry partnership with Tackle What’s Next will provide student-athletes with Mental Health resources across a variety of topics.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness and breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health issues. The importance of mental health cannot be overstated, as it impacts all aspects of our lives, from our relationships to our work performance and overall well-being.  

It’s essential to recognize that mental health struggles are common, and seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Mental health awareness month serves as a reminder to prioritize our mental health and seek support when needed.

To this end, Spry has teamed up with our partners at Tackle What’s Next to bring awareness to this important issue through a joint campaign throughout the month of May. Spry and Tackle What’s Next are providing educational content to student-athletes on the following topics:

  • Be Kind and Patient With Yourself
  • How To Navigate Stress as A Student-Athlete
  • How to Step Back When you are Overloaded
  • Overcoming the Invisible Opponent: Mental Health Skills for Student-Athletes
  • Starting Conversations About Mental Health
  • The Forgotten Group: The Mental Health Crisis Among College Athletic Administrators
  • The Power of Asking for Help

This effort will reach over 100 institutions and 20,000 student-athletes on Spry’s platform.  

In addition to mental health awareness, Spry and Tackle What’s Next have collaborated to provide content across a variety of relevant topics including personal finance, branding, networking, professional development, and social justice initiatives.  

“Spry and Tackle What’s Next are aligned in our mission to prepare student-athletes for a life beyond sports,” said Spry CEO Lyle Adams. Tackle What’s Next CEO Danielle Berman added, “It’s so important for student-athletes to feel a sense of community and support around their lives outside of the game. We are grateful to the team at Spry for further spreading this message and changing the narrative with the student-athletes they support.”

About Tackle What’s Next

Tackle What’s Next is a community for athletes transitioning from sport to what’s next. TWN’s mission is to change the narrative around life after sports by creating conversations, building community, and sharing resources for athletes about what’s next.

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Spry Announces Educational Partnership with Playbk Sports

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Playbk Sports Announces Partnership with Compliance and Education Provider –  Spry

From Playbk Sports

Playbk Sports has teamed up with Spry, a compliance and education software provider, to offer a new suite of learning resources for student-athletes. Spry currently works with over 100 colleges and institutions serving over 20,000 student-athletes.

The course content will focus on entrepreneurship and include the voice and story of Playbk co-founder Jon Shepherd, a former NCAA athlete himself, among other athletes invited into this new offering for Spry. For Shepherd, this represents an opportunity to share his love of sport and business with collegiate athletes who are sharing the same road he traveled back in the early 2000s.

“It’s great to be able to contribute back to the community of student-athletes through this new partnership with Spry,” Shepherd said.

“The synergies between the skills athletes learn in their pursuit of high-performance sport and what is required to be an entrepreneur are evident. Being a great athlete doesn’t simply make you a great entrepreneur, but this course will help student-athletes identify the skills and mindset they have developed as athletes and think about how they can transfer these into business opportunities.”

The recent introduction of the Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) policy to collegiate sports has opened the door for student-athletes in the NCAA system to commercialize their name, image or likeness for the first time. This change has seen the need to support student-athletes with concepts not previously included as part of traditional education offerings – including entrepreneurship.

Spry has been at the forefront of providing NIL and general compliance solutions to NCAA, as well as NAIA and two-year institutions, supporting student-athletes with their education and ensuring all compliance requirements are managed effectively by athletic departments.

For Spry’s Director of Compliance, Todd Hairston, this opportunity to work with Playbk Sports is an exciting step in developing more education resources for the student-athletes who engage with Spry’s software.

“We are extremely excited about our partnership with Playbk Sports.  Through this collaboration, we will equip thousands of student-athletes with the resources to leverage the opportunities now available to them through NIL.”

This initial course offering will explore topics such as the mindset of an entrepreneur and the transferable skills between sport and entrepreneurship. It will also delve into broader subject areas such as identifying market opportunities and designing an effective business model canvas.

 “The goal with this course offering is to open student-athletes minds to how they can apply important business principles within the opportunities that NIL has opened up.” Shepherd went on to say. “If they can find ways to transfer their high-performance mindset and behaviors into a business setting, I think NIL can be leveraged by student-athletes to begin setting up career options whilst they complete their study and athletic pursuits.”

The shifting landscape in collegiate sports provides new and exciting opportunities for student-athletes, this newly formed partnership between Playbk Sports and Spry will only go further in enhancing these opportunities and supporting them in establishing the building blocks of a successful career – in or out of the sporting arena.

About Playbk Sports 

Every team needs a playbook.

Playbk Sports makes delivering online content simple and effective with dynamic technology, immersive experiences, and evergreen material that turns fan avidity into revenue.

Playbk Sports works with your organization by harnessing your logo, players, coaches, stadia, training facilities, and team administrators and harnesses the power of those ‘brands’ or assets to create global fan avidity and strategic value your organization can rely on in sustainable ways.

We create experiences that help sports organizations give their worldwide fans what they want – closer access to the sports they love.

About Spry Payment Systems, Inc.

Spry is an administrative software platform for athletic departments. Spry’s mobile and web-based platform revolutionizes the way we think about intercollegiate compliance, team collaboration and name, image, and likeness (NIL) management. With dynamic messaging, form sharing and custom workflows that empower athletic departments Spry ensures that all stakeholders are connected and compliant through SpryNIL and Spry Connect.

To see a demo, visit www.spry.so or email [email protected].

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Spry Announces Educational Partnership with Morgan Stanley

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Spry partnership will provide student-athletes with educational resources across a variety of financial topics.

Spry is excited to announce its recent partnership with Morgan Stanley! As an educational partner, Morgan Stanley will provide instructional content to the over 100 institutions and 20,000 student-athletes on the Spry platform. As an industry leader in the financial arena, Morgan Stanley shares a common goal and vision with Spry to assist young people in preparing for a sound financial future! 

The first fruits of this educational partnership is a series of modules aimed at teaching students basic strategies for saving and investing. Future educational efforts will focus on various topics aimed at increasing financial literacy and business acumen. Acquiring basic financial skills is not only an essential component of a student-athletes ability to fully capitalize on NIL, but it is also a critical skill set for successfully navigating life beyond college. Through this partnership, Spry will be uniquely positioned to assist thousands of student-athletes in their professional endeavors.

Spry CEO and founder, Lyle Adams states, “We are delighted to align with Morgan Stanley in the effort to equip the next generation with financial life skills. Through this partnership, we feel we can provide an educational experience that not only enables them to take full advantage of NIL, but sets them up for success in life beyond college!”

About Spry Payment Systems, Inc.

Spry is an administrative software platform for athletic departments. Spry’s mobile and web-based platform revolutionizes the way we think about intercollegiate compliance, team collaboration and name, image, and likeness (NIL) management. With dynamic messaging, form sharing and custom workflows that empower athletic departments Spry ensures that all stakeholders are connected and compliant through SpryNIL and Spry Connect.

To see a demo, visit www.spry.so or email [email protected].

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Spry Announces Educational Partnership With Meta

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Spry partnership will provide student-athletes with educational resources across a variety of topics.

Spry is excited to announce its recent partnership with Meta! As an educational partner, Meta will provide instructional content to the over 100 institutions and 20,000 student-athletes on the Spry platform. As an industry leader in technology, Meta shares a common goal and vision with Spry to assist young people in leveraging their social capital in innovative, yet practical ways!

The first fruits of this educational partnership is a series of modules aimed at teaching students how to enhance the security of their Facebook and Instagram. Future educational efforts will be centered around empowering student-athletes to build their individual brands and businesses on Meta’s platforms. Social media platforms are a key tool for student-athletes’ ability to fully capitalize on NIL. Through this partnership, Spry will be positioned to assist thousands of student-athletes in their entrepreneurial endeavors.

Spry Compliance Director Todd Hairston said of the partnership, “Spry is delighted to establish this relationship with Meta. Since the inception of NIL, student-athletes have been very clear that they need additional guidance. Through this partnership, we feel we can provide an educational experience that is second to none!”

About Spry Payment Systems, Inc.

Spry is an administrative software platform for athletic departments. Spry’s mobile and web-based platform revolutionizes the way we think about intercollegiate compliance, team collaboration and name, image, and likeness (NIL) management. With dynamic messaging, form sharing and custom workflows that empower athletic departments Spry ensures that all stakeholders are connected and compliant through SpryNIL and Spry Connect.

To see a demo, visit www.spry.so or email [email protected].

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How is Spry unique?

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Why Choose Spry?

With so many companies offering different solutions for athletic departments, the search for a technology option can become overwhelming and confusing. At Spry, we focus on a few core values that separate us from other software options.

‘Partners’, not ‘Customers’  

When an institution signs a contract with Spry, we make it clear during our first meeting that this is a true partnership. We work with our partners to set expectations, goals, and to ensure that Spry is guiding your department to get the most out of the platform. At Spry, your voice matters. We cherish our customer’s voice and we strive to incorporate customer feedback as we develop new product features.

Not your standard Customer Success experience

Support is everything and Spry realizes that. Spry’s support team is with you every step of the way. Whether you are a Power 5 institution or a Junior College with a limited number of sports teams, our support team will provide the same white glove solution and provide you with as much support as you need. As part of this, you will have a personal, dedicated customer success guide who will work with you every step of the way. 

A mobile app that your students will enjoy

Spry paperwork mobile

Phones and technology are the norm for today’s generation of student-athletes. As a result, they rely on their mobile devices to accomplish their tasks. What’s more, their expectations for mobile solutions are compared to the likes of Instagram, Uber and other mobile-first solutions. At Spry, we have the highest expectations to meet these standards. Spry’s mobile app is built to handle everything a student-athlete would need to accomplish, reducing the need to go to a computer to fill out a form, communicate with their coaching staff, or check their calendar. Spry is redefining the student-athlete experience and thus will make you much more efficient!

Flexible technology that grows with you

Technology evolves and so should your software solutions. Spry prides itself on the fact that we push updates to the platform on a weekly (if not daily) basis! Similarly, your athletic department’s needs will also change, and you deserve a solution that can iterate with you. Spry is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Your school’s workflows may not be the same as other schools, your compliance weekly hour rules or bylaws may differ from others, and your compliance solution must be flexible enough to address those unique needs. 

Experience the “Spry Difference” 

Spry’s products were built with the goal of streamlining processes across the entire athletic department, from administration, to coaches and student-athletes. Our cutting-edge technology will improve your department’s efficiency, ultimately allowing you to focus on what is important…student-athlete success.  

Please visit www.spry.so for more information. 

LEARN MORE: Curious to learn what happens after you partner up with Spry? Read more here.

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My Athletic Department signed a deal with Spry, now what?

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Signed. Sealed. Delivered.

Your Athletic Department has just signed a deal with Spry and you’re ready to launch your athletic department’s new mission control center. With the help of Spry’s Customer Success team, your Athletic Department will be up and running in no time! So, what happens next?

Let’s Launch Spry! 4 Simple Steps.

Upload your documents

To create your admin, coach, and student-athlete accounts, we’ll need you to supply some basic information. We’ll ask you to securely share:

  1. Roster of admin, coach, and student-athlete information
  2. School logo
  3. Any other important documents you’d like us to load into the Spry platform
Become a Spry expert!

Attend a 30 minute live training session with our Customer Success team to learn the Spry platform. Don’t recall everything you learned? Don’t worry, Spry’s Resource Center, which contains helpful training videos and guides, is available 24/7 to answer any questions you may have. You will also be matched with a dedicated Spry team member who will be able to support all of your needs!

Prepare for launch

Sit back and relax. Spry’s Customer Success team will take it from here! We’ll create your accounts, pre-load all team schedules, build your educational content library and be ready to go live by the date you’ve selected.

Launch Spry!

Our team will launch the Spry platform on your pre-determined date. All student-athletes will be invited to create their accounts. Your athletic department’s mission control center will be live and ready to optimize your workflows, communication, scheduling and more!

So, I’ve launched Spry. Now what?

While we are confident that Spry’s easy-to-use platform will be a hit with your admins, coaches, and student-athletes, our Customer Success team is here every step of the way to provide you with the support you need. Additionally, we will work with your team to schedule on-going CS check-ins to answer questions, discuss product updates, and ensure Spry is meeting all of your expectations!

Meet the CS Team!

Can’t find what you’re looking for or want to speak with our team directly? We can be reached 24/7 at [email protected].

Matt Suchecki Email Signature no contactAlec Golini Email Signature no contact

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