2022 Wrapped UP: Upper Hand Year in Review

I don’t know about you, but we enjoyed (20)22.

We’ve always understood the benefits of participating in sports. But, after a steep decline in 2020, we are finally starting to see youth sports participation back on the rise. And as a result, improved physical, mental, and social health and well-being among young athletes.

You are a key piece of this puzzle.

You’re more than business owners and coaches. You’re motivators. Mentors. Leaders.

At Upper Hand, we’re excited to be a small piece of that puzzle.

Thank you for fueling our passion to help you achieve greatness in not only your business life, but in the lives of the athletes you serve.

This year, we prioritized the athlete experience. From implementing a new client-facing client profile page to launching new features that empower you to spend more time on the field/ court, 2022 quickly became an inspiring year for our team.

Upper Hand rang in the new year celebrating another win at the Powderkeg Tech Culture Awards, where we were celebrated for our tech company culture. In March, our CEO, Kevin MacCauley was recognized as a member of the 2022 Indianapolis Business Journal Forty Under 40 class. Throughout the year, we were also recognized by Capterra for our membership management solutions.

Celebrating Customer Success

Not only was 2022 an exciting year for our team; it was also a newsworthy year for our customers.

We started the year highlighting House of Hustle, who shared how Upper Hand has helped their team reallocate their resources to unlock new revenue streams: memberships. Later in the spring, we highlighted the success of Tom Emig, Owner of D-BAT Newark. As the winner of the 2021 “Fast Start Award” across all D-BAT locations, Tom shared how Upper Hand helped him rapidly scale up his memberships (and consequently, revenue). This fall, we showcased Ruggiero Hitting, who has found success with implementing group training. Many of our customers saw similar growth and results from expanding their offerings and reallocating their time and resources.

This year, D-BAT Academies was named to the Franchise 500 as a top growing franchise for the third year in a row. Additionally, X-Golf was named to the Franchise 500 list for a second consecutive year. Athletic Republic also had a lot to celebrate this year, with Caleb Williams, AR Capitol Region Athlete, winning the Heisman Trophy!

Upper Hand Product Innovations

We can’t wrap UP our year without taking a look back at all of the new updates that came to the app this year.

2022 was filled with new releases and updates. 266 to be exact. From new capabilities to improved functionality, we not only spent time improving your experience with the software, but also the experience of your athletes and clients.

While we launched a lot of new features this year, the Client Profile Page was truly a home run.

We first introduced you to the new Client Profile Pages just before the new year. But, throughout 2022, we made a number of enhancements to the feature, including

• The ability for staff and admins to easily edit a client’s email address from a client’s profile page.
• The ability for clients to sign their waiver in-house, via a client’s profile.
• Messaging a client from their Client Profile Page.
• The ability to access a client’s profile from the Session Summary Drawer.
• The ability to scan a Client QR Code to populate their client profile from any screen.

In addition to Client Profile Pages, we launched a number of other features that improved your client experience, for example, the ability to search for an event within the software.

Another exciting update to Upper Hand was the introduction of Repeat Booking.

This feature allows you to book recurring sessions, putting you and your staff back on the field and away from scheduling. For example, if an athlete wanted to schedule a private lesson for the same time every Monday and Wednesday for a month, you can now book all 8 of those sessions in just a few clicks.

Say hello to an all-new Classes layout.

This year, our team also prioritized feedback to improve our classes functionality. The new classes layout allows for easier class and session customization, as well as the ability to make adjustments that are as agile as your athletes.

In addition to these features, we also launched a number of other exciting updates throughout the year. Here are a few highlights:

• Scheduling and Registration Enhancements
  • In addition to Repeat Booking, we also released various other updates that enhance your scheduling and registration processes.
  • You are now able to enforce specific age ranges for your events, ensuring that only eligible clients are able to register, and that everyone is registered for the events that are the best fit for them.
  • Let your clients book credits in advance, or choose to prevent them from doing so, with our credit scheduling updates.
  • Set a registration deadline for your events – like camps and clinics – so that you’re able to close registration prior to the event start.
• Event Specific Payment Methods
  • Earlier this year, we released Product Type Specific Payment Methods, which allowed you to offer certain payment methods for different product types. With Event Specific Payment Methods, you are able to set acceptable payment methods for each event that you run. So, if you typically accept credit cards or check payments for your events, but want to run a Winter Camp where you only accept cards, you are now able to do that!
• Business Blackout Dates
  • We’ve also made it easier for you to set a blackout date for your business. This makes it even easier for you to update your business’s schedule on any dates they are closed, for example Christmas or New Years.
• Updated Reporting
  • We’ve made it easier for you and your staff to identify no-shows, so that you can take action. For example, if you notice that a particular event or class seems to experience a high no-show rate, you may choose to adjust your cancellation deadline or incorporate a no-show fee.
  • We also launched a new Cost of Goods Sold report, which allows you to track the revenue generated per sale.
• Improved Client Communication
  • In addition to the ability to message a client via their client profile, we also added the ability to message a client or roster for a specific session within the app.

For a full breakdown of the first half of the year, check out our mid-year Innovation Issue.

What’s UP in 2023?

As we continue to challenge the status quo, our mission remains the same: to make the management of youth sports effortless and contribute to a healthier, more active world. We look forward to sharing even more updates with you in the new year. From enhanced registration features to a new athlete progression tracking tool, we look forward to helping you utilize data to make better business decisions. Thank you to all of our customers and friends, and have a great start to 2023!