In this week’s Inside Look, Just Play features Aaron Ingram, Manager of the USA Football Men’s National Teams (“USNFT”). Coach Ingram has most recently worked at the University of Nevada and Sacramento State with 20+ years of coaching experience.
This past summer, Just Play was utilized as the primary teaching tool at the USNFT Development Games. At the Development games players are evaluated to potentially represent USA in the International Bowl played in Arlington, Texas in February.
“We found Just Play just before the games and were given a quick timeline on implementing. I had a week to build the entire playbook before the first development game in Canton, Ohio – which was scary; usually playbooks take forever to build.”
“However – not the case with Just Play I was able to get the entire playbook built in a week, and was impressed with how functional and intuitive the system is. It was really easy to pick up and build quickly. These guys understand coaches needs, they get it.”
With camps across the country, Ingram had to organize over 1,200 players and 300 coaches accessing and utilizing Just Play, while also handling player evaluations.
“Just Play helped me to evaluate if guys were ready to play at the next level. Coaches would meet with their players and teach the offensive and defensive installs, and then also teach on the field. Just Play’s accountability analytics would let me know who was studying outside of meetings and practice which is huge. Guys have to be students of the game in order to excel at any level, but especially in the college game.”
Ingram also stressed the value of a digital system.
“The days of the 3-5 inch binder are gone, I’ve been moving from Nevada to Indianapolis and seeing my 5 shelves full of 5 inch playbooks made me laugh because I think everything will move to programs like Just Play.”
“Players aren’t going to be studying a binder while sitting at the dinner table, but they will all have their phones out. It makes sense, these guys can study on their own time and in their own way.”
Ingram believes the future is bright for the USNFT program and says Just Play will be a big part of its future.
“Just Play kept everyone more accountable, everyone from the players to the organization because it created uniformity. Every player is learning the same schemes so evaluation is pretty objective. The possibilities are endless with Just Play and USNFT because there are so many different ages with different abilities that Just Play will allow us to better teach them and prepare them for success on the field. I am definitely excited to see what the future holds. I absolutely love what the guys at Just Play are doing, it can be utilized at any level from youth to college. These guys are staying on the cutting edge and I look forward to see what they come up with next to help improve players.”
More Knowledge. Fewer Mistakes. More Wins.