Last month, VNN announced its newest partnership with DragonFly Athletics, provider of comprehensive sports management software for athlete registration, officiating, scheduling and payments.
DragonFly is a digital one-stop shop for everyone connected to high school sports. Its platform handles every aspect of the game from pre-season registration to post-game payments.
“We try to take all of the business of high school sports and give you one simple place to manage it,” said Rachael Merritt, Customer Engagement Manager at DragonFly. “We have tools for everyone connected to the game, whether you’re an admin, parent, athlete, athletic trainer, coach or official.”
Jessica Markham, Director of Partner Integration at VNN, said the company’s integration with DragonFly provides a streamlined process for athletic directors to administer forms, schedules and more from their VNN sites.
“Connecting the two platforms eliminates the need for double entry of schedules and rosters and makes that content readily available for the whole community,” Markham said.
The beginning
CEO Kirk Miller founded DragonFly in 2005. He was working as a Tech Director at the University of Alabama when he noticed how difficult it was for colleges to share game footage. A staff member had to make copies for everyone, then either drive and drop off the footage or mail it.
“Kirk saw this huge need for technology because the college was wasting so much money on travel, postage and other resources just to exchange game film,” Merritt said.
The company’s first product, DragonFly Storm, allowed colleges to securely share game footage. From there, DragonFly increased its products from solely video to paperwork, athletic training, credentialing and more. The company also expanded from working primarily with Division 1 football teams to high schools across the United States.
“About five years ago, we decided to focus more on high schools,” Merritt said. “We started by developing a software for athletic trainers to assign paperwork. From there, trainers asked how to collect physicals and other paperwork through this tool. They wanted one place to do it all digitally. As we listened more and more to customers, people asked for more tools and add-ons until we evolved to a single, comprehensive platform.”
The progression
More than 55,000 athletic directors and coaches nationwide currently use DragonFly, as well as several state-level organizations including Alabama (AHSAA), Arkansas (AAA), Delaware (DIAA), Georgia (GHSA), Mississippi (MHSAA), Maryland (MAA), Montana (MHSA), and Wyoming (WHSAA).
Through partnership with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), DragonFly also developed the NFHS Center for Officials Services to serve more than 20,000 contest officials and associations across nine states.
“We feel that we’re stronger with partnerships and connecting with leaders in high school sports can help us make more informed decisions,” Merritt said.
The future
As the company moves forward, they plan to continue listening to their customers to build out products that solve problems. As technology advances so will DragonFly, Merritt said. The company hopes to eventually partner with schools in every state.
“We want to make everyone’s lives easier when it comes to high school sports,” Merritt said.
Interested in learning more about connecting DragonFly to your VNN site? Reach out to your local sales rep or contact support@vnnsports.net to set up your sync today.
