Read This Before You Attempt To Live Stream Your Child’s Sporting Event

So you are out of town for business and you can’t make it to your child’s tournament. It is an unfortunate result of being a parent who also has a career. You wouldn’t miss a game for the world if you were there, but life happens.

So what are your choices if you are your child’s number one fan but you can’t be there in person to catch the game? There are actually a surprising number of ways you can get an in person experience from afar.

Here Are Your Streaming Options:

Pay To View The Live-streaming Provided By The Sporting Event
Have Your Child Or Another Parent Live Stream The Game Using Various Free Options
Buy A Live Streaming Service For Your Child’s Team To Take With Them To All Their Games

Some Tournaments And Schools Live Stream Their Games

This is an awesome relatively new technology that we are getting to use to expand the reach of our sports. For the fans who can’t make the game, this is for you. At many major volleyball tournaments and other sporting events you will see cameras already set up on the courts.

These cameras that are either portable in the form of actual video cameras and tablets on tripods or they can be permanent additions to gyms. These devices live stream the court footage which is available virtually anywhere in the world. The games are also accessible to watch later and are stored in a cloud for a certain period of time. This will depend on the service the tournament is using.

Live streaming can be an incredible resource in different ways for coaches, players and fans.

Coaches may use this to re-watch a game and take stats, where as a player can reflect on his or her performance, watching it again and noticing the great and not so wonderful things they did that game. Though many players and coaches record their own footage, watching a live stream can be great for someone who did not think to record the game.

As a fan not able to attend, you can log into whatever live streaming software the venue is using and view their footage as it happens live action. It is pretty simple to login, the tournament makes it very easy because they are making money.

And on that subject, expect to pay for this service when it comes from a tournament. Some large scale sporting events will charge between $30 and $100/day to watch your child play. This will vary from situation to situation.

How To Watch A Live Stream Promoted By A Sporting Event

Find out what tournament your child is at
Determine the streaming service that tournament is using. (This is typically available online).
Make an account
Find your child’s team
Pay to stream
Prepare for excessive cheering with HD footage

It really is that simple!

Have Your Child Or Another Parent Stream Their Own Using Free Resources

Live videos have been a trend on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook for sometime now.

Somewhere along the way parents figured out that they can stream their child’s game live to all their friends and family. This is an excellent idea! Private live streaming services can be really expensive.The social media platforms offer a lot of the main benefits of these private services, and they do it for free.

One thing to look out for is the ability to stream will involve using some form of internet connection!! Seriously folks do not mess this up. Your phone’s data may work great at a little league baseball game with 50 people in the area.

When you enter into a tournament like the Big South National Qualifier for women’s volleyball YOU WILL HAVE ZERO SERVICE. There are so many people packed into the convention centers and stadiums of large scale sporting events that your signal will be spotty. The venue will take full advantage and charge an arm and a leg for their WiFi use. I’ve seen tournament venues ask for up to $400 for a three day period.

You do not want your footage coming in and out due to poor connection. To avoid slow cell phone reception, make sure you have a tested WiFi hot spot that will not slow down due to increased use of the cell towers. It is also important to check how far the span of the wireless network is from the hot spot.

In addition to Facebook, YouTube is also live streaming the videos and there are several reasons this is the ideal choice for live streaming.

Why We Suggest Using YouTube Live

An interactive user platform which allows you to customize the page that viewers see adding comments and other features.
The ability to modify settings like video resolutions and bit rates.
YouTube offers stream keys allowing their users to utilize other tools to allow for a more professional video.
The platform allows you to monetize videos so you can sell access to your footage or advertise on them, or both.

How To Use YouTube Live Streaming

This video is an awesome resource for setting up a live video stream on YouTube. It tells you everything you need to know when setting up your first YouTube live stream. Check it out.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=76HtGVE7bL4%3Ffeature%3Doembed

Alternatives To Live Streaming

If you just can’t get the live streaming to work or you don’t want to hassle with a spotty internet connection you can simply have a parent or athlete record the footage for you.

It may not be quite as cool as getting to follow along with a live game, but there are ways that you and your athlete can have an awesome experience watching the game together. Set up a projector, pop some popcorn and settle in for a bonding and reflection opportunity with your son or daughter.

Live Streaming Services You Can Buy For Your Athlete Or Club

If you have the funds, another great option for an individual parent looking to live stream the game in your absence is to send your child or another parent on the team with equipment to broadcast. The cost of doing this is not as high as you might think.

What you need to live stream yourself:

A camera, tablet or smart phone with a quality resolution
A tripod
Live streaming platform
High speed internet (you may need a WiFi hot spot)
You will also want to invest in something to transport all this equipment in like a case

Make sure you look into what speed of internet you need and that you test whatever platform you decide to purchase before arriving at the venue, WITH whoever will be operating the equipment.

Don’t forget to bring all necessary adapters. Know what equipment you are using and make sure it converts to what you need to hook it up to. I recommend doing your research online, its freely available.

Options For Live Streaming Platforms

BoxCast
gamecam
MVPCast
PlaySight

Live Streaming Service That Athletic Directors, Club Directors and Tournament Directors Are Investing In And Why

hudl

This service covers all of the gym sports from wrestling to volleyball and is also available for field sports. Not only is this a live streaming tool. It is also an incredible way for player to get HD footage for recruiting videos and for coaches to review their practices and game footage.

This program seems to be very well thought out in terms of what the coaches, players and fans NEED. They have even included an interface for taking statistics after the game all within the program WHICH HAS AN ATTACHED CLIP OF THAT POINT. You can also outsource the stats through hudl.

Excuse me because the coach in me is fan girling over here, what that means is that each player can go back and review where they score as well as their errors. This is huge benefit for a coach teaching players on the positive habits and mistakes they are making in a form heavy sport like volleyball.

Hudl on average runs high school programs about $1600/ year. Club programs are less expensive. The program charges for the cloud space it reserves for your account so there are cheaper and more expensive options.