Webinar: Designing the Complete Youth Sports Experience

Football, team and trophy with children in celebration together as a girl winner group for a sports competition. Soccer, teamwork and award with sport player kids celebrating success outdoor

Great tournaments aren’t just organized. They’re intentionally designed. In today’s competitive landscape, the events that stand out go beyond schedules and scoreboards to deliver a seamless, memorable experience for athletes, coaches and families.

This webinar explored how to build a complete “experience stack,” from pre-arrival planning and on-site flow to the moments that matter most once games end. Because increasingly, what happens between and after competition is what defines your event.

We’ll also show how to turn downtime into a strategic advantage. Instead of leaving free time to chance, learn how to create easy, engaging off-field experiences that keep families entertained, extend stays and drive repeat participation.

Sign Up to Watch On Demand Here

Join us for practical ideas to elevate your events, deliver more value to attendees and stand out in a crowded youth sports market.

How to turn your tournament into a must-attend experience—not just another event
A practical framework for designing end-to-end youth sports experiences
Ways to keep families engaged (and spending) beyond game time
Strategies to increase length of stay and repeat participation
What today’s sports families expect—and how to deliver it

Participants:

Annie Goff
Director of Sports Sales
Hilton Worldwide Sales

Annie Goff brings more than 20 years of hospitality expertise and a distinguished record of elevating partnerships across the sports industry. Since 2005, she has been a key member of the Hilton Worldwide Sales team, representing Hilton’s global portfolio of 9,000+ hotels and serving as a trusted advisor to teams, event organizers, and sports organizations. Throughout her career, she has been recognized for her ability to build strong, enduring relationships and for her market insight, strategic sales, and customer‑centric service. She is also an incoming member of the Sports ETA Board of Directors.

Madeline Rascon
Director of Events
USA Field Hockey

Madeline (Hoeppner) Rascon serves as the director of events for USA Field Hockey, where she oversees the planning, execution, and growth of national events and championships across the country. With a strong passion for athlete experience and the continued development of the sport, Madeline works closely with clubs, host venues, vendors, and organizational partners to deliver high-quality competitive opportunities for athletes of all ages. Throughout her career, she has played a key role in expanding event participation, strengthening operational standards and enhancing the overall event experience for athletes, coaches, officials and families. Known for her collaborative leadership style and commitment to excellence, Madeline has helped guide the successful execution of regional and national championships, showcases and developmental programming that continue to elevate the visibility and growth of field hockey in the United States.

Caitlin Schmelz
Vice President of Lacrosse
Elite Tournaments

Caitlin Schmelz is the vice president of lacrosse at Elite Tournaments, where she leads strategy, operations and partnerships across a national lacrosse event portfolio. She works closely with clients, clubs, facility partners, CVBs, sports commissions and industry stakeholders to deliver high-quality events at premier venues across the country. In an increasingly competitive youth sports landscape, Schmelz is focused on building organized, scalable, and sustainable events that keep the athlete, coach and family experience at the center.

Moderator:

Ted Keith
Managing Editor
SportsTravel

Ted Keith is the managing editor of SportsTravel, which he joined in January 2026. Keith previously spent 15 years at Sports Illustrated as a reporter, writer, associate editor and senior editor across the SI franchise, including as a staff writer for SI.com and a senior editor at the iconic weekly magazine. He then spent more than seven years as an assistant managing editor at Sports Business Journal where he oversaw all editorial coverage related to pro football, baseball, hockey, soccer, the Olympics and more. He has twice been nominated for Best American Sports Writing and has appeared frequently on television, radio, podcasts and documentaries. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lives in Chapel Hill with his family.

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