Over the past decade or so, the steady decline of officials and participants involved in youth sports has increased at a staggering rate. The problem has gotten so bad, that several areas and sports have had to limit the number of teams, games, and sporting events they are able to offer. In 2016, the Southern Oregon Sports Commission decided to take a stand against the problem. With the help of local commissioners, including Matt Sayers (Athletic Director of Southern Oregon University), the phrase Know Your Role™ was coined, and development began on a marketing and media campaign that not only draws attention to the problem of poor participant behavior around athletics, but that also aims to change that culture for the better.
Know Your Role™ is a marketing campaign created and developed by the Southern Oregon Sports Commission. The campaign addresses the epidemic of poor behavior toward sports officials and aims to correct said problem through a series of positive messages and continued reminders that participant safety, enjoyment, growth, and development are the most important aspects of sports.
After developing much of the Know Your Role™ campaign, SOSC felt it was only appropriate to launch the campaign first in our own back yard. School districts, parks and recreation facilities and several other local entities throughout the Rogue Valley and Southern Oregon began to implement the program. With the help of local news and media stations, SOSC was able to not only spread the message of KYR, but also see the message be openly and widely accepted but the communities in the region.
Since 2022, SOSC has shifted its attention and efforts to spreading the message of Know Your Role™ across the nation. In the first 6 months of pushing the message outside of the state of Oregon, SOSC has presented the campaign to several state and national governing bodies. These entities, including USA Softball, have shown great interest in partnering with SOSC to spread the message. Interest was so great, that SOSC has created a licensing package that allows organizations and entities, like USA Softball, to use Know Your Role™ to drastically improve the behavioral landscape around youth sports across the nation.
The Southern Oregon Sports Commission offers the campaign as part of a three-year licensing agreement, which comes with all of the electronic media files, templates, videos and all other digital assets an organization or group might need to spread this message to its members. In addition, the Know Your Role™ campaign comes with a step-by-step “Game Plan” instructing organizations how to best implement the campaign, how to take advantage of their local assets, leverage local partnerships, and even how often to post the provided content to their social media platforms.
As mentioned previously, SOSC has developed a wide assortment of various videos, templates and other media assets for those who license the program and join us in our efforts. These assets are protected by copyright infringement laws, and thus are not available to the general public to view. However, please view this video explaining a bit more about the Know Your Role™ Campaign.
SOSC has developed several tools to help get this message out in our community. We have supplied outdoor and indoor banners to every school, organization, and club along with posters and flyers. We also created a series of videos and PSAs that have aired on television, radio and social media platforms.
If you would like more information on how you can implement the Know Your Role message in your school, club or organization, contact Angela Wood with the Southern Oregon Sports Commission at 541-608-8517 or at angelaw@travelmedford.org.
