Your registration platform does its job, so let it
I'm not going to tell you which registration platform to use. Every one of my clients runs on something different, and I've built around all of them.
Registration is the back line of your operation. It takes payments, holds the roster and sends the receipt. When it works, nobody thinks about it, which is exactly what you want from a defense.
The problem is everything in front of it. A registration platform doesn't post on Instagram, doesn't make your website look like the program you actually run, and doesn't email last year's families in January asking if they're coming back.
We checked 40 programs, and most had the back line covered
On November 6 we checked 40 lacrosse trainers, lesson programs, goalie schools and camps across 12 markets (the full test). We looked at how families sign up and pay, what email address each site lists and what each site is built on.
27 of 40 had a real registration or booking system
Most programs had the back line handled. Families could sign up and pay online through a registration platform or a booking app, and it worked.
7 of those 27 still listed a personal Gmail address
Even with a registration platform in place, about 1 in 4 still put a personal email address on the site. That's the front line showing. The checkout looks professional, and then the first email a parent gets comes from someone's personal Gmail.
Half of those sites ran on a DIY site builder
14 of the 27 were built on Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy or Weebly, usually with the registration platform bolted on through a link. The site and the registration tool sat side by side, and neither one knew what the other was doing.
Registration costs about the same no matter what you pick
Most platforms charge a percentage plus a flat fee on every payment. The two published rates we found were 3.25% plus $1.50 and 3.25% plus $2.00 per payment, and some platforms only share their rate once you ask for a quote.
On a 150-player summer camp at $395 a head ($59,250), that's roughly $2,150 to $2,230 in processing if your program covers it. Many platforms let you pass that fee on to families instead, and one of them does it by default.
| Published rate | Fees on the camp |
|---|---|
| 3.25% + $1.50 per payment | $2,150.63 |
| 3.25% + $2.00 per payment | $2,225.63 |
| What the program keeps | $57,024 to $57,099 |
So pick the one that fits how you run things, and ask for the full rate in writing before you sign. Then stop worrying about the back line, because that's not where you're losing money.
The front line is where the money leaks
The front line is everything a family touches before and after they pay: your Instagram, your website, your emails and the list of every player, parent and coach you've ever worked with. That's how a family finds you, decides to trust you, signs up and comes back next season.
When it's disjointed, money leaks out in small, quiet ways:
- Last year's campers never get invited back.
- An Instagram DM sits unanswered for four days.
- A parent can't find your fall dates and signs up with the program down the road.
- Nobody emails the waitlist when a spot opens.
- The owner spends Sunday nights matching payments to names instead of planning practice.
None of that shows up on a fee statement. It just shows up as a season that felt busy and didn't grow.
Run your own numbers
Getting the front line organized costs money, whether that's your time, a hire or someone like us. So here's the honest question: what would it have to bring in to cover itself?
Put in your own prices below. The calculator shows how many new players or signups a month it takes to cover whatever you put into marketing, and how much of that your time back covers on its own.
What does your marketing have to bring in?
Targets, not promises. Count only new business, not your current regulars.
These are targets, not promises. Count only new business, not the regulars you already have, and the first couple of months are always slower while things get going.
It's all we do, and only for lacrosse
I run the front line for lacrosse programs on whatever registration platform they already use, and it's the only thing we do.
Buku Events kept LeagueApps for registration. We connected it to a new HubSpot website and CRM, moved 3,000 contacts over and gave the team 21 hours a week back (the Buku story). Team Tendy Lax kept RegFox and wired it into HubSpot, and grew from one facility to two (the Team Tendy story).
First Class Lacrosse grew event signups 117% (the First Class story). Platform Lacrosse grew facility attendance 71% (the Platform story). Mindset Performance Lacrosse doubled its enrollment in a year (the MPL story).
Different registration platforms, same front line, built around each program and run every week.
You can check your front line in five minutes
Pull up your own program the way a parent would and ask yourself:
- Can a parent find your next session's dates on your site in under a minute?
- Does every email they get come from your own domain?
- When someone signs up, do they land on a list you'll email next season?
- Did last year's families hear from you before this year's registration opened?
If two or more of those make you wince, that's worth a conversation.
How we ran the numbers
The site data comes from our November 6, 2026 test of 40 lacrosse training programs across 12 markets (how we ran it). The 27 "real registration or booking system" sites are the ones where a family could sign up and pay online, whatever the tool.
Processing rates come from the platforms' own published pricing and help pages, checked November 6, 2026. Some platforms only quote rates privately, and published rates change, so confirm yours before you budget.
The calculator follows the planning sheet we use with clients: it counts only new business, applies the margin you keep, and adds the value of hours you get back if you enter them. It's a planning tool, not a forecast.
Sources: SportsEngine HQ pricing · TeamSnap payments help article (Feb 2026) · LeagueApps pricing
Want to see where your front line is leaking? The $249 Competitor Analysis + Brand Audit lines your program up against three competitors, and the cost comes back as a credit if you start a retainer within 60 days.