We take a look back at fantastic meetings, eye-opening seminars, and scintillating sport in the USA.

It’s been almost a week since we returned from the TEAMS '22 Conference and Expo in Oklahoma City, and really, we have only just recovered.

We managed to pack so much in to a hectic but incredibly enjoyable six days, meeting some brilliant people, and taking in some breath-taking sport.

Our trip started on Sunday 23rd October, but rather than heading straight for OKC, we stopped off on the way in the beautiful Austin, Texas, for the Formula One Grand Prix.

Donned in Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, and Alpine caps, we soaked up the incredible atmosphere, had a front-row seat to watch Valterri Bottas' Alfa Romeo go spinning into the gravel, and had the pleasure of seeing the inevitable Max Verstappen win his record-equalling 13th race of the season, with Red Bull securing the World Constructors' Championship.

There was no time to waste though, and straight after the chequered flag we hopped into the car and tackled the six-hour drive to OKC, passing through Waco and Forth Worth before crossing the state line into Oklahoma. It had just gone midnight by the time we arrived at our hotel.

On the Monday, we had the privilege of hosting a seminar alongside the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the US Center for SafeSport, with 20 Sport:80 clients.

The seminar provided an opportunity for the collective to discuss compliance-related challenges faced by NGBs, working together to identify best practices in safeguarding policy, and discussing how our technology can be best applied across the many sports we work with.

It was an extremely worthwhile experience from our point of view and gave us a series of takeaways which we have already started working on. These kinds of seminar are something we’re very keen to make a habit of.

We want to say a huge thank you goes to Keith Bryant, CEO at USA Judo, for working tirelessly to coordinate this opportunity.

The next day, Tuesday 25th, was the TEAMS '22 set up day, and it was a pleasure for us to be able to share our booth with our partners Joymo, CherryHub, and etrainu, who are also all founding members of the Sports Technology Alliance, which we officially announced last week.

After setting up, we took the opportunity to meet up with some of our clients who were in the OKC including USA Archery, USA Water Polo, USA Judo, and USA Track and Field, before heading to the Paycom Center in the evening to enjoy a bit of basketball, with the Oklahoma City Thunder taking on the LA Clippers.

It was here that we met an Oklahoma City Thunder super-fan, who introduced himself as “Wild Bill. Never worked, never will.”

An incredibly funny and friendly man who welcomed us to the city and stadium.

The expo officially got underway the next morning, and over the course of the following 48 hours, we had many opportunities to meet people from many sports, from Cornhole to Softball.

While we were there, we were also able to show off our new partnership with CherryHub, utilising their gamification and instant membership solution. Their Co-Founder and Executive Director, Craig Kinross, flew all the way from Brisbane, Australia, to join us for the expo. James Hill of USA Track and Field dominated on the Sport:80 Superbowl game powered by CherryHub, recording a high score that no one can believe he achieved without using cheat codes.

Before the week’s end we were even able to squeeze in a Top Golf session with the teams from USA Judo, USA Water Polo and USA Track & Field, and a visit to the famous Cattleman’s Steakhouse, in the historic Stockyard City, with Craig from CherryHub.

We made the long trip back home on the Friday, and although it was a long slog of a journey (six hours back to Austin, nine hours back to Heathrow, and three hours back to Sheffield), it was undoubtedly worth it, and a small price to pay for an incredibly memorable and productive week.

We already can’t wait for the next one!