When Phil Presland wrote to Web Watch and said: "Here is an interesting sports website" I had to laugh. The words "sports" and "website" can mean only one thing to me, and that is "boring". But I put personal prejudice aside in the name of research and logged on, writes Heidi Wyithe.

Luckily this is no regular sports site, in fact, Phil describes it thus: "www.teamselection.com is a site for people who actually play sport, rather than just read about it. It's not really a sports site as it's a tool."

Like a virtual, online team organiser, the site brings clubs together, all you have to do is input your players and fixture details.

The pages offer more than just syndicated news, which fans can get from many other sources.

There's a registration page for your club's vitals, news and a section about TeamSelect.

This brings you the latest information from site users, success stories and other developments.

It is continually developed and picks up feedback from the teams it helps.

At the e-mail address, feedback@teamselection.com, web surfers are invited to provide details of their events and anything they would like to see on their favourite site.

Former England star Trevor Brooking says of the site: "I'm impressed by the way TeamSelec-tion has updated and streamlined the whole communications process for clubs of all sizes, and at no cost to the players."

He has given his support to the site, praising all it has done for grass roots clubs and pub sides, believing communities have come together in villages and towns around the country because of the service.

Phil adds: "When you come to select your team for a fixture, it matches players against the positions and the teams they can play in."

It takes into account their availability and then presents the appropriate choices for each position, and it doesn't end there. Once a team is selected, TeamSelection e-mails the players, giving them the details of the match.

Assuming your players are dedicated enough to remember, each one then logs on to the site and confirms whether they can make it to the game, and that's how it works it's simple, and I'm converted. I'm also told this saves team captains hours of time spent phoning and chasing up their players.

Phil is definitely convinced and says: "There are other sports and club sites around, but they offer little more than a noticeboard. TeamSelection has notices as well, but it's the only site to offer a really useful tool to busy players and coaches."

December 12, 2001 16:30