We’re thrilled to announce that your Scottish-American Athletic Association website has received a complete overhaul with powerful new tools designed specifically for our Highland Games community. These aren’t just updates – they’re game-changers that will help you connect, train, compete, and grow as athletes.
We’ve started by releasing a new website and platform. Very soon we will enable more features for our athletes. Below you can find more information about those features. Members will get emails as these features are turned on.
Membership in one place
Members of the SAAA can now register for, renew, and view their current status as members of the SAAA. Members have a dashboard to view payment history and more.
Most of the features explained here in this post are for SAAA members, and therefore are behind your account login.
Board Elections
If an an election is currently on-going, within each members personal dashboard an alert will be present giving members the ability to anonymously vote on
Highland Games Practice Groups: Find Your Training Community
One of our most requested features is finally here! Practice Groups makes it easier than ever to connect with fellow athletes in your area.
What You Can Do:
- Create or join practice groups in your city or region
- Connect with local athletes who share your passion for the heavy events
- Coordinate training sessions through group announcements
- Discuss technique and strategy in threaded group discussions
- Share photos and social media links to build your local community
Whether you’re a seasoned pro looking for training partners or a newcomer searching for guidance, Practice Groups helps you find your people. No more training alone!
Get started: Visit your member dashboard and click “Practice Groups” to browse groups in your area or create your own.
Member Suggestions: Your Voice Matters
We’ve always believed that SAAA should be shaped by its members, and now we’re making that official with our new Suggestions System.
How It Works:
- Submit ideas for improving SAAA, competitions, or the website
- Vote on suggestions from other members (thumbs up or down)
- Comment and discuss to refine ideas together
- Watch your suggestions get approved by leadership with transparent feedback
The best ideas rise to the top through community voting, and our board reviews and responds to each suggestion.
Make your voice heard: Visit the Suggestions page to share your ideas or vote on proposals from fellow members.
Anonymous Board Voting: Democracy Made Easy
Our secure, anonymous voting system makes board elections simple, transparent, and completely confidential.
Key Features:
- Vote from anywhere on any device
- Complete anonymity protected by encryption
- Real-time results after voting closes
- One vote per member with built-in verification
- Active members only to ensure fair representation
Your vote matters, and now it’s easier than ever to participate in shaping SAAA’s future leadership.
Modern, Mobile-First Design
The site, and all of it’s features are accessible from any phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer you can get your hand on.
Behind the Scenes: Better Admin Tools
While you may not see it, we’ve also upgraded our administrative capabilities:
- Enhanced member management with detailed profiles
- Email statistics dashboard to measure engagement
- Practice group moderation tools
- Suggestion review workflow for faster responses
- Streamlined member support capabilities
This means faster responses to your questions, better communication, and more efficient operations overall.
We will continue to introduce and iterate on new features for the website that will continue to separate us from the rest of the heavy athletic organizations and provide our members with meaningful benefits.
Log in to your member dashboard today and check out these new features:
- Join or create a Practice Group in your area
- Submit a suggestion for improving SAAA
- Update your profile with your latest information
- Connect with fellow athletes in your region
These upgrades represent hundreds of hours of development, all aimed at making the SAAA the best possible community for Highland Games athletes in America. We’re proud to serve you, and we’re excited to see how you use these new tools to train harder, compete better, and build lasting friendships.
Thank you for being part of the SAAA family. Now get out there and throw heavy things!
– The SAAA Leadership Team
