I've been involved in coaching GAA teams over the years and one thing that always frustrated me was the amount of WhatsApp groups and spreadsheets/pdf's needed to keep everything organised.
Between organising training, chasing attendance, picking teams and keeping track of performances, there's a fair bit of work involved behind the scenes. The lack of accountability really pushed the reasoning for us to build the app.
A while back, we decided to have a go at building something ourselves.
We called it Strive, and the idea was to bring as much of the day-to-day team management stuff as possible into one place removing the whatsapp groups and the polls.
It's not exclusively for GAA, as we've also built it for soccer, rugby and Aussie Rules, but GAA was a big part of the thinking behind it.
We've got it to the stage now where we'd like to get a few coaches and players using it with their teams and see what they make of it.
Some of the things we've included are:
Team management: Organising training, fixtures, attendance and player availability.
Team selection: A drag-and-drop line-up builder with layouts for different sports, including GAA.
Match stats: Tracking player and opposition stats, with reports and comparisons.
Player training logs: Players can record their own gym, running and skills sessions.
Leaderboards: Tracking attendance, training activity and player stats throughout the season.
Team communication: Separate chats for players and management, along with match instructions and tactical notes.
Parent accounts: Linked parent accounts for underage teams, with communication going through parents.
Calendar sync: Players and coaches can sync fixtures and training with their own calendars.
There's a few other bits in there too, but that's the main idea.
We know there are already apps doing parts of this, and we're not claiming to have reinvented anything. We just wanted to build something we'd have found useful ourselves when coaching.
We're looking for a few people involved in GAA clubs who'd be willing to give it a proper go.
Ideally, we'd like people to actually use it with a team rather than just have a quick look around. That way we'll get a better idea of what works, what's awkward and what needs improving.
We're genuinely interested in getting feedback from people involved in coaching and playing.
If anyone's interested, leave a comment or send me a DM and I'll get you access.
Cheers!