01Business context
Volunteer-run flag football leagues track the score, the clock, downs and league-specific rules on a whiteboard or from memory. Parents on the sideline usually cannot see either.
02Problem or opportunity
Everyone on the field kept asking the same two questions: what down is it, and how much time is left? The cheapest scoreboard found cost about $300, more than a new league can absorb. Everyone already had a phone.
03My responsibility
Everything: product definition, UX, the React + TypeScript app, Firebase back end, Android build, billing, the marketing site, SEO, content and support.
04Strategy
- 1
Start with the ref, not the league
A referee who trusts the app on game night is the wedge. League tools, fans and payments come after the scoreboard works one-handed with eyes up.
- 2
Make the fan free and instant
Spectators were the biggest group on the sideline with no product at all. A six-character watch code opens a live scoreboard in any browser, with no app or account.
- 3
One codebase, two platforms
React + TypeScript wrapped in Capacitor ships the same product to Android and the web, so a solo developer can keep both current.
- 4
A free tier that runs a real game
One live game with one referee is free; Plus and League plans pay for bigger seasons.
05Implementation
- Firestore for durable league and season records, Realtime Database for game state that has to move at the speed of a whistle, Cloud Functions for anything the client must not be trusted to do.
- Volume-button and Bluetooth-remote control in the Android app, plus a swipe pad: four directions for four calls, with haptics.
- Season Wizard scheduling, standings, tournaments, public league websites, registration with Stripe payments to the league's own account.
- A rulebook assistant that answers only from the league's uploaded rulebook, quotes the rule it used, and says so when the rulebook does not cover the question.
06Measurable results
- Shipped
- Live on Google Play and the web, used on real league nights at Bluewater Flag Football in Sarnia, Ontario.
- Platform
- Referee scoreboard, live spectating, league management, registration and payments, and AI rule lookup in one product.
- Cost
- A scoreboard now costs a phone somebody already owns.
07Lessons learned
- Live data is a UX problem before it is an infrastructure problem. If the score flickers, the ref reaches for paper.
- Never trust what the client can write. Entitlements and anything that costs money belong on the server.
- Deploy targets are part of the architecture. The rules you read locally are not always the rules that are live.
- Four kinds of user want four products. Each home screen should answer one question: what do I do right now?
→Systems behind this
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