Sideline SideKick Tracker
What a fan sees
A coach sent you an invite code. That makes you a Fan: the live score, every play in plain English and your kid’s stat line as he plays. You don’t get the playbook, on purpose.
Joining a team is free for parents, fans and coaches. No trial, nothing to buy. Only the coach who creates the team pays. Everyone he lets in joins free.
What you get during a game
Field Pass
A football field on the game page. Each play moves the ball to its new spot with the down and distance, and a touchdown, field goal or turnover gets its own banner. While the other team has the ball, the field waits for the next kick, turnover or score. Sounds are off until you turn them on.
Follow your own player
Mark your kid and the field shows his name when he makes a play. Press and hold a play, or tap the button next to him in the Game roster. Your picks are saved only on your phone.
The score, live
The score, quarter and current drive, on your phone as the staff logs it on theirs. If you’re stuck at work, this is the game.
Every play, in English
The whole play-by-play in plain sentences, like Trey Halloran ran for 8 yards. You don’t need to know what a formation is.
Player stats, as they happen
Carries, yards, catches and touchdowns for each player, updating through the game. It’s what most parents open the app for, and it’s there all game, not the next morning.
The drives
How each possession went and how it ended. Enough to answer “what happened on that last series” without asking anyone.
Same play, two ways to read it
A coach and a parent read the same play for different reasons, so the app writes it two ways. A coach scans twenty plays for a pattern, so he gets shorthand. You’re looking for one kid, so you get a sentence.
The same play, twice.
A coach sees: Gun Right Power right 22: Trey Halloran — +8 yds
You see: Trey Halloran ran for 8 yards
The fan version is built from a separate set of facts, so a formation or a play name can’t get into it, even by accident.
What you don’t see, and why
A staff’s formations and play calls are the one thing in this app worth keeping private. A rival coach who reads them learns the offense, and invite codes get forwarded into group chats. So the code gives you the game and nothing more.
- The playbook. Formation names and play names, anywhere they would otherwise appear.
- Key players. Which handful of players the staff builds around is the staff’s business, and a conversation no coach wants about whose kid isn’t on the list.
- The coaching stat tables. The formation and play-call tables, and the penalty table. Flags still show in the play-by-play. You do get players and drives.
- The Booth and Coach’s Read. The staff’s own notes and tendency screens. What those are, if you’re curious.
The server enforces the playbook, key players, Booth and scouting. The playbook isn’t in your copy of the app behind a switch. The database refuses to give it to a fan account, so the coach who gave you the code can share it freely.
Getting in
1. Get the code
The team owner has a six-character invite code in the app. Most coaches paste it into a team group chat.
2. Install and sign in
Download Sideline SideKick Tracker from the App Store (it’s free), make an account and enter the code. You land on the team as a Fan. If the owner made the team private, the code asks to join instead, and you get in once an owner lets you. While you wait, the owners can see your name and email address (how that works).
3. Open it on Friday
The game shows on your home screen while it’s being played. Nothing to set up, nothing to pay.
The owner can promote you. On the staff and got in with the code? The owner can move you up to Coach from the staff list. That unlocks the playbook and play entry. Anything above Fan is handed out on purpose, one person at a time.
About your information
Roster information about a minor is visible only to people the team’s owner has let in. It is never used to track anyone across other apps or websites. Other companies handle it only to run the app: Google stores it, and score alerts that name a player pass through Google’s and Apple’s notification services. There are no ads. The privacy policy is the full version, in plain language.
If you would rather not be in it at all, tell your coach. The owner can remove you, and the deleting data section covers the rest.
Got a code? That’s the whole setup.
Joining is free. If your coach hasn’t sent a code yet, point him here.