Coach's FAQ

An iOS app for high school football coaching staffs. Somebody on the sideline logs each play as it happens; the app keeps the score, the down and distance and the ball position current, builds player statistics as it goes, and produces a postgame report when the game ends.

It's meant to replace the clipboard and the spreadsheet. It isn't a film system or a scouting service.

The app is a free download. You need a coach subscription only to create a team.

Creating a team needs a coach subscription. The App Store listing and the subscription screen in the app show what it costs — they are the only places the price is stated, so nothing on this site can go stale against it. The first two weeks are free if your Apple Account is still eligible for an introductory offer. One subscription covers your whole account, up to five teams — a varsity and a JV cost the same as one.

Joining a team with an invite code is always free, so your assistants, your parents and your players never pay anything.

Five, on one subscription. A varsity, a JV and a freshman team is three; most staffs never come close to the limit.

Deleting a team frees the slot straight away, so a team you set up by mistake or finished with two seasons ago doesn't count against you.

If you genuinely run more than five — a couple of programs, or a youth organisation with several age groups — email [email protected] and we'll raise your limit. There is no second subscription to buy, and signing up again with another email address won't work: the App Store ties a subscription to your Apple Account, and it will only sell you one.

An iPhone or an iPad running iOS 17 or later. Most of the staffs using it are on iPads, and it's built for both. In landscape on an iPad the screen splits in two, with entry on the left and the play log on the right.

There is no Android version, and no web version.

From the App Store — here is the listing. It's a free download; the subscription only comes into it when you create a team.

If you're searching rather than following that link, search for “SideKick Tracker”. There is another developer's app called plain “Sideline Sidekick” that is not this one. The listing you want is Sideline SideKick Tracker, by Jeffrey Feely.

Sideline Headset, the wireless headset app for your staff, is a separate free download and is included with a coach subscription.

Yes. There's a demo login with an invented school and a game already loaded. Email [email protected] and ask for it.

One warning: everybody shares that one demo account, so if two people are poking at it simultaneously you'll be logging plays into the same game as a stranger. It's fine for a look around and no good for a real test.

Three things, and only once. Your roster: name, number, position, grade. Your playbook, meaning the formations and calls you actually use. And your team colors. A team logo if you want one.

After that it's set. You're not rebuilding anything week to week.

The whole staff. You create the team, then share the invite code; anyone signed in as a member of that team can log plays into the same game. That means one coach can spot while another logs, and neither of you is retyping the other's work.

If you want them to. Anyone you give the invite code to joins in a restricted Fan role: they can see the score, the play-by-play and player statistics, and that's all. A Fan can't change anything, and can't see your formations or play names.

Whether the code goes out that widely is entirely the team owner's call. Treat it the way you'd treat any other roster information.

The team owner can remove any member at any time from the Coaches screen. Ownership can also be handed to another coach.

A plain run is about five taps: formation, play, ball carrier, a spot button, save. When you hit save the ball is already placed for the next snap, so you're not resetting anything between downs.

The keyboard is deliberately kept out of your way. It doesn't appear anywhere except the notes field.

That's an assumption the app was built on, not an edge case. You can log a complete game with the device in airplane mode: plays, scoring, opponent scores, all of it. It syncs back up when a connection returns. It shouldn't feel any slower offline.

No. You can undo the last play, or open any play in the middle of the log and change it, including where it ended. Everything after it repairs itself: play numbers, drives and start spots all re-thread automatically.

When a play reaches the end zone, a prompt appears on the dashboard asking you to add the points and the try. Tap it and the sheet is already filled in. You just answer the try.

It doesn't hijack the screen mid-drive, so it doesn't cost you the next snap. Opponent scores and kickoff returns are handled too, and a return won't ask you for a formation you never called.

It's designed for it. Big type, heavy contrast, and a play log meant to be read at a glance rather than studied. If something washes out on your device on a bright afternoon, that's a bug worth reporting, not something to work around.

The line score by quarter, the play-by-play, and player statistics. You can share it as plain text, which drops straight into an email or a message, or as a PDF.

You can send it from the parking lot. It doesn't wait on you getting home to a computer.

Yes. Any game exports to spreadsheets from the game screen, and the whole season exports in one go from the games list. You get five CSV files either way — the play-by-play, players, formations and plays, drives, and scoring — and every one of them carries a Game column, so a season's worth stacks on top of itself and still groups correctly.

The postgame report itself shares as text or PDF. If you need something neither of those covers, say a particular stat service's format, put that in an email. That's exactly the kind of request worth sending — it's how most of this got built.

Only people the team's owner has admitted to that team. That means your coaching staff, plus anyone in the read-only Fan role if the owner has shared the invite code that far. Nobody else.

Those limits are enforced on the server, not only in the app.

No. Roster and team information is never sold or rented, never shared with other companies, never used for advertising or profiling, and never used to track anyone across other apps or websites. There are no ads, and no usage analytics — the app doesn't record which screens you open, which features you use, or how long you spend in it. It does send a crash and error report when something goes wrong, so problems can be found and fixed; those contain no names, no team names and no invite codes, and are not linked to your account. The privacy policy describes exactly what they hold.

On Google Cloud, through Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore. Google acts as the hosting provider; the data isn't shared with Google for its own advertising or marketing. The app also keeps an offline copy on your device so it works on a field with no reception.

Those are yours to follow, and the app doesn't override them. The recommendation is to enter the minimum you need to run a game: name, number, position, grade, and nothing more.

The privacy policy spells out exactly what is stored and who can reach it, in plain language, if you need to hand it to an athletic director.

A player comes off the roster with a swipe. A game deletes with every play and score in it. A whole team can be deleted by its owner, who has to type the team's name to confirm. That one is permanent, and it takes the roster, playbook and every game with it. You can also delete your own account entirely.

Step-by-step instructions are in the privacy policy. If you'd rather not do it yourself, or you can't sign in, email [email protected] from the address on the account.

Email [email protected]. Include the version you're running and, if it's a bug, what you were doing when it happened. Replies usually come within a few days.

Anything that made you pause, re-read or tap twice is worth sending. You don't need a reason attached. "I couldn't find it" and "I didn't trust that number" are useful on their own. If a statistic looks wrong, that's the most valuable thing you can report.

Jeffrey Feely. One person, coaching and building it at the same time. That's the reason it's shaped the way it is. Everything in it exists because it was needed on an actual sideline on an actual Friday.