The sports team management app for volunteer coaches
Squaddie handles the admin that sits between you and actually coaching: who is available, who plays where, who has had enough game time, and what you are doing at training on Thursday.
Free forever for your first team · No credit card
What is sports team management software?
Most coaches do not start out looking for software. They start out with a problem — usually a parent asking why their child sat out two quarters in a row, and the coach realising they genuinely cannot remember.
That is the gap this kind of tool fills. A team of twelve playing a seven-a-side sport over a fifteen-round season involves a few thousand small decisions about who is on. Nobody tracks that in their head, and a spreadsheet only works while one person maintains it every single week.
The jobs a team management app has to do
Player management
One list per team with the details you actually need on a sideline — not a 30-column spreadsheet nobody fills in.
Availability
Know who is away before you plan the lineup, instead of finding out at 8:50am on Saturday.
Lineups
Build the starting team by position, for each quarter, half or set — with the format your grade actually plays.
Rotations
Work out who comes off and who goes on, and have it recorded rather than remembered.
Playing time
A running total per player across the season, so "fair" is something you can show rather than assert.
Matches and draws
Fixtures, results and standings for round-robin and knockout competitions.
Training
Session plans and drills for the age group you coach, so Thursday does not start from nothing.
Parent communication
Send the lineup and match details to the people who need them, in one action.
Why playing time is the problem worth solving
Every feature above exists in some form in most team apps. The one that grassroots coaches consistently say is missing is the running record of who has actually played — which is the one the parents ask about.
The maths is genuinely awkward
Seven positions over four quarters is 28 slots. Share that between ten players and you get 2.8 each, which is not a number of quarters anyone can play. Someone has to get three and someone has to get two, and the only fair version is rotating who carries that from week to week.
It compounds across a season
One unfair week is forgivable. The problem is that the same child tends to be the one who misses out, because the reasons that put them on the bench in round two are still true in round nine. Without a record, that pattern is invisible.
You need it in front of you, not in a report
A playing-time total is only useful at the moment you are choosing the lineup. Squaddie surfaces it there — the players owed game time are the ones it suggests first. See fair playing time in junior sport for how to approach it.
And you need to be able to explain it
When a parent asks, the answer that ends the conversation is a number. Talking to parents about playing time covers how to have that conversation before it becomes a complaint.
Coaches, schools and clubs need different things
| What they need | Where to start | |
|---|---|---|
| Individual coaches | One team, run well. Lineups, rotations, playing time and a training plan — with as little setup as possible. | Squaddie for coaches |
| Schools | Oversight across every team and sport, a consistent fair-play standard, and fewer parent complaints reaching the office. | Squaddie for schools |
| Clubs | Multiple age groups and grades, competitions and draws, and a way to hold every volunteer coach to the same approach. | Squaddie for clubs |
Built around how each sport actually works
A rotation is not a generic concept. Netball restricts positions to thirds of the court, volleyball rotates on serve, hockey substitutes on the roll, and water polo counts quarters in the pool. Squaddie carries the formats, positions and period structure for each one rather than asking you to describe your sport to it.
Netball team management
Seven positions, four quarters, and a squad of ten — the rotation problem netball coaches actually have.
Football & soccer team management
Formations from 5 a side to 11 a side, with substitutions and half-by-half playing time.
Basketball team management
Court time by quarter for a squad that is always bigger than the five on court.
Volleyball team management
Set-by-set rotations and tournament days with several matches back to back.
Hockey team management
Rolling substitutions and the NZ junior Sticks formats, without losing track of who is on.
Water polo team management
Quarters in the pool, from Flippa Ball through to senior grades.
Try the free tools before you sign up for anything
If you want to see how the rotation logic behaves before creating an account, the free coaching tools use the same fairness approach and need no sign-in: a netball rotation generator, a football lineup generator and a basketball lineup generator.
They solve one game. The difference with an account is memory — next week it already knows who is owed court time.
Common questions
What is the best sports team management app for volunteer coaches?
It depends on what you need most. Apps built for club administration handle registrations, fees and draws well but treat the coaching side lightly. Squaddie is built the other way round — it starts from lineups, rotations and playing time, because that is where a volunteer coach spends their time. Our <a href="/compare/nz-sports-management-apps">comparison of NZ sports management apps</a> sets out the differences honestly, including where other tools are the better fit.
Is there a free sports team management app?
Squaddie is free forever for your first team, with no credit card required — that covers most volunteer coaches running one side. Paid plans exist for coaches with several teams, and for schools and clubs that need oversight across many. See <a href="/pricing">pricing</a> for the current plans.
What sports does Squaddie support?
Netball, football (soccer), basketball, volleyball, hockey and water polo, each with its own positions, formats and period structure. There is also rules reference content for baseball. Cricket has its own scoring and lineup flow.
Do I need to get parents to install an app?
No. Coaches use the Squaddie app or the web version; parents receive match details and lineups by email. Parents can be given access if you want them to update availability themselves, but nothing requires it.
Can our school or club see what every coach is doing?
Yes. School and club admin accounts see all their teams, coaches and matches in one place, including playing-time reporting across the whole organisation. That is usually the reason a school adopts it — it turns "we believe in fair game time" into something they can actually check.
Related reading
Coaching guides
Practical guides on rotations, team selection, fair game time and managing parents.
Free coaching tools
Rotation and lineup generators that work without an account.
Pricing
What is free, what is not, and what schools and clubs pay.
Compare NZ sports apps
How Squaddie sits alongside Sporty, CoachMate and Friendly Manager.
Start with one team, free.
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