Handout night at Northstars Football, Sherwood Park
One football club's season on playerkit: how long handing out gear took before, how long it takes now, and what came back. The numbers are the club's own.
the club's own numbers
Before and now
Measured by the club's equipment manager over one season. Every figure is theirs, not ours.
| What | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Handing out a player's gear | about 30 minutes, two people (one fitting, one writing) | about 1 minute, one person — the other 29 go to fitting |
| A 40-player roster | roughly 20 hours of transaction time, across several nights and weeks of chasing | under an hour of transaction time; players book a slot |
| Gear lost in a season | several full kits (paper and spreadsheets could not say which) | several hundred items out, none overdue; on track to lose nothing |
From a clipboard to a booked slot
Northstars Football in Sherwood Park ran equipment the way most clubs do: a clipboard on handout night, helmet serials copied into a spreadsheet later, a second and third night for the no-shows, and a bin of jerseys nobody could size without emptying. With playerkit, players book a handout slot, the gear is staged by size before the doors open, and each item is scanned to the player in seconds — so the volunteer at the table has both hands free to fit a helmet, which in football is a safety job. Parents pay deposits and buy girdles and knee pads from the club's own store instead of writing card numbers on a clipboard. Several hundred items are out this season and none are overdue.
Handing out a player's gear went from thirty minutes and two people to one minute and one person. The other twenty-nine minutes now go to fitting a helmet properly.
Last season we lost several full kits and couldn't say which. This season there are several hundred items out, none overdue.
Finding out what jerseys we have went from hours in a bin to minutes on my phone — and I can answer the board at the field.
And the checks you can run yourself
Works offline
check: airplane mode, then scan a tag
Nothing to install
check: open it on the phone in your pocket
Export everything
check: the export button on any report
Your money, directly
check: the money arriving in your own Stripe account
Four things got them there
Scheduling
Players book a time, so it is one player at a time instead of ten waiting, and the club knows who is coming before the doors open.
Preparation
Sizes and jersey numbers are known in advance, so gear is staged, not hunted.
Locations
Finding a specific item is retrieval now, not a search.
Deposits
Deposits are handled properly, so parents are not writing card numbers on a clipboard in the equipment room while a helmet is being fitted.
Football is one of nine.
Each sport page says what to count, how to hand it out and how to get it back.
- HockeyHelmet stickers, goalie gear, home and away jerseys by number.
- FootballHelmet reconditioning dates, shoulder pads by size, three jersey sets.
- SoccerBalls by size, keeper kit, jerseys by number on every team.
- Baseball and softballBatting helmets, the catcher's gear, bats by stamp, jerseys by number.
- BasketballBalls by size, reversible practice jerseys, game sets by number.
- VolleyballBalls by level, the libero jersey, nets and antennae, jerseys by number.
- LacrosseHelmets, chest protectors by standard, the goalie set, sticks and jerseys by number.
- RingetteHelmets with the ringette mask, sticks and tips, girdles and jerseys by number.
- RugbyJerseys by position number, balls by size, tackle bags and scrum caps.
Also in playerkit
- Sports equipment and uniform trackingEvery item tagged, handed out and returned by scan.
- Online payments and equipment depositsFees and refundable deposits collected by card.
- Online team store for gear and jerseysSell what the club already tracks.
- Team scheduling, calendar and messagingGames, practices and messages in one week.
Count it once this season.
Tag the gear, let families book a slot, and hand it out by scan. Free to start.