The Challenge
Next Level Sports runs youth flag football leagues across multiple locations in California. When they came to us, they were managing everything with spreadsheets, email chains, and a patchwork of disconnected tools. Registration was manual. Scheduling was a nightmare. Parent communication was scattered across text messages and email threads that nobody could keep track of.
They needed a single platform that could handle the entire lifecycle of a sports season — from registration and payment through scheduling, team management, game-day operations, and end-of-season wrap-up. And it needed to work for parents on their phones, coaches on the field, and operations staff in the office.
What We Built
Registration & Payment System
A complete online registration flow that handles player sign-ups, waivers, medical information, payment processing, and waitlist management. Parents can register multiple kids, select preferred locations and time slots, and pay online — no more chasing checks or dealing with incomplete paper forms.
Scheduling Engine
A scheduling system that accounts for facility availability, team count, age divisions, referee assignments, and bye weeks. What used to take the operations team days of spreadsheet wrestling now generates a full season schedule in minutes — and handles the inevitable mid-season changes without breaking everything.
Team Management
Coaches get a dashboard with their roster, upcoming games, practice schedules, and parent contact info. Operations staff can manage team assignments, handle transfers between teams, and track which coaches have completed their certifications and background checks.
Communications Platform
Real-time notifications to parents about schedule changes, weather delays, game results, and league announcements. No more “I didn’t get the email” — messages go out via push notification, email, and SMS depending on parent preferences.
Mobile Apps
Native iOS and Android apps for parents and coaches. Quick access to schedules, game scores, team rosters, and facility directions. Push notifications keep everyone in the loop without requiring them to check email.
Operations Dashboard
An internal tool for the NLS team to manage everything: registrations, payments, refunds, scheduling overrides, facility management, and season analytics. Built to handle the complexity of running multiple leagues across multiple locations simultaneously.
The Tech
We chose a modern TypeScript-first stack built for reliability and speed:
- Frontend: React with Next.js for the parent-facing web app, plus standalone React Native apps for iOS and Android
- API Layer: tRPC for end-to-end type safety — no more API contract mismatches between frontend and backend
- Database: MySQL on PlanetScale for zero-downtime schema migrations and reliable scaling
- Hosting: DigitalOcean App Platform with automated deployments from GitHub
- Styling: Tailwind CSS for consistent, responsive design across all platforms
The entire codebase is TypeScript with strict mode enabled. Every API endpoint is type-safe from database query to UI component. This means fewer bugs, faster development, and confident refactoring when requirements change — which they always do.
Results
The platform now handles thousands of players across multiple seasons and locations. Registration that used to take weeks of manual processing now flows through automatically. Schedule changes that used to require hours of phone calls now reach every affected parent instantly.
NLS has been able to expand to new locations and add new sports (volleyball is coming online) without proportionally increasing their operations staff. The software does the heavy lifting so the humans can focus on what matters — giving kids a great sports experience.
Ongoing Partnership
This isn’t a “build it and walk away” engagement. We’ve been NLS’s technology partner through multiple seasons, continuously improving the platform based on real-world usage. New features get built, edge cases get handled, and the platform evolves alongside the business.
That’s what a real software partnership looks like — not a vendor relationship, but a shared investment in making the product better every season.