July 2022 - Self Evaluations, New Subscription System, and More

Hello coaches,

This is Matt Danaher the creator of SoccerPulse. I hope you're having a great summer, and if you're preparing to start preseason (or have already started), may you have an injury free start to your preparations!

This blog will talk about some of the new features coming to SoccerPulse in the July update, as well as the significant changes we are making to our billing system that will begin on August 3rd, 2022.

Let's start with the improvements to Player Development, which now features self evaluations.

Self-Evaluations

We've overhauled the user interface in Player Development to include Testing, Evaluations, and Goal Setting. Goal Setting will be coming in the August / September update, but this is where it will be stored. We've improved the look of adding a new evaluation so that each rating is accurately described, as well as an explanation for the overall value by tapping on it.

The biggest addition to this update is the ability for players to add their own self evaluations. This should help give coaches an insight into how players perceive their own abilities, and compare it to the coaches perception.

Any new self evaluations that are added by the player will notify the staff and will be visible by selecting that player and choosing self evaluation. Like coach evaluations, self evaluations can be added once every thirty days and scores will be preset to the most recent report, allowing players to indicate how they perceive their current abilities in relation to their last eval.

For those that haven't used the Player Development section yet, evaluations are tailored to the position of the player and include 36 attributes broken down into Critical, Important, and Non-essential.

All attributes are divided across 5 main categories (Attack, Defense, Mental, Physical, and Technical) and the overall score given to players is the combination of these 5 categories.

Critical attributes are the most important, and are weighted 2x compared to important attributes. Non-essential attributes are not important for the player and contribute very little to the overall score. We plan to make evaluations fully customizable in the near future.

This update will be available on BOTH iOS and Android devices when the respective App Stores approve the update.

New Subscription System

Now, let's talk about something a little less exciting in our new subscription system.

When SoccerPulse first released 5 years ago, it only contained player wellness and a very basic event feature.

Since that day in 2017, we've not made any price increases to the app, even though we added Player Development, Training Load, Game Model Builder, Attendance tracking, Messenger, Team Form, Player Reflections, and more.

Starting on August 3rd, we are switching our billing system from subscriptions to Team Licenses.

We are removing assistant coach subscriptions, and teams will now require a team license to be eligible for selection by staff members.

By default, purchased team licenses will allow 30 players (not team members!) and up to 3 coaching staff members.

To fit the needs of teams, clubs, and colleges, additional staff member slots or player slots can be added to a license. Additional staff members will still be recurring fees, but they are eligible across all teams, and staff members can be removed or turned inactive, which will not count against the total limit. Additional player slots are one time fees that only apply to the team they are purchased for.

This new system should give coaches more flexibility in terms of being able to be members of multiple teams (in addition to their own), as well as make it easier for colleges and clubs to add and remove staff without needing to buy a new assistant coach subscription every time a staff member changes. You'll simply be able to remove them from the team and add the new coach without buying a new subscription.

With this change, we are still honoring any purchases made prior to August 3rd, meaning that if you've already signed up for SoccerPulse on our legacy subscription system, you won't see any changes to your access or cost once the new system begins.

Once your old subscription expires, you'll be prompted to purchase a team license.

Because team licenses include more staff than our old subscription services, the cost will be significantly higher, but this is also meant to reflect the improvements that have been made to the service over the last 5 years. In the coming months, we will also be introducing a tiered system to the licenses, so coaches can pay for exactly the features that they want at a reduced cost.

As a thank you to the original SoccerPulse customers who have been with us since before this update, you will receive a discount code to keep your pricing on the new system as close to your pricing on the old system.

All team licenses will be available for purchase on our web app (www.soccerpulse.app) and this will also be the location where discount codes can be entered.

We will also still support all subscriptions purchased through Apple, but these will reflect the new pricing changes, and certain things like increasing the number of coaching staff slots won't be available to purchase.

In summary, we hope the changes to Evaluations are helpful for coaches prior to the season to get an idea for what their players will strive to work on in the coming months as part of their IDP. If you have any questions on the subscription model or how this will impact you, please contact me at matt@soccerpulse.net

There is still time to lock in the original SoccerPulse price before changes go live on August 3rd! Visit www.soccerpulse.app to sign up.

Best of luck with your preseason!