Latvian-built “CoachSet” platform eases sports coaches’ administrative work

A Latvian-made web platform called “CoachSet” lets team-sport coaches build line-ups, plan training sessions and monitor player attendance in one place. Its creator is former ice hockey player Sandis Mežaraups, who is developing the project with three partners. He described it in an interview with the Latvian news site LA.LV.

An idea born in hockey

Mežaraups started playing hockey at age four, played in several Latvian towns and later in Canada and the United States. After his playing career he moved to his hometown of Jēkabpils, worked as a coach, and is now club manager at the Rodrigo Laviņš Hockey School. Working with teams showed him how much time organisational tasks take: forming line-ups, planning sessions and passing information to players, which often means WhatsApp messages, Excel spreadsheets and handwritten notebooks.

The first idea was simple: add players, create a game and place athletes visually on the field so the line-up can be saved and sent to the team. Work became more active in January, while he was studying at StartSchool, a 12-month full-time technology and business programme in Riga. Other coaches soon began trying the platform. Earlier, he and friends also built CoachCut, a video analysis tool.

Features and pricing

The platform was born in hockey, but cooperation has worked best with floorball coaches. The team plans to adapt it for handball and basketball coaches soon, with other sports added gradually depending on demand and on finding people who know those sports well.

Players can access their own profile, view the training schedule, mark which sessions they can attend and read coaches’ notes. CoachSet works as a web app on computers and phones; there is no separate mobile app yet.

The free version allows one team of up to 15 players. A plan for up to three teams with unlimited players costs €7.99 a month, and a club plan costs €29 a month. Players do not pay for access.

Mežaraups says a local product's advantage is more direct contact with its developers, and the team weighs coaches’ suggestions. The platform has already attracted interest from coaches outside Latvia.