Built by a player who ended up running the game.

For more than 15 years, I played in local soccer and hockey games across the New York City suburbs. Same fields, same rinks, same regulars, the same weekly rhythm. I never thought much about what it took to keep them going.

Then our manager took a long break, and I took over.

For a year, I was the one sending the group texts, counting heads the night before, filling spots when someone dropped at the last minute, and chasing payments that never seemed to arrive on time. I loved the game. I didn’t love running it that way. That’s when I realized there had to be a better way.

Everything we found fell into one of two camps. League apps, built for seasons, standings, and brackets. And pickup apps, built to help players find open games, which is great until strangers start showing up to yours.

Neither was built for the games most of us actually play. The Sunday morning dads’ game. The moms’ game that’s been running for years. The coaches’ and trainers’ game after practice wraps. The pickup game that started with a few friends and never stopped. These games work because the manager knows who’s coming. The regulars are the regulars, alternates get the call when a spot opens, and nobody shows up unannounced. Roster keeps it that way: games are invite-only, managers approve every player, and two-factor authentication protects every account. No strangers, no fake profiles, no bots.

So we built Roster Sports, and then spent more than a year working with a dozen local game managers running lacrosse, rugby, and ultimate frisbee games to get it right. Different sports, same headaches. They’re why you decide exactly who’s on your roster, why regular players and alternates are handled differently, why fees get collected upfront, and why the whole thing runs from your phone in a few taps.

Roster is the app I wish I’d had the year I ran our game. If you’re the one holding your game together, it’s built for you.