My wife manages a U12 team and the substitution maths was ruining the game for her. So I built a tool to handle the chaos. (20 codes available)
Hi everyone,
I have been lurking in this community for a while and honestly the resources and people here are fantastic. The advice on here has been gold for us.
My wife is the Team Manager for a U12 boys team here in Australia. Every weekend I would watch the same stressful scene. The Coach had a perfect rotation plan on paper but the moment a kid showed up late or had a nosebleed in the second quarter the whole plan fell apart.
They were spending more time doing mental maths on the sideline trying to figure out who was "owed" minutes than actually coaching the kids.
I enjoy a good side project so I decided to build an iOS app called Court Time to handle the numbers for them.
The Reality Check (Is this the right fit for you?)
Coaching is personal and every team has different goals. We know that what works for a U12 development squad isn't what works for a Championship team.
This app is designed entirely around the goal of equal playing time.
- If you are managing a competitive rotation: If your strategy involves shortening the bench to secure a win or prioritising minutes based on performance (which is standard in higher grades) you might find this app a bit persistent. It is programmed to constantly hunt for equal minutes.
- If you are managing development: You signed up to help the kids learn and love basketball not to spend 45 minutes every Saturday stressed out of your mind trying to balance the maths. If your goal is fairness but the mental load is ruining the fun this tool was built specifically for you.
Stats vs Coaching
There are amazing apps out there that track effective field goal percentage and defensive assists. Those are great tools but at this level nobody has the time to record a rebound for Johnny followed by a steal by Billy while also refereeing a substitution.
We built this to do one thing only. Manage the time so you can manage the kids.
How it handles the chaos:
- The "Pro-Rata" Late Arrival: If a player arrives midway through the 2nd quarter the app instantly calculates their "fair share" of the remaining time. It doesn't try to cram a full game of minutes into a half.
- Coach is King: The app offers substitution suggestions but you can always ignore them. If you do override a sub the app quietly recalibrates the rest of the game to ensure the minutes balance out by the final buzzer.
- The "Parent Silencer": At the end of the game it shows a summary proving everyone got their fair share.
The r/basketballcoach Offer
We built this to save our own sanity but figured for the price of a cup of coffee or a new clipboard we have created something that hopefully helps others as much as it helped us.
It is a one-time purchase ($4.99). I absolutely hate subscriptions and I certainly didn't want ads popping up while you are trying to talk to your team at quarter time. This seemed like the fairest value.
The "Receipts" Upgrade
The base app handles a full team perfectly but I did add an optional "Pro" upgrade for the power users. It lets you manage Unlimited Teams (for those coaching multiple squads) and unlocks Season History.
We call it the "Keep the Receipts" feature. If a parent claims their child hasn't played enough over the last month you can pull up the history logs instantly. Peace of mind is priceless.
Comment below with the age group you coach and I will DM a promo code to the first 20 people.
Cheers!
For those asking, here is the App Store link to check out the screenshots:
Posted Jan 14, 2026, 3:15 AM UTC