# Player Vector

> Youth sports coaches talk through the game and Player Vector drafts feedback for every player. Coach-approved, player records stored in Canada, never used to train AI.

Player Vector is a web app for youth sports organizations (soccer, hockey, basketball, volleyball, baseball and swimming today; more sports planned). It is sold to organizations as an annual subscription — families never pay.

## How it works
1. During or after a game or practice, a coach talks it through on a headset or phone: a full-session recording or a short voice note.
2. Player Vector matches what was said to the team roster and drafts a note for each player (plus a session summary). Unclear mentions are flagged for the coach instead of guessed. Hockey coaches can refer to whole lines ("the second line was flat") and the note is applied to each player on that line.
3. The coach reviews everything and chooses what is shared with families. Practice notes roll up into a periodic update for each family; notes also feed regular player check-ins and a plain-language parent summary.

## Who it's for
- Organization leaders: rankings and development flags across teams, seasons, rosters and coach access, activity history.
- Coaches and assistant coaches: voice-to-notes, quick Simple or Full evaluations with sport-specific rubrics, shared team view.
- Parents and guardians: coach-approved updates and periodic practice updates; they sign in with their email and a one-time code — no app or password.

## Privacy and AI
- Player records, notes and evaluations are stored in Canada (Montréal); AI drafting, speech-to-text and email use service providers in the United States.
- Customer data is never used to train AI models; AI providers are configured not to train on it.
- AI drafts are always reviewed by a coach; nothing reaches a family until a coach approves it.
- No photos or video of players are analyzed.
- Coach voice recordings are kept briefly as a safety copy and deleted within 3 days.
- Rankings and flags are staff-only.

## Early access
Player Vector is live and in early access. We are taking on a small group of founding organizations.
- Founding organizations get a free pilot (one team of up to 25 players for 4 months; no credit card, never charged automatically), an introductory discount on their first term, and a direct line to the founder.
- Pricing is per organization, billed yearly, and quoted on request: https://playervector.com/#contact

## Resources (free guides, written by a sports parent for other sports families)
Plain-language guides for youth sports organizations, coaches and parents. Each link is the Markdown version; the web page is the same URL without /guide.md. Hub: https://playervector.com/resources
- [Fairer player evaluations: a parent's guide for the people running the program](https://playervector.com/resources/organizations/fair-player-evaluations/guide.md) (for organizations): Tryouts reward whoever has grown the most. A parent's guide to fairer youth player evaluations: watch over weeks, use two evaluators, check birth months.
- [Feedback our kids actually hear](https://playervector.com/resources/coaches/feedback-young-athletes-use/guide.md) (for coaches): One thing they did well, one thing to work on, and why. Short, research-backed feedback habits for youth sports coaches, from one sports parent to another.
- [The ride home: what to say after the game](https://playervector.com/resources/parents/the-ride-home/guide.md) (for parents): What to say (and skip) on the drive home after a youth sports game: six words that help, what to avoid, and what to do after a tough loss.

### Reading list
- Book: Changing the Game, John O'Sullivan (2013) — Argues youth sport has drifted toward what adults want, and lays out seven principles for keeping it positive. Lots of clubs and school districts use it for parent education.
- Book: Range, David Epstein (2019) — The popular case for letting kids sample lots of activities before they specialize.
- Book: Mindset, Carol Dweck (2006) — Where "growth mindset" comes from, and why praising effort and strategy works better than praising talent.
- Book: The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle (2009) — A readable look at how focused practice and good coaching build skill.
- [Cobley et al., 2009, Sports Medicine](https://www.doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200939030-00005) — The first big review of the relative age effect: 38 studies, 14 sports, 16 countries. Older kids in an age group get picked more, especially at rep levels in popular sports.
- [Smith et al., 2018, Sports Medicine](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29536262/) — The same pattern shows up in girls' and women's sport, across 57 studies and 25 sports.
- [Côté & Vierimaa, 2014](https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hper_facpub/105) — Grades the evidence behind the Developmental Model of Sport Participation: sampling years first, then specializing, then investing. Côté is a Canadian researcher at Queen's University.
- [AOSSM Early Sport Specialization Consensus, 2016](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4853833) — Sports medicine experts found no evidence that young children benefit from specializing early in most sports.
- [Mageau & Vallerand, 2003](https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2003_MageauVallerand_Coach.pdf) — Coaches who explain the why, offer choices and listen help kids feel capable and connected, and that keeps them motivated.
- [Smoll & Smith, Mastery Approach to Coaching](https://www.washington.edu/news/2007/03/08/having-fun-mastering-skills-outscore-winning-at-all-costs-for-young-athletes/) — One 75-minute coach workshop on praising effort and improvement lowered player anxiety and dropout over a season.
- [Sport for Life, Long-Term Development 3.0](https://sportforlife.ca/blog/introducing-long-term-development-in-sport-and-physical-activity-3-0/) — Canada's national development framework. Most national sport bodies build their pathways on it.
- [Aspen Institute Project Play survey, 2019](https://projectplay.org/news/kids-quit-most-sports-by-age-11) — A U.S. parent survey: the average child quits a sport by about age 11, most often because it stopped being fun.

## FAQ
### What is Player Vector?
Player Vector is player feedback and evaluation software for youth sports organizations. During or after a game or practice, a coach talks it through on a headset or their phone — a full-session recording or a quick voice note. Player Vector drafts a note for each player, and those notes build into evaluations, practice updates and plain-language parent summaries. The coach reviews and approves everything.

### Which sports does Player Vector support?
Soccer, hockey, basketball, volleyball, baseball and swimming today, with more on the way. Each sport has its own rubrics, positions and groupings, like hockey lines and goalie evaluations.

### Does Player Vector track swim times?
No. Your meet app already handles times and results. Player Vector covers the part times can’t explain: how each stroke, start, turn and underwater is coming along, from the coach’s point of view. Swimmers aren’t sorted into positions, and parent updates can point out which strokes are a swimmer’s strongest.

### Where is Player Vector available?
Player Vector is available to youth sports organizations across Canada, with the exception of Quebec for now. If you’re in Quebec, we’d still love to hear from you.

### Do parents have to pay, download an app or create an account?
No. Player Vector is paid for by the organization, and families never pay. Parents and guardians sign in with the email their organization has on file and a one-time code we send them. There’s no app to install and no password to remember.

### What do parents and guardians see?
Coach-approved, plain-language updates: what’s going well and one clear thing to work on at home. Each team chooses whether parents see scores or just the summary. Rankings and development flags are staff-only and never shown to parents.

### Does the AI decide anything or publish on its own?
No. AI drafts notes and summaries to save coaches time, but every draft is reviewed by a coach, and nothing reaches a family until a coach approves it. If a voice note is unclear about which player was meant, it’s flagged for the coach instead of guessed.

### Where is player data stored, and is it used to train AI?
Player records, notes and evaluations are stored and served from Montréal, Canada. AI drafting, speech-to-text and email go through service providers in the United States. Your data is never used to train AI, and our AI providers are set up so they don’t train on it either. No photos or video of players are analyzed, and coach voice recordings are deleted within 3 days.

### How much does Player Vector cost?
Organizations pay one yearly subscription for the whole organization, and families never pay. While we welcome founding organizations, pricing is quoted per organization. Founding organizations get a free 4-month pilot for one team of up to 25 players (no credit card, never charged automatically) and get an introductory discount on their first term.

### What devices does Player Vector work on?
Player Vector runs in a web browser on phones and computers. Coaches record voice notes from their phone, and parents open their updates the same way.

### How do we get started?
Use the demo request form on this page, or email hello@playervector.com. We’ll walk you through Player Vector with sample teams from your sport, your age groups and your way of evaluating.

## Links
- [Home](https://playervector.com/)
- [For youth sports organizations](https://playervector.com/organizations)
- [For coaches](https://playervector.com/coaches)
- [For parents and guardians](https://playervector.com/parents)
- [Resources: free guides and reading list](https://playervector.com/resources)
- [FAQ](https://playervector.com/#faq)
- [Founding organizations](https://playervector.com/#founding)
- [Request a demo](https://playervector.com/#contact)
- [Privacy Policy](https://playervector.com/privacy)
- [Terms of Service](https://playervector.com/terms)
- [Enterprise Subscription Agreement](https://playervector.com/organization-agreement)
- Contact: hello@playervector.com