As web startups continue to reshape the way we live our lives, I’m always wondering what the next application is going to revolutionize. If you are or were ever an athlete in college or high school, then this one’s for you: Meet HomeField, the new web application that changes the way coaches, players, and fans access and interact with team sport video footage.
HomeField mixes YouTube-style video uploading with social networking features, resulting in an interactive platform where sports teams can watch game footage, tag specific parts of the game, and discuss the videos in a private forum.
It used to be that a musty locker room and a TV-DVD combo was the only way for coach to give you pointers on the last game, or to size up the competition for the game coming up. Reece Pacheco, HomeField’s CEO, played lacrosse at Brown and later for the Boston Cannons, so he knows all too well the inconvenience of having to pile the whole team into a room for film study
Eventually, he got sick of it, and instead of letting inefficient technology slow him down, Pacheco decided to model his own web platform inspired by YouTube and similar sites becoming popular at the time. He pitched the idea to another Brown laxer, Dan Spinosa, who used his engineering skills to build the HomeField application from scratch.
Things snowballed from there and after picking up Joe Yevoli and Nick Romeo (both amazing lacrosse players in their own rites), had assembled their team. Armed with extensive knowledge of lacrosse and endless use cases for their product, they began to pitch the product at various coach conferences. Interest quickly mounted. They launched their first public beta version of the application in January of 2009, followed by a version 2.0 release the following July.
Today, they have users from over 400 teams at levels that span from youth club teams to the entire MLL (Major League Lacrosse). The team focuses their marketing on lacrosse, but the word has spread so they now have users uploading other sports like field hockey and soccer.
Over 20 percent of their customers pay monthly for the premium service, proving that the service is definitely of value to the sports community.
In addition to watching and commenting on the videos, Reece says that HomeField is also very popular as “an exchange network.” Instead of having to mail DVDs around, coaches can now discreetly share video footage of competitors with the click of a mouse.
From what I’ve seen, HomeField could definitely be the future of how players and coaches study and share film. In addition to current functionality, Reece says there is a lot of potential for the service to spread not only across different sports but to fans as well. A lot of former players like Reece would love to get their hands on footage of their past games. With technology like HomeField, “next generation athletes will be able to see all their games as Alumni.”
Whatever the application, there is definitely a market for local sport videos hosted online. Whether it be for coaches to teach, players to learn, or a bit of nostalgia, the human desire to relive the game gives HomeField a serious advantage.
For more on HomeField, check out their website, TeamHomeField.com, or follow them on Twitter @HomeField.
