Team Manager vs. Athletes Go Live

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Jun 30, 2020
67
18
My understanding is that Team Manager (the successor to Game Changer) will not only allow you to score, administer the team (allowing you to get rid of Team Snap or like apps), but now also includes live streaming capability with integrated scoring. Can use the camera of your choice. Almost one stop shopping. Can the live-streamed videos be saved and/or downloaded?

What is it that Athletes Go Live offers that Team Manager does not and is there any thought that whatever that gap currently is that Team Manager will look to close it in the (near) future?

Thanks for any insights.

To answer the question of what AGL offers that Team Manager does not:
1) Only approved members can view the stream in Team Manager while college coaches just have to search for your team and can view the livestream along with parents/family/friends.
2) AGL archives game videos to allow players/parents to create highlight clips from recorded games and send them to coaches (I don't think Team Manager has added the ability to save livestreams yet).
3) To go along with #2, AGL offers the ability to contact college coaches directly from the app, plus follow colleges and coaches to get notifications on camps and other events.
4) AGL will notify players who are subscribed when college coaches watch a stream or archived game.
5) The ability to announce a game using a bluetooth mic (don't know if Team Manager has this)

The main benefits of Team Manager over AGL are:
1) It is free (AGL is free to stream but requires a subscription for friends/family to view. College coaches view for free).
2) Much better scoring thanks to having years of development.
3) Messaging with team in-app

Both allow you to stream from a phone/tablet. AGL is offering their own device, which is basically a ruggedized tablet. Neither work with a GoPro (which is fine because the GoPro sucks at streaming). AGL has said they are working on adding Mevo support.
 
Last edited:
May 31, 2018
227
43
Allen TX
We attempted to stream and score our games this weekend with Team Manager and AGL (side by side). Our AGL crew gave up about halfway through game 2, and our TM crew successfully did 6 games no issues. The AGL group ran into 1-2 plays that they could not score properly, the balls/strikes kept glitching and having issues, DP/F wasn't intuitive , and substitutions were an issue. I wasn't the end user, so I am asking for more feedback from the parents.

Not a good first impression for an app that has been around for awhile. Plus as @Shiloh said, server side rendering for an app like that is a terrible idea, and might be unfixable.
 
Jun 30, 2020
67
18
We attempted to stream and score our games this weekend with Team Manager and AGL (side by side). Our AGL crew gave up about halfway through game 2, and our TM crew successfully did 6 games no issues. The AGL group ran into 1-2 plays that they could not score properly, the balls/strikes kept glitching and having issues, DP/F wasn't intuitive , and substitutions were an issue. I wasn't the end user, so I am asking for more feedback from the parents.

Not a good first impression for an app that has been around for awhile. Plus as @Shiloh said, server side rendering for an app like that is a terrible idea, and might be unfixable.

Was scoring done on an iPhone or Android? They have not been updating the Android version of the app so it is still a mess. Even they admitted you should avoid the Android version if possible. I switched to my wife’s iPhone at our last tournament and it was muuuch better. Still some issues but much more useable.
 
Feb 10, 2018
496
93
NoVA
Thanks for the continued feedback from folks on their experiences.

We have just started to beta test live streaming from Team Manager. Using the app itself has been fine and I like the fact that you get one stop shopping for team organization/administration. With live streaming, I think the stability was there--even at a field kind of in the middle of nowhere for our double header--but the problem was the cell phone, getting the correct angle, battery life, etc. Basically technical issues that probably mostly involve user error or incompetence. I am not the Live Stream guy for the team--just the scorekeeper--but I suspect we will be up and running pretty smoothly with TM live stream over the next couple weeks. I don't hear our coaches or organization talking about Athletes Go Live as much as they used to.

What's funny is how much people's expectations have changed around live streaming since the pandemic. Went for years with people just checking things out on Game Changer. This past weekend people were blowing me up with text messages about WTF is the live stream and why is the camera angle all jacked up while I am trying to score the game. It was crazy!
 
May 31, 2018
227
43
Allen TX
Alliance Fastpitch teams are required to stream with AGL for scoring and stats. It was so bad, our team is considering not playing in TFL tournaments if that is required. We will try one more side by side in our next tourney. If not easy and user friendly, we will move on.
 
Jul 31, 2015
761
93
Not a good first impression for an app that has been around for awhile. Plus as @Shiloh said, server side rendering for an app like that is a terrible idea, and might be unfixable.

Yep, unfixable, and not clear how they get around it. The stream has to come directly from the server. But if they browser-side the scorekeeping or cache it to increase performance, without solid and continuous connectivity, and probably even with it, they'll likely run into problems synching the two. So they are most likely stuck with server-side for the scorekeeping I think. Maybe they can just work on the UI; it's pretty unintuitive right now.

And, yes, TXJames, our team is at the same place: have considered opting out of PFL due to AGL force-feeding. Stith is just getting greedy.
 
Last edited:
May 7, 2015
842
93
SoCal
@TXJames44 @Shiloh

There is an amazing amount of tech support for AGL.. They have a weekly live zoom scorekeeping meeting where you can chime in with the weeks problems concerns. Any question that I've asked tech support is followed up immediately with the query received, an initial "does this help" auto generated support, and finally person to person support. I've been able to connect with them via phone working through stuff.

If I may ask, what types of issues scoring are you having? I agree that the method of scoring is MUCH different than GC, but it is possible to score the games, many are regularly doing it. I still notice some bugs, as said before Android is glitchy-er than IOS, but according to AGL they are ditching their existing copy of android and are just about to release basically a copied IOS to replace it with. It helps to have a couple methods of patching the glitches, experience with the app has helped me there.

I have to disclose, DD plays for OCBB and plays on a Stith team. The premise of Alliance is to have teams be able to qualify on points from playing. That means that they have to have a universal scoring system that all teams use. Could you imagine all of the teams submitting any and every type of game score where an Alliance data entry person has to input it? That doesn't seem like it would work. The end goal is to have athlete stats trackable as well, kind of like a maxpreps for travel.

Anyway, if there are any things I could help with, let me know - E
 
Jul 31, 2015
761
93
Hi Ernie,

AGL functionality is there, it's just unintuitive. Having to first tap on the player is being substituted for....trying to score double plays, pickles, anything that's not straightforward... But the top problem is the fact that every data point, e.g. every pitch, has to be sent back to the server, which causes enough of a lag at times to make scoring frustrating.

Also, teams can upload data directly from GC into MaxPreps, no hand-entry required. Not sure why AGL wouldn't allow that for sanctioned tournaments.

Cheers.
 
May 31, 2018
227
43
Allen TX
@TXJames44 @Shiloh

There is an amazing amount of tech support for AGL.. They have a weekly live zoom scorekeeping meeting where you can chime in with the weeks problems concerns. Any question that I've asked tech support is followed up immediately with the query received, an initial "does this help" auto generated support, and finally person to person support. I've been able to connect with them via phone working through stuff.

If I may ask, what types of issues scoring are you having? I agree that the method of scoring is MUCH different than GC, but it is possible to score the games, many are regularly doing it. I still notice some bugs, as said before Android is glitchy-er than IOS, but according to AGL they are ditching their existing copy of android and are just about to release basically a copied IOS to replace it with. It helps to have a couple methods of patching the glitches, experience with the app has helped me there.

I have to disclose, DD plays for OCBB and plays on a Stith team. The premise of Alliance is to have teams be able to qualify on points from playing. That means that they have to have a universal scoring system that all teams use. Could you imagine all of the teams submitting any and every type of game score where an Alliance data entry person has to input it? That doesn't seem like it would work. The end goal is to have athlete stats trackable as well, kind of like a maxpreps for travel.

Anyway, if there are any things I could help with, let me know - E


Thanks, I may take you up on it. We will be attending the AGL Zoom tonight (fingers crossed).
 
May 31, 2018
227
43
Allen TX
Yep, unfixable, and not clear how they get around it. The stream has to come directly from the server. But if they browser-side the scorekeeping or cache it to increase performance, without solid and continuous connectivity, and probably even with it, they'll likely run into problems synching the two. So they are most likely stuck with server-side for the scorekeeping I think. Maybe they can just work on the UI; it's pretty unintuitive right now.

And, yes, TXJames, our team is at the same place: have considered opting out of PFL due to AGL force-feeding. Stith is just getting greedy.


I've worked for startup software companies my whole career (not on tech side). I don't think this is fixable without a rewrite ($$$$$). Whoever scoped this out, didn't think this through. The UI is terrible, and the bugs should be worked out by now. The fact that they feel like they are still in beta after all this time is troubling. I don't want to invest too much effort and time into something that will probably be replaced in the market soon.

On a side note, someone at the Alliance (or many people) are certainly making money on the AGL requirement. If no money is exchanging hands, they would have went with GC/TM since over 90% of the teams already scored games that way. Something doesn't smell right.
 

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