The game scheduling problem in youth hockey is broken.
pp. 12—19
At least in Illinois, and from what I'm hearing, across the Midwest. There's a growing disconnect between tier labels and actual competitive levels. Strong local programs — teams legitimately competing at the AA and AAA level based on their results and ratings — can't get access to the games they need to develop their players.
The result is a lot of teams playing mismatched games.Local programs that dominate their leagues can't find opponents who push them. AAA programs that would benefit from playing strong local competition often don't, because the system isn't set up to connect them.
For families, this creates a false choice. Parents of talented kids at local programs hear: “Your kid is too good for your local program. Come play for us.”
Sometimes that's true. AAA is the right path for some kids in some markets. But too often, the issue isn't that the local program lacks talent — it's that the local program lacks access to competitive games. Those are two very different problems, and only one of them requires a kid to leave their community.
Plate III / The thesis
Good teams should play good teams. Period.
03
Chapter Three · The Rink as Architecture
Every line on the ice already does the work.
pp. 20—27
A standard sheet of ice is 200 by 85 feet. Two blue lines divide it into three zones. A red line cuts it in half. Nine faceoff dots mark the places where the puck drops. Two goals anchor the ends. Two teams take the surface.
The whole system is right there.Two teams meet on equal terms, regardless of tier, conference, or zip code. The ice doesn't care which logo is on your jersey. It cares about who skates harder, who sees the play, who finishes the check.
We're building the scheduling infrastructure that lets every line on the ice mean what it's supposed to mean.
Fig. 04 / Standard NHL ice surface — 200 × 85 ft.
04
Chapter Four · The Instrument
A free platform built by a coach, for coaches.
pp. 28—41
i.
Plan the full season.
A weekly calendar with league, playoff, state, and non-league budgets mapped out. Blackouts and compliance flags built in. An honest answer to: how many games do we have left to schedule?Surface: Dashboard / Calendar
ii.
Find the right games.
Matchmake with teams on the network by age group, division, and MHR rating. Share open dates, accept requests, skip the group-text chaos.Surface: Network / Open Dates
iii.
Keep everyone on the same page.
A CRM for opponents who aren't on the platform yet. Track outreach, log correspondence, stop losing threads in a 40-email gmail search.Surface: CRM / Inbound Email
iv.
Build the network, year by year.
Good teams talk to good teams. As the network grows, the Competitive Access Score rises — and the case for staying in your local program gets stronger every season.Surface: Network / Access Score