H
Hurdle
Industry Report

Youth sports deserves better software

The platforms your team, club, league, or academy relies on were built over a decade ago, acquired by private equity, and left to decay. Hidden fees, outages during peak season, ads inside paid products, and consumer protection lawsuits.

The industry report card

Real ratings from TrustPilot, Google Play, and the Better Business Bureau. These aren't cherry-picked — they're the actual aggregate scores.

TeamSnap

TrustPilot
1.2
(690)
Google Play
3.1
(30K)
BBBNot accredited

PE acquisition degraded product; ads injected everywhere

SportsEngine

TrustPilot
3.2
(1)
Google Play
4.0
(100)
BBB1.1/5 (9 of 10 reviews are 1-star)

Fee lawsuits; NBC neglect; rumored to be up for sale

ACTIVE Network

TrustPilot
1.5
(66)
Google Play
3.3
(2.8K)
BBBB− (not accredited)

CFPB lawsuit over $300M+ extracted via dark patterns

Stack Sports

TrustPilot
1.9
(47)
Google Play
2.9
(21K)
BBBNo profile

Fake recruiting notifications; data harvesting without consent

LeagueApps

TrustPilot
4.6
(solicited)
Google Play
2.8
(1.2K)
BBBNo profile

NPS of 8; 0% complaint resolution on consumer sites

GotSport

TrustPilot
2.3
(6)
Google Play
4.1
(170)
BBBN/A

11-day outage during peak season; monopoly contracts

PlayMetrics

TrustPilot
3.6
(10)
Google Play
3.2
(208)
BBBNo profile

88.7% negative app sentiment; app works ~50% of time

iClassPro

TrustPilot
3.2
(1)
Google Play
2.3
(284)
BBBNo profile

11 outages in 12 months; 23.5-hour longest outage

SportsConnect

TrustPilot
3.2
(1)
Google Play
2.9
(21K)
BBBA+ (dormant)

$3 non-refundable fee; 3 ownership changes in 7 years

Jackrabbit

TrustPilot
N/A(0)
Google Play
N/A(N/A)
BBBNo profile

Dated UI; per-student pricing punishes growth

Scores sourced from public TrustPilot, Google Play Store, and BBB listings as of Q1 2026.

What parents and admins actually say

Real reviews from real families and league administrators. These are the experiences people are having with legacy platforms.

Since the TeamSnap acquisition, the app has become unusable. Pop-up ads every time I open it. I’m a paying customer — why am I seeing ads?

TeamSnap·TrustPilot
Ads in paid product

SportsEngine charged families a ‘convenience fee’ on top of already high registration costs. When we complained, they pointed to the fine print in a 40-page contract.

SportsEngine·BBB
Hidden fees

ACTIVE Network enrolled me in a membership I never asked for and charged my credit card every month. Took 6 months and a chargeback to cancel.

ACTIVE Network·CFPB
Dark pattern billing

GotSport went down for almost two weeks right when tournament registration was open. We lost families to other programs and there was zero communication from their team.

GotSport·TrustPilot
Multi-day outage

PlayMetrics app crashes constantly. I have to force-close and reopen it 3-4 times per session just to check my kid’s schedule.

PlayMetrics·Google Play
App reliability

Stack Sports sent my son fake college recruiting emails to get him to pay for their scouting service. It felt predatory and dishonest.

Stack Sports·TrustPilot
Predatory upsells

We spent 3 months trying to cancel our SportsEngine contract. They kept routing us to different departments. Meanwhile, they auto-renewed us for another year.

SportsEngine·TrustPilot
Impossible to cancel

iClassPro has gone down during our busiest enrollment periods multiple times this year. Parents can’t register, and we can’t process payments. No ETA, no updates.

iClassPro·TrustPilot
Repeated outages

LeagueApps support takes days to respond, and when they do, they just send a link to a help article that doesn’t solve the problem. As an admin, I’m on my own.

LeagueApps·TrustPilot
No real support

TeamSnap’s ‘free’ version is so limited it’s basically a demo. Then the paid plans charge per team, so our 12-team club was paying over $200/month for basic features.

TeamSnap·TrustPilot
Per-team pricing trap

Jackrabbit’s interface looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2010. Our staff dreads using it, and parents constantly complain about the registration experience.

Jackrabbit·TrustRadius
Outdated software

SportsConnect changed ownership again and we lost all our custom configurations. Third time in five years we’ve had to rebuild our setup from scratch.

SportsConnect·TrustPilot
Unstable ownership

The fine print they hope you won't read

Annual lock-ins, per-team multiplication, surprise fees charged directly to your families, and contracts designed to be hard to leave.

HurdleRecommended

Monthly

$99/mo

Txn Fee

2.9% + 30¢

Contract

Month-to-month

Hidden Costs

None

TeamSnap

Monthly

$9.99 – $249/mo

Txn Fee

2.95% + 30¢

Contract

Per-team pricing

Hidden Costs

Costs multiply with every team added

SportsEngine

Monthly

Custom (enterprise)

Txn Fee

3.5%+ per txn

Contract

Annual contract

Hidden Costs

Convenience fees charged to families

LeagueApps

Monthly

$99 – $499/mo

Txn Fee

2.9% + 30¢

Contract

Tiered plans

Hidden Costs

Premium features locked behind higher tiers

ACTIVE Network

Monthly

Custom

Txn Fee

$5.99 “processing fee”

Contract

Annual contract

Hidden Costs

Auto-enrolled memberships; CFPB lawsuit

Stack Sports

Monthly

Custom

Txn Fee

Per-registrant fee

Contract

Annual contract

Hidden Costs

Add-on fees for tournaments, recruiting features

Acquired, then neglected

Most youth sports platforms were acquired by PE firms or media conglomerates focused on extracting revenue, not improving the product.

Locked in by design

Annual contracts, proprietary data formats, and exclusive tournament deals make it painful to switch — by design.

Fees on top of fees

Convenience fees, processing surcharges, per-team pricing, and auto-enrolled memberships. Families end up paying more than orgs realize.

What you get with Hurdle

Everything your team, club, or league needs — registration, payments, communication, scheduling, and AI — in one plan.

AI-powered Included Limited Not available

Registration & Payments

Online registration with one shareable link
Hurdle
Others
AI-generated waivers, medical forms & consent docs
Hurdle
Others
AI program descriptions from a text prompt
Hurdle
Others
Card, ACH, and Apple Pay
Hurdle
Others
Instant payouts to your bank
Hurdle
Others
No per-player or per-registration fees
Hurdle
Others

Communication

Two-way email + SMS in one inbox
Hurdle
Others
AI-drafted replies that match your tone
Hurdle
Others
AI compose: polish, shorten, expand, change tone
Hurdle
Others
Message by program, team, or individual
Hurdle
Others
AI lead auto-responder for website inquiries
Hurdle
Others
Read receipts and full message history
Hurdle
Others

AI Assistant

Natural language analytics (“How many registered this month?”)
Hurdle
Others
AI team formation balanced by age, skill & requests
Hurdle
Others
Churn detection — flags at-risk members before they leave
Hurdle
Others
Voice mode — manage your org hands-free
Hurdle
Others
AI poster & flyer generation with your branding
Hurdle
Others
24/7 public website chatbot trained on your programs
Hurdle
Others
Smart reminders for payments, events & re-registration
Hurdle
Others
Proactive tasks — AI surfaces unpaid balances, missing waivers
Hurdle
Others
Member re-engagement campaigns drafted by AI
Hurdle
Others
Org memory — AI learns your policies and preferences
Hurdle
Others

Operations & Scheduling

Calendar with venue management
Hurdle
Others
Roster management with drag-and-drop
Hurdle
Others
Attendance tracking for practices and games
Hurdle
Others
Competitor pricing intelligence for your area
Hurdle
Others

Platform & Pricing

All features included in one flat-rate plan
Hurdle
Others
No annual contract required
Hurdle
Others
Set up and collecting registrations in minutes
Hurdle
Others
No ads inside the product
Hurdle
Others

Ready to make the switch?

Our AI-powered migration tool will have you up and running within an hour. Start your free trial today.