6 Features in Athlete Assessment Apps Coaches Love

Not all tools are created equal when it comes to running effective player evaluations. Among the dozens of platforms available, the best athlete assessment apps stand out by offering powerful features that make a coach's job easier, faster, and more accurate.

In this article, we will delve into the 6 must-have features in athlete assessment apps that every sports organization or academy should look for (and coaches love!).

What is An Athlete Assessment App?

Rather than relying on paper forms & spreadsheets to run your athlete evaluations, an athlete assessment app streamlines the process. Once downloaded, coaches can customize their evaluation template, score players, access instant reports, and draft teams—all on one app!

In a matter of hours, coaches can have their athletes sorted onto teams. A process that typically took days with pen & paper forms can be done quickly (and accurately) with an athlete assessment app.

6 Features of An Athlete Assessment App

1. Customizable Evaluation Templates

Different sports require measuring different aspects of performance. A basketball coach may evaluate agility and shooting accuracy, while a football coach may evaluate speed and strength. That is why athlete assessment apps include a drag-and-drop evaluation template builder with:

• Unlimited metrics- select sport-specific metrics, add your own, or combine both.

• Scoring options- choose between subjective scoring (fixed-scale between 1 and 5) and objective scoring (single measurement) methods.

• Comment only scores- provide qualitative feedback to athletes.

2. Mobile Scoring

With an athlete assessment app like SkillShark, each evaluator will use the same template & scoring criteria to score players. All they need is their phone or tablet handy to score athletes. The benefits of mobile scoring include:

• Quickly enter scores for an athlete by using a slider button.

• Option: Add a pre-written comment to any skill (or write their own).

• Option: Easily record & upload a video of an athlete performing a skill.
  
  

Mobile scoring on an athlete assessment app

3. Real-Time Reports

Apps that automatically calculate data and generate reports help coaches save time. With an athlete assessment app, auto-generated reports let coaches:

• Rank athletes to identify top performers.

• Compare athletes to identify skill gaps.

• Track athlete progression over a series of events (i.e., tryouts, camps, and clinics).

SkillShark has been an invaluable tool for our tryouts. We have used it with nearly 400 athletes and it has been a great addition to our participants and parents, who now receive a professional-level report cards after each tryout. We will be SkillShark users for life!

Justin Dee. High-performance Director — Delta Region USA Volleyball

4. Offline Capability

Not every field, rink, or court has reliable Wi-Fi. That's why offline functionality is a non-negotiable. Athlete assessment apps must let coaches:

• Check-in players before an evaluation.

• Score athletes with no interruptions.

• Access real-time reports (when back online).

5. Data Sync Across Devices

Evaluators will often score athletes on their tablets or phones, while coaches analyze the results on a laptop later. As data is shared in real-time across devices, this means:

• Coaches won't lose access to any data (which can often happen with paper).

• Scores are less prone to error since no manual data transfer is required from paper to spreadsheets.

• Drafting or tactical decisions are often made faster.

6. Provide Athlete Feedback

With many tasks on your coaching plate, you may not have the time to provide each athlete with the level of feedback they deserve. Meetings, phone calls, and emails are all time-consuming and come with repetitive questions surrounding, "Why didn't my child make the team?" or "What can my child do to improve their [insert skill] ability?"

With an athlete assessment tool, coaches can send athletes and their parents a personalized report card after each evaluation. Each report is complete with scores, benchmarks, videos, and comments. The best part? No formatting is required on your end. Scores are automatically synced on the back end and formatted into professional-level reports for you to review & send.

Athlete report card in baseball

Final Thoughts

No matter the sport or level of team, every coach can benefit from an athlete assessment app. From scoring athletes on mobile devices with ease, quickly accessing player insights, and creating fully customizable evaluation templates, this type of software supports coaches at every step to deliver a seamless evaluation experience.