SportsForce connects student athletes with college coaches across the US: a web platform with thousands of users and a mobile app that works like Tinder for recruiting. The client's team started the app in FlutterFlow and hit a wall on custom swipe logic. Our engineer joined as outstaff for 10 months and took it to production.
What we did
Tasks
- 1Sync with the existing web database
- 2User profiles with photo & video uploads
- 3Custom lists and candidate collections
- 4Search and filtering
- 5Matching system
- 6Chats
- 7Daily view limits
Team
- FlutterFlow Developer×1
- Backend Engineer (Supabase)×1
- Product Manager×1
- QA Engineer×1
The project at a glance
Challenge
A no-code app built without engineers stalled on complex screens, matching logic and the integration with a live web database.
Solution
A FlutterFlow developer inside the client's team: a custom swipe widget, university-level matching, three-stage ranking, lists, in-app media and server-side geo.
Result
The mobile app shipped to production as a standalone product, not a reduced copy of the web version.
10 mo.
outstaff engineer in the client's team, Feb – Dec 2025
2
user roles: student athletes and college coaches
5
new athletes per coach per day, by design
0
external geo API calls: distance is computed on the server
The client
A recruiting platform founded by baseball pros
SportsForce was founded by former professional baseball players, US champions and medalists. Over ten years it became one of the most popular recruiting tools for schools, colleges and universities in the country. The web platform already had thousands of users, its own database and settled processes. A mobile app was the next step.
The challenge
No-code is still code
The client's hypothesis: build the app fast in FlutterFlow, without engineers. That held until complex screens, matching and the integration with the live system. Through partners they reached us, and we added a FlutterFlow developer as outstaff, first part-time, then full-time, working next to their CTO in their time zone.
Swipe plus scroll
Cards had to swipe sideways, scroll vertically and hold a full profile. Standard FlutterFlow couldn't do it.
Not a 1:1 match
Two roles, and the athlete matches with a university, so every coach there shares the conversation.
A live system
Profiles, lists and statuses had to stay in sync with a web database used by thousands.
Product logic
Matching with an organisation
One match, the whole coaching staff
An athlete likes a program, one coach likes back, and the match forms with the university. From then on the head coach, assistants, coordinators and scouts all see the thread. Messages go out on behalf of the university, not a single person.
- [01]
Hard filters
Position, geography, academic limits and athletes already committed elsewhere drop out.
- [02]
Sports fit
Metrics are compared with the program's target range; the closest values rank higher.
- [03]
Academics and signals
Academic groups within one level, then earlier interest or list membership break ties.
Coaches see the athletes who best fit their program, not just the strongest in the database. Each coach gets at most five new athletes a day; after that the feed waits for a reset or an extra-views pack. Subscriptions weren't live yet, but the logic is already in the architecture.
Mobile app · iOS & Android
Recruiting like a professional
Three steps to the first match
Onboarding explains the product in three screens: get verified and claim your profile, get matched with prospects that fit, start recruiting and organise the best of them. A dark interface with red accents carries through the whole app.
A custom swipe widget
We built the card from scratch: horizontal swipe, vertical scroll through stats, links and media, plus visual feedback on accept or pass. Position, dominant hand, class year, height, weight and metrics like 60-yard dash or pop time sit on one card.
Game footage inside the card
Coaches judge by video as much as by numbers. Photos and videos upload without format limits, are stored in the system and open inside the profile in our own player with multiple resolutions. No redirects to YouTube, Vimeo or cloud drives.
Lists, search and filters
Beyond like and dislike, coaches work the database like recruiters: system lists for suitable and passed athletes, custom collections such as “Pitchers from Oregon”, search and filters by status, level and grad year. A status change syncs across every list.
Tech stack
FlutterFlow with engineering underneath
The client planned the Google Maps API for distances, but paid requests grow with every user. We compute distance with the haversine formula on the server from coordinates: zero external calls, the same clarity in profiles and search.
FlutterFlow
iOS and Android app, screens and standard flows.
Dart
Custom widgets where low-code stops, starting with the swipe card.
Supabase
Backend in sync with the existing web platform.
PostgreSQL
Profiles, lists, matches and chats; distance by haversine.
Results
A standalone product, not a web copy
SportsForce got a mobile app with its own flow for athletes and college coaches, in production and in sync with the web platform.
- FlutterFlow carries complex products, not only fast MVPs, when an experienced engineer handles business logic, custom components and integrations.
- No-code doesn't cancel development: the more serious the product, the higher the bar for architecture and performance.
- Outstaff works: one specialist inside the client's team, sharing their processes, without a full-time hire.
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