Athletics
Sheet-first coach operating tools
Godwin Heights football already tracked attendance, lift, and practice in Google Sheets. The hub makes that workbook usable from a phone without turning it into a new database.
Problem
Coaches marked an X for attendance and a C for conditioning in a sheet that was already the system of record. The data model was fine. Doing it from the weight room was not. Replacing the sheet mid-season would have asked volunteer staff to learn a second system.
Constraints
- If a coach can do it in the sheet, the app writes the same cell.
- Dashboards read a published CSV instead of a new API wherever that is enough.
- School Google accounts could not always deploy the web app, so a personal-account script writes to the shared school sheet.
- Gym Wi-Fi drops. Check-in has to queue a save and still show the roster.
What shipped
- An installable hub for check-in, attendance dashboards, a practice timer, and links into lift and film tools.
- Live CSV reads of the attendance, lift, and practice tabs.
- Apps Script that toggles the same X marks a coach would type.
- A plain error when today’s column is missing, naming the column to add.
Evidence
The workbook stayed in use as the source of truth. The project page and the build notes describe the live CSV path, the check-in write-back, and the decision not to migrate the staff onto a custom admin panel.
Tradeoffs
Reads are eventually consistent with the sheet. Business rules live in both the browser and Apps Script. That duplication is the cost of keeping the workbook as the database. It is cheaper than a tool the staff will not open.
calendar_monthDirect availability with Mitchell Dawkins II
Have a similar operational problem?
Request a 20-minute fit call. We will tell you if automation or a small custom tool is the right next step.
Request a 20-minute fit call