Digital Scout High School Software Goes Belly Up - What are the alternatives?

[nkypete]

As many of you know, I am the high school football statistician for Covington Holy Cross.  Today (which is less than 3 weeks before the start of the football season), I learned that our software company, Digital Scout, will no longer be in operation for providing statistical software for football, basketball and volleyball (I personally only care about football at this point).  This is a shame for a few reasons - the timing of the announcement, that the software was free, and that the software was robust and easy to use.

I am reaching out to all my friends, football statisticians and contacts at other high schools in Kentucky (and even other states) to recommend a replacement software for me.  In less than 3 weeks, I need to have our AD purchase something new (because I'm certain other quality options are not free).  I would then need to install it and learn how to use it by the start of the regular season on Friday, August 18.

Preferences:

• Ability to be used on a tablet (since I enter stats on the field instead of the press box).  If only Windows based, I would need to use a laptop and stay upstairs which is not my preference.
• Ability to enter a roster with key data about each player.
• Ability to enter a schedule for the season and the ability to enter basic rosters of the opposing teams.  As plays are being entered during the game, the opposing team players stats need to update automatically too.
• Live stats to the Internet to a fan's website.  Rosters and schedule would be visible with the ability to have links to see live stats by player as well.  This also would include live play-by-play for those following a game on the Internet.  Fan website should be friendly to view on a cell phone.
• Ability to edit stats either mid-game or afterwards (if a mistake is made).
• Ability to enter stats post-game (such as defensive stats) at the player level (not necessarily attached to particular plays).
• The software is "versioned".  In other words, it grows with the game.  For example, for new penalties and rule changes.  There is a continuous effort by the company to fix bugs. 
• Good customer service.
• Good ratings from other users.
• Plays are easy to enter with minimal data in order to accumulate player stats and keep up with such things as down, yards to go, and line of scrimmage.
• Ability to have lots of reports such as box score, game leaders, team stats, player stats, scoring summary, and play-by-play.  That's the minimum.  The next level of desired reports would be team and player cumulative reports for the entire season.  Finally, a nice to have would be what I call decision or situational reports to enable the coaching staff to analyze team performance.
• Ability to create files with player data to easily import into MaxPreps.
• A cost that won't break the school budget!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions that you might have!  Obviously, I need to move fast.  Locally, there are other schools in the same situation as me (who used Digital Scout) - many schools in Ohio, Bishop Brossart, Newport Central Catholic, Walton-Verona, and Dixie Heights are examples.

[Cobraxx]

It's been a few years but one other thing to consider, is can you easily up load the stats to the KHSAA? We had tried a program (can't remember the name of the company) a few years ago that would not upload to the KHSAA. We had to do it manually and it was a nightmare.

[nkypete]

38 minutes ago, Cobraxx said:

It's been a few years but one other thing to consider, is can you easily up load the stats to the KHSAA? We had tried a program (can't remember the name of the company) a few years ago that would not upload to the KHSAA. We had to do it manually and it was a nightmare.

Digital Scout couldn't upload directly to KHSAA either, but I got pretty good at doing the manual entry to KHSAA.  It was fine because I had the supporting reports from the software.  It took me about 15 minutes for one game.  I would hope for the same with the new software.

[rjs4470]

The two that come to mind are HUDL and GameChanger. It’s been a couple years, but stats should already be part of your teams HUDL package. I’ve used it and it’s does everything I think you’d want and is pretty easy to use. It also matches the stat tags to the video which can be helpful for coaches. Should be an easy move.

I know other sports use GameChanger and they do have a football option, but I’ve never used it. Really though as long as HUDL stats is still part of their package, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t use it.

[brooksville]

@nkypete I would try NCAA Live Stats.  I haven’t used it myself, but I believe it is free to use.  You can download it here:

https://ncaamanager.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/43000502725-ncaa-livestats-download-links-technical-specifications

I found some YouTube videos on how to set it up. 

Some also use Cybersports.  It is $249.  

https://hooptactics.net/cybersports/cybersports4basketball.php
 

[FNL]

I have used the Digital Scout program for several years and am very disappointed in this news.  Hudl will not currently allow you to have instantaneous, cumulative results which is why I have used it for our team statistics as well as for our radio broadcast.  
 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well on this end!

 

[nkypete]

6 hours ago, brooksville said:

@nkypete I would try NCAA Live Stats.  I haven’t used it myself, but I believe it is free to use.  You can download it here:

https://ncaamanager.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/43000502725-ncaa-livestats-download-links-technical-specifications

I found some YouTube videos on how to set it up. 

Some also use Cybersports.  It is $249.  

https://hooptactics.net/cybersports/cybersports4basketball.php
 

Thanks for the ideas.  I clicked both links.  NCAA Live Stats does not appear to work with Apple OS.  Cybersports appears to be basketball only.  My immediate need is football.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

On 8/1/2023 at 1:37 PM, nkypete said:

Thanks for the ideas.  I clicked both links.  NCAA Live Stats does not appear to work with Apple OS.  Cybersports appears to be basketball only.  My immediate need is football.

Anyone is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong (and I know just about zilch about stats software), but I believe I remember the KHSAA using StatBroadcast recently/recently-ish for their coverage of the state football finals.

www.statbroadcast.com/stats.php

[nkypete]

2 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Anyone is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong (and I know just about zilch about stats software), but I believe I remember the KHSAA using StatBroadcast recently/recently-ish for their coverage of the state football finals.

www.statbroadcast.com/stats.php

Definitely going to do some research on it tonight.  Thanks.

[nkypete]

5 hours ago, nkypete said:

Definitely going to do some research on it tonight.  Thanks.

@Colonels_Wear_BlueIt looks like Statbroadcast is some sort of "presentation layer".  It sure looks pretty and has lots of features for integration with other websites and creating a good fan experience.  Unfortunately, the stat keeping software product from Statbroadcast (called Statinput) is very immature and currently is only available for tennis and beach volleyball.  I still need to find another reliable stat keeping product.  The Statbroadcast features list does mention a few that it integrates with - StatCrew, NCAA LiveStats, and DakStats.  I will start with them.  Time is short.  Thanks for the tip.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

4 hours ago, nkypete said:

@Colonels_Wear_BlueIt looks like Statbroadcast is some sort of "presentation layer".  It sure looks pretty and has lots of features for integration with other websites and creating a good fan experience.  Unfortunately, the stat keeping software product from Statbroadcast (called Statinput) is very immature and currently is only available for tennis and beach volleyball.  I still need to find another reliable stat keeping product.  The Statbroadcast features list does mention a few that it integrates with - StatCrew, NCAA LiveStats, and DakStats.  I will start with them.  Time is short.  Thanks for the tip.

Wellllllll crap...I guess I learned something new there.

I know from just news around Twitter at the end of this last football season that CBS's app StatCrew has been discontinued, so don't waste your time there.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

Came up with this via Google:

http://www.turbostats.com/football.htm
 

 

[nkypete]

On 8/1/2023 at 2:18 AM, rjs4470 said:

The two that come to mind are HUDL and GameChanger. It’s been a couple years, but stats should already be part of your teams HUDL package. I’ve used it and it’s does everything I think you’d want and is pretty easy to use. It also matches the stat tags to the video which can be helpful for coaches. Should be an easy move.

I know other sports use GameChanger and they do have a football option, but I’ve never used it. Really though as long as HUDL stats is still part of their package, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t use it.

Unfortunately, GameChanger's football option is very immature.  It is more a "scoring" mechanism than a "stat program".  No way to attribute plays to individuals.  No way to enter penalties.  

I would have liked to use HUDL, but our team's use of HUDL is very basic (that's putting it kindly).

[Green River Monster]

I am in the same boat.  I have used DS for the past few years for radio broadcasts.  I have been testing it out and it looks like you can still keep game stats on the app.  You will need to go into website and update the roster (and it will still be 2022 season).  I will be at a scrimmage tomorrow night and going to test it then to make sure it will work.

 

[nkypete]

On 8/3/2023 at 2:10 AM, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Came up with this via Google:

http://www.turbostats.com/football.htm
 

 

Thank you @Colonels_Wear_Blue!  Holy Cross has officially joined the Turbostats family.  Big one-time purchase because I am also getting a preloaded Surface Go too.  Yearly subscription after should be minimal.  We aren't going to fancy at the beginning, but there are a lot of features I want to explore.  I hope that I can learn fast since opening night is in 9 days!