Chapter One: The Beginnings of Hoops
Hoops began at your local basketball court.
Hoops began at your local football pitch.
Hoops began at your local gym.
Hoops began because we’re passionate about sports and fitness, but it was driving us nuts, too.
Anyone that’s ever tried to arrange a game of five-a-side or a ‘simple’ gym session will know how difficult finding someone reliable is. Our years spent not being able to find someone to fill in for the drop out, or getting left out of pocket because someone brought a twenty with no change, or having way too much hassle organising just a simple kick about; we call these the ‘research years’.
Blood, sweat and tears were a small price to pay for where we are now; and that’s right in the heart of Manchester, grafting all over again. The only difference is it’s over a computer or whiteboard, instead of a pitch or court — although you can still find us there!
We’re confident we’re the answer to your problems, because we know all too well what they are:
“None of my friends like basketball, so I can’t play!”
We’ve been there. So we’ve made an app where you can search by location and sport/event for what’s going on in your area. Not knowing anyone that plays football or does Pilates isn’t a problem anymore — just an excuse to get out there and make new friends with plenty in common.
“Mike didn’t pay up for this five-a-side — again!”
We hate that too. So we developed a payment system where you can get money off your friends or clients straight out of their bank — meaning no more excuses. While this is great for people that organise kickabout’s for work or with friends, we believe this feature could really come alive in the hands of Zumba and fitness instructors. With the ability to accept repeat payments and easily manage customers and friends, we like to think this will make the life of an instructor much easier.
“Organising these things are always so complicated, why can’t it be easier!”
We hear you. So we’ve, well, smashed it. Built-in messaging systems mean you can keep all your conversations in one place, instead of bouncing between texts, phone calls, and other messaging apps. The option to make an event recurring means that your Wednesday night yoga or Saturday morning game of footie only has to be organised once. Waiting lists for events mean that as soon as someone drops out, someone can be there to instantly take their place. And that’s just scratching the surface.
If you know the trouble that we’re talking about, you’ll realise how helpful our app is. If you don’t know the trouble, then hopefully you’ll never find out.
We’re still adding a few touches to the app, but we’d love to invite you to a private beta test, which will be launching in November. Everyone knows that girl that boasts about knowing Mumford and Sons before they were big, or the guy that brags about loving Marcus Rashford before he started scoring goals for fun — be the one that boasts about being on the ground floor of Hoops.
Ping.
