Your First Week of Digital Stat Tracking: What to Expect

You built your team in SquadProfile, the roster is close to done, and you have not recorded a single stat yet. Digital stat tracking has a short learning curve: finish the roster, record your first game from a phone, and see what comes back afterward. Most of the setup happens once. The recording itself gets fast by your second or third game, once your stat keeper knows where the buttons are.

What do you set up before your first game?

Start with the roster. Add players one at a time from the web app or the mobile app, or save time with the web app's spreadsheet import instead of typing every name by hand. Jersey numbers matter more than anything else on the roster screen, since your stat keeper will be tapping numbers, not names, once the game starts.

Add the people who will help you run the team next. A head coach, assistant coaches, stat keepers, and a manager can each hold their own account on your staff instead of sharing one login, and a second set of hands is worth having once you are ready to record more than the basics. Our guide to setting up a lacrosse stat crew covers how to invite them and who should hold each role.

Do you need to track every stat?

No. SquadProfile records whatever your stat keeper taps, nothing more and nothing less, so the stat list is really a decision about what you want a record of. For a first game, five stats tell most of the story: goals, assists, shots on goal, ground balls, and saves. Add caused turnovers, faceoffs or draw controls, and penalties once your keeper is comfortable finding the first five without looking down. The lacrosse stat glossary says what counts for each one and how the app records it, so you can decide what matters to your staff before the first whistle.

How do you record stats during the game?

Recording happens in the SquadProfile mobile app, not the web dashboard. Open the game, tap the player's number, then tap the stat. For a goal, the app also asks who assisted and what kind of goal it was; everything else is one tap. Run a scrimmage or a few minutes of practice through the app before your actual opener, so the first time your keeper hunts for a button is not during a live play.

Being a few seconds behind is fine. Skipping a play your keeper is not sure about is also fine. A clean record of the plays they were confident about is worth more than a guess at the ones they were not.

What if your keeper misses a play or gets one wrong?

Fix it after the game. A stat keeper or coach on your staff can edit a recorded stat once play has stopped, so a missed tap or a wrong jersey number does not have to sit in your records for the season. Treat the first game as practice for your keeper, not a test, and clean up what needs it once the final horn sounds.

Does the whole team need the SquadProfile app?

Not to record. One stat keeper runs the game, and everyone else just needs an invite to see it. A head coach, assistant coaches, and additional stat keepers can each join the team with their own login, and any of them can open the box score once the game ends without touching the recording screen themselves.

What do you get after your first game?

A box score, broken down by player: who scored, who assisted, who picked up ground balls, and what your goalie did in net. Free teams can track unlimited games through the season and see the box score after each one, along with each player's recent game stats. Carrying those numbers into a running season total, team-wide shooting and situational analytics, and stat leaders across your roster are a Premium feature, so your first game gives you a clear read on that game and a sense of what the season view adds once you have a few more in the bank.

What should you do before your next game?

Sit down with your stat keeper for a few minutes once the box score is in. Ask which stats felt natural and which ones they want to add next, and decide as a staff whether you are ready for faceoffs, penalties, and the rest. By the third or fourth game, most of this stops being a decision and turns into muscle memory.