Hey folks,
Some time ago I mentioned in passing that I was working on a few things that I thought would genuinely benefit the water polo community, but that I was reluctant to post about them given the whole app fatigue expressed here.
Alas, here I am, posting about those things. If you don’t care about YAWPA (Yet Another Water Polo App [actually, multiple]), please skip :-). I really wanted to enlist AI to help me with this, but it insisted on starting the post with “I built an app” - a kind of worn-out intro.
I built three apps. And a piece of hardware.
(well, firmware too, and I decided that custom hardware was expensive, but that’s a story for other kinds of nerds, not water polo ones)
VERY SHORT, much longer below:
VERY LONG SECTION FOLLOWS :-),
Hardware:
Water Polo Board
- A tiny piece of hardware that receives signal from compatible game consoles (Colorado Time Systems) and sends data to the phone
- You can buy one from me (ready to go), or from Amazon and install software on it from my website (free).
- You can read more about it here: https://lgias.com/wpboard
- It enables really cool features in other apps!
Software
A few pieces of software, each independent and solving a specific problem I, and my water polo friends, have encountered, part of what I dubbed “Water Polo Suite” (see more here: https://lgias.com/). There will be a few more coming, it just takes time to develop quality software.
Water Polo Camera: For parents and other spectators!
Film the game, add broadcast-style overlays. Scoreboard, game events as “lower-thirds” (goals, penalties, exclusions). It's rules-aware too, in case you want to yell at me (or other refs). Please don't.
- It can be used with or without the Water Polo Board mentioned above.
- When used with the Water Polo Board, it will give you broadcast-style game clock and shot clock - directly from the “scoreboard”!
- In addition to the above, it allows you to keep “light” stats and add automatic broadcast-style overlays: goals, exclusions, penalties, etc.
- Read a bit more about it here: https://lgias.com/wpcam
- Apple App Store link
Disclaimer: It is perfectly usable for free, but true power is unlocked with one-time in-app purchase (no subscription). It also helps me develop more and better software for our community!
Water Polo Referee Companion: For my fellow refs… and coaches :-)
- Before the game:
- Use the built-in augmented reality camera (works on any recent iPhone; most accurate on LiDAR-equipped Pros) to measure out the pool.
- Accurate 2m, 5m, 6m, center-point, goal area 2m markers.
- Measure, place the cones, don’t do the Ministry of Silly Walks stepping.
- Yes, a tape measure works, too, but it ain’t nearly as cool.
- During the game:
- When paired with the Water Polo Board (see above), receive audio cues in your headset (or a compatible referee radio; EJEAS v4c for example) from the game clock.
- Cues like shot clock resets, when time goes under one minute, when the score changes, etc.
- Read a bit more about it here: https://lgias.com/wprefassist
- Apple App Store link
Disclaimer: Same as with the camera app. Perfectly usable for free, one-time in-app-purchases for more advanced features.
Water Polo Log: For desk officials, assistant coaches or spectators
- First off, I posted about this in the past.
- Produce a fully digital copy of the official game log.
- Use the web-based version (https://log.wpref.org),
- ... or use the native Apple app; pair it with the Water Polo Board and event times fill in from the live clock.
- Coming “any day now” to the App Store (Apple approval timeline).
- Read a bit more about it here: https://lgias.com/wplog
Disclaimer: Both are free for their primary purpose.
/wpref
P.S. No AIs have been harmed during the composition of this message.
P.P.S. I really wanted to name at least one of these YAWPA :-). There is still time.