Every soccer player knows this situation: You go to training and just want to kick the ball, play with your teammates, and have fun. But then the coach comes along and spoils your mood. Because first thing you have to do is run! Unfortunately, without the necessary stamina, completing the 90 minutes just won't work. Marco Weber and his co-founders at TrainYourTeam have recognized this problem and want to remedy it with their app.
1. What is TrainYourTeam?
With the TrainYourTeam app, running can be removed from team training and improved. This gives coaches and players more time to focus on tactics or technical exercises, for example. The coach can create workouts for the entire team or individual players at any time using the app. For example, they can specify four jogs within two weeks and set the distance and time for each run. The athletes take their smartphones with them when they run. The app records all relevant data. The coach can see whether the specified time was met and even the average pace of the runners.
2. Who is behind TrainYourTeam and how did you come up with the idea?
Colin Kaschel (24) and I (23) have been playing soccer since childhood. While studying business informatics in Munich, we both regularly missed training at our local clubs – that's how we came up with the idea for TrainYourTeam. After developing the software, we brought Dominik Hübner (26) onto our team to handle marketing and sales. He plays soccer with me, is a triathlon runner, and studies international management in Stuttgart.
3. What has been your biggest challenge so far?
The biggest challenge was Apple's review of the app. It took several weeks for TrainYourTeam to be available in the App Store. We had to make several improvements to ensure compliance with all guidelines.
More time for what matters
4. How is business going?
We're still in the starting blocks. In the past two weeks, we've doubled our user numbers – thanks to social media marketing.
5. What does Munich mean to you?
We are not only studying in Munich, we have also found ideal conditions for our app here. Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship has accepted us into its Startup League. We not only receive financial support but also receive advice in many different areas.
6. What sets your app apart from others? What's special about it?
For me as a soccer player, it's important that I can use the app to decide when and where I go running. I think that's one of the key advantages of our app. It gives the team more time during training to hone their technique or develop a strategy. This is reflected in the results later on. It also motivates me when I see that my teammates performed better than me.
7. Bavaria or '60?
Bavaria, of course!
