The Spark: Moving to Portland

Fresh out of business school, I found myself in finance and sales jobs that I absolutely hated. Something was missing. I felt trapped in a career path that didn't align with who I was or what I wanted to contribute to the world.

I had recently moved from the East Coast to Portland, Oregon. Portland is an amazing city with an incredible sports culture, but there was one problem: I had no idea how to find pickup games or recreational leagues. I spent my first few years struggling to connect with the local sports community, posting on random sites, asking around at gyms, and basically hoping to stumble across games by chance.

"What if there was an app that could connect people who wanted to play sports?"

The idea hit me over ten years ago: an app that would bring people together to play recreational sports. No more endless searching, no more relying on word-of-mouth networks you weren't part of yet. Just a simple way for people to find games, organize teams, and build community through sports.

Taking the Leap: From Suits to Code

Having an idea is one thing. Having the skills to execute it is another entirely. I knew absolutely nothing about coding, app development, or the tech industry. But I knew I couldn't let this idea just sit in my head forever.

So I did something that seemed crazy at the time: I left my finance job to attend a coding bootcamp. My family thought I'd lost my mind. My colleagues couldn't understand why I'd throw away a "perfectly good career" to chase what seemed like a pipe dream.

The Ten-Year Journey:

2014-2015: Left finance, attended coding bootcamp

2015-2024: Worked in tech, developed technical skills

2014-2024: Played in rec leagues, managed teams, experienced the pain points firsthand

2024-2025: Finally built Sportal

That coding bootcamp was just the beginning of a ten-year journey in tech. I learned programming languages, worked at startups, gained experience with databases, APIs, mobile development, and user experience design. Every job taught me something new that would eventually help me build Sportal.

Living the Problem: My Sports Journey

While I was building my technical skills, I was also living the very problem I wanted to solve. I didn't just theorize about what recreational sports players needed—I experienced it firsthand.

My Sports Experience:

• Joined a coed indoor soccer team in Division 6
• Helped the team climb to Division 1 over 10 years
• Became the team manager
• Participated in a long-standing weekly soccer pickup group
• Played in various basketball pickup groups

The Pain Points I Felt:

• Managing team communication across multiple apps
• Tracking who's available for each game
• Finding subs at the last minute
• Organizing pickup games efficiently
• Building consistent sports communities

The experience of managing a team that climbed from Division 6 to Division 1 taught me everything about the challenges that sports organizers face. Every frustrating group text, every last-minute scramble for players, every missed communication was research for what would eventually become Sportal.

I wasn't building an app based on assumptions—I was building it based on a decade of living these problems every week.

Making the Dream Reality

By 2024, I had finally reached the point where I had both the technical skills and the deep understanding of the problem. I had experienced firsthand what it was like to manage teams, organize pickup games, and try to build sports communities. I had also spent nearly a decade in tech, learning valuable skills that would help me put it all together.

But most importantly, I had clarity on the vision. This wasn't just about building another sports app. It was about creating something that would genuinely help people find their community, stay active, have fun, and connect with others who shared their passion for sports.

The Sportal Vision:

Teams: Simplify roster management and communication

Leagues: Streamline organization and scheduling

Pickup Games: Make finding and organizing games effortless

Community: Connect people through their love of sports

So I finally did it. I took everything I had learned over the past decade and started building Sportal. Not as a side project this time, but as the main focus. This was going to be the app I had envisioned ten years ago, informed by a decade of experience and built with the skills I had worked so hard to develop.

The Mission: Bringing People Together

Sportal is more than just an app to me—it's the culmination of a ten-year journey and a deeply personal mission. I want to build the best team, league, pickup, and general recreational sports app because I believe in the power of sports to bring people together.

What Drives Me:

For Individuals

• Help people find ways to play and stay active
• Make it easier to have fun through sports
• Create opportunities for fitness and wellness
• Enable people to discover new sports and activities

For Communities

• Build stronger, more connected communities
• Bridge social gaps through shared activities
• Create lasting friendships and relationships
• Foster inclusive and welcoming sports environments

I've seen firsthand how sports can transform lives. I've watched shy newcomers find their confidence on a team. I've seen pickup games turn into lifelong friendships. I've experienced how managing a team can teach leadership skills and create bonds that extend far beyond the playing field.

That's what I want Sportal to enable for everyone. Whether you're a team manager trying to organize your roster, a league organizer coordinating dozens of teams, or someone new to a city looking for a pickup game, I want Sportal to make it easy for you to find your sports community.

Just the Beginning

This story isn't over—it's really just beginning. Sportal is launching as a team management app, but that's just the first step. The vision is much bigger: a comprehensive platform that serves every aspect of recreational sports.

Every feature we build, every problem we solve, every user we help connect with their sports community brings us closer to that vision. And every step of the way, I'm reminded of why I started this journey in the first place: because sports have the power to bring people together, and technology should make that easier, not harder.

Want to be part of the journey?

Join thousands of sports enthusiasts who are already using Sportal to organize their teams and build their communities.

Download Sportal Today

The Story Behind Sportal