How common is this scenario?
It's Saturday morning; you're due to play a game of footie in two hours; three of your teammates haven't let you know if they can play; two others have no clue where it's on; and you've to still sift through the hundreds of group chat messages just to figure out who's actually playing.
Well, this trio of amateur sports fanatics decided that they should be the ones to do something to simplify the weekly tradition of organising the Sunday league match.
Following a lengthy chat over a few pints in the Duke of Deptford pub a couple of years ago, friends Dan Bunce, Daniel Fyffe and Willoughby Badger came up with the concept for a new mobile app which could revolutionise the way small, grassroots sports matches can be organised.
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Hence, Down To Play was born.
"It's a solution for the amateur sports community to help track player availability," said Dan Bunce, a 29-year-old healthcare marketer from Bexleyheath.
Dan told the News Shopper that their brainchild app aims to simplify the way in which amateur sports games can be organised, from player availability all the way to game location, linking in with Google Maps for convenience.
However, this wasn't a quick weekend project for the three enthusiasts.
Dan spoke of the countless early mornings and long evenings they spent tinkering with their app, all while holding down full-time jobs, as well as the limited budget they had to work with.
"It's tough but it’s fun. The way I explain it is that between the hours of 6-9am and 7-12pm is where our work gets done.
"You constantly have an energy to continue driving everything forward.
"On pretty much a shoestring budget and through our talented friends and network, we were able to build a brand and a robust mobile app," said Dan.
Also, even though they're now published app developers, Dan explained that they so their best to stay true to their roots as they continue to hold "key" team meetings in pubs across London.
Amateur sports is a major passion which all three of the founders share as each grew up playing sports like rugby, football and cricket.
Dan even shared his early memories of being scouted for the West Ham youth team while he was playing with the Crayford Arrows.
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"It was a bit of a dream at the time because got to play with West Ham twice a week.
"However, the dream was soon over but it was good while it lasted," he said.
Following a successful launch in January, around 150 local teams have signed up with more than 320 matches and training sessions organised, much to the founders' delight.
However, as their audience continues to grow and opportunities to monetise the app becomes more likely, Dan explained that they would ultimately like to "give back" to the grassroots amateur sports community.
"This is something built by real amateur sportspeople and our main goal is to be able to give something back to the sports community that’s not just the app.
"If we could drive revenue from the app, we would be totally putting something back into the grassroots, whether it be through charity events or tournaments, etc.," said Dan.
For more information on Down To Play, click here.
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