Bench Coach - Youth Baseball Coaching Assistant

A complete AI-powered web application for youth baseball coaches featuring practice planning, team management, player tracking, and intelligent coaching assistance.

🎯 Features

• AI Chat Assistant: Get coaching advice powered by Claude AI with team-aware context
• Practice Plan Generator: Auto-generate age-appropriate practice plans with drills and coaching cues
• Team & Player Management: Track multiple teams across seasons with persistent player data
• Smart Memory System: AI remembers team issues, player notes, and coaching preferences
• Season Management: Easily roll over teams between seasons while maintaining player history
• Notes System: Track team issues, player development, and coaching observations

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• A Supabase account (free tier works)
• An Anthropic API key (Claude)

1. Clone and Install

cd benchcoach
npm install

2. Set Up Supabase

1. Go to supabase.com and create a new project
2. Once created, go to Project Settings → API
3. Copy your project URL and anon/public key
4. Go to SQL Editor and run the entire supabase-schema.sql file to create all tables

3. Get Anthropic API Key

1. Go to console.anthropic.com
2. Create an account or sign in
3. Navigate to API Keys
4. Create a new API key

4. Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env.local file in the root directory:

# Supabase
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=your_supabase_project_url
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your_supabase_anon_key

# Anthropic Claude API
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key

# App URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000

5. Run the Development Server

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

📱 First Time Setup

1. Create Account: Sign up with email/password
2. Onboarding Wizard:
   • Create your first season (e.g., "Spring 2026")
   • Set up your team (name, age group, skill level)
   • Add players to your roster
3. Start Coaching: Access chat, practice planner, and team management

🎓 User Flow

Creating a New Season

When a new season starts:

1. Click team selector → "+ New Season/Team"
2. Choose to:
   • Start Fresh: Empty roster, new slate
   • Roll Over Players: Import players from previous team (resets skill ratings)
   • Clone Last Season: Copy team structure and settings

Daily Coaching Workflow

1. Chat: Ask about drills, player issues, game strategies
2. Practice Plans: Generate custom practice plans in seconds
3. Notes: Track what's working and what needs attention
4. Roster: Update player progress and positions

Memory System

Bench Coach remembers:

• Persistent: Coach preferences, player personality traits
• Season-Specific: Team issues, mechanical problems, skill ratings

This prevents old problems from "haunting" players across years.

🛠 Tech Stack

• Framework: Next.js 14 (App Router)
• Database: Supabase (PostgreSQL)
• AI: Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• Auth: Supabase Auth
• Deployment: Vercel (recommended)

🌐 Deployment

Deploy to Vercel (Recommended)

1. Push your code to GitHub
2. Go to vercel.com
3. Import your repository
4. Add environment variables:
   • NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL
   • NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY
   • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
5. Deploy!

Alternative: Deploy to Netlify

npm run build

Then deploy the .next folder to Netlify with the same environment variables.

💰 Estimated Costs

Monthly Operating Costs (per coach)

• Supabase: $0 (free tier: up to 500MB, 50k users)
• Anthropic API: ~$2-5/coach (based on 30-50 messages/month)
• Vercel: $0 (free tier: 100GB bandwidth)

Total: ~$2-5 per active coach per month

Scaling Costs

At 100 active coaches:

• Supabase: $25/month (Pro plan)
• Anthropic API: $200-500/month
• Vercel: $0-20/month
• Total: ~$250-550/month ($2.50-5.50 per coach)

At $15/month subscription = ~$1,500 revenue → 67-83% profit margin

🔐 Security Features

• Row Level Security (RLS) enabled on all tables
• Coaches can only access their own data
• Supabase Auth handles password security
• API routes protected by authentication

📊 Database Schema

Key tables:

• coaches - Coach profiles
• seasons - Season containers (Spring 2026, etc.)
• teams - Season-specific teams and rosters
• players - Persistent player identities
• team_players - Season snapshots (positions, ratings)
• player_traits - Persistent personality notes
• player_notes - Season-specific mechanical issues
• team_notes - Team-level observations
• practice_plans - Generated and saved plans
• chat_threads & chat_messages - Conversation history
• coach_preferences - Persistent coaching style
• team_memory_summaries - Rolling context summaries

🎨 Customization

Change AI Model

In lib/anthropic.ts, update the model:

const response = await anthropic.messages.create({
  model: 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514', // Change this
  // ...
})

Options:

• claude-opus-4-5-20251101 (most capable, more expensive)
• claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929 (recommended balance)
• claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 (fastest, cheapest)

Adjust Memory Confidence Threshold

In app/api/chat/route.ts:

if (pref.confidence > 0.75) { // Adjust this threshold
  // Auto-save preferences
}

Add Custom Focus Areas

In app/onboarding/page.tsx and app/dashboard/practice/page.tsx:

const PRIMARY_GOALS = [
  'throwing',
  'catching',
  'your-custom-goal', // Add here
  // ...
]

🐛 Troubleshooting

Database Connection Issues

• Verify Supabase URL and keys in .env.local
• Check that RLS policies are enabled
• Ensure schema was run completely

AI Not Responding

• Verify Anthropic API key is correct
• Check API key has sufficient credits
• Look at browser console for errors

Authentication Issues

• Clear browser cookies/cache
• Verify Supabase auth is configured
• Check redirect URLs in Supabase dashboard

🔄 Converting to Mobile App

The codebase is already mobile-responsive. To create native apps:

Option 1: React Native (Expo)

npx create-expo-app benchcoach-mobile
# Copy components and logic
# Update to use Expo/React Native components

Option 2: Capacitor (Easier)

npm install @capacitor/core @capacitor/cli
npx cap init
npx cap add ios
npx cap add android

This wraps your web app as a native app (2-3 weeks of work).

📝 Future Enhancements

Possible additions for V2:

• Practice session tracking (what actually happened)
• Player progress charts
• Parent communication portal
• Team schedule management
• Game stat tracking
• Video drill library
• Multi-coach collaboration
• Mobile push notifications
• Offline mode

🤝 Support

For issues or questions:

1. Check the troubleshooting section above
2. Review Supabase logs
3. Check browser console for errors
4. Verify environment variables are set

📄 License

This project is ready to use for your business. You own all rights to customize and deploy it.

🎯 Next Steps

1. ✅ Set up Supabase project
2. ✅ Get Anthropic API key
3. ✅ Configure environment variables
4. ✅ Run locally and test
5. ✅ Deploy to Vercel
6. 🚀 Launch and market to coaches!

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Built with ⚾ for coaches who want to spend less time planning and more time coaching.