The app for your weekly pickup soccer game

Most weekly games run on a group chat: a poll, a pile of "maybe"s, a headcount on the morning of the game, teams picked by captains at the pitch, and one person chasing everyone for the money afterwards. Rostara leaves the chat for the banter and takes over the rest.

How a weekly game runs on Rostara

1. Make a group and pick Soccer or Futsal. Paste your players' names; names are enough to start.
2. Post this week's game with the time, the pitch, a player limit (10 for 5-a-side, 14 for 7-a-side) and an RSVP deadline.
3. Share the invite link in your group chat. Players join with Google or email and tap Going, in the browser, with nothing to install.
4. Let the waitlist work. Once the game is full, Going puts players on a first-come waitlist. When someone drops out, the next player moves in and gets a "You're in!" notification.
5. Tap Auto Balance when the list is final. Rostara splits the players into even teams, you publish them, and everyone sees which team they're on.
6. Next week, duplicate the game. Everything moves forward seven days, including the deadline and the time RSVPs open.

Enough players, and not too many

A 5-a-side pitch takes ten. Set the player limit when you post the game, and Rostara keeps the order:

• First come, first in. Anyone who taps Going after the game fills joins the waitlist and sees their place: "Waitlist #2".
• Spots refill themselves. When a player switches to Maybe or Not Going, their spot goes straight to the first person waiting.
• A bigger pitch when it fills. Add two sizes, such as 10 and 14. The game opens at 10, and when enough people want in to reach 14, the cap grows and everyone waiting moves in together.
• Guests count. A friend someone brings takes a spot like anyone else, and waits in line when the game is full.

More detail, and policies you can paste into your group: waitlists and guests.

Even teams, with the keepers split

Captains picking means friends pick friends and the same players go last every week. Shirts against skins is quick and often lopsided. Rostara balances the teams on what your players can actually do:

• Private ratings. You and your co-organizers rate each player on Pace, Shooting, Passing, Dribbling, Defending, Physical and Goal Keeping, or with one overall score. Nobody sees who gave which score. Anyone you haven't rated yet counts as the group average, so it works from the first game.
• Keepers on opposite sides. Goalkeeping is rated on its own, and Rostara knows roughly how much of each game every player spends in goal. Mark your two keepers for the game and they go to different teams. See how to balance goalkeepers.
• A balance score tells you how close the game will be before anyone puts their boots on. Swap players by hand if you know something the ratings don't, and the score updates as you go.
• Two to eight teams. Three teams with winners staying on, or two big sides on a full field. Team sizes never differ by more than one.

No group yet? The free soccer team generator runs the same balancer in your browser, with no sign-up.

The same rhythm every week

• RSVPs open at the same time every week. With Schedule for later, the game is listed straight away and opens at the time you pick, with a "New event" notification to the whole group.
• A deadline, such as 24 hours before kick-off, gives you time to balance the teams. When it passes, everyone going, maybe or waiting gets an "RSVP closed" notification.
• Teams are out. Players who are going get a notification when you publish the teams, and see "You're on Team 2" on the game.
• Calendar links put the game in Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar, with directions to the pitch.

Rostara has no automatic repeating games yet: duplicating last week's game takes two taps. See games, RSVPs and deadlines, and agree your house rules with the pickup soccer rules template.

Splitting the pitch fee

Someone books the pitch and fronts the money. With Rostara Pro, a shared ledger splits the pitch fee among the players, players record what they paid, and an organizer approves each payment, so everyone can see who still owes. Rostara never handles the money itself; your group keeps paying the way it does now. See splitting costs and tracking who paid.

Pro costs $12.99 a month or $99.99 a year for one group. Players never pay. Everything else on this page is free.

Rostara or a group chat poll?

If your group is the same ten friends every week and nobody minds the teams, a poll is enough. Once you have a waitlist, a fee to split or teams people complain about, that's what Rostara is for.

Run volleyball too? See the app for your weekly volleyball night.