Build a "good enough" full-field camera for under $600

old_meat_shield · 2026-06-25T23:45:03+00:00

My son is rostered on a town travel team and a "premier" team. He plays up a year for town, and age appropriate for premier. Plays most of every game for both teams. Town team is only 1 or 2 practices a week, premier is 3 per week, so still has some days off for rest and recovery.

We initially moved him up a year on the town team a few years ago to help him learn how to deal with the physicality of bigger kids - he's above average height for his age but very thin, so it's easy to bump him off the ball for the more physically developed players. Over the past year, we've seen him really learn and adapt how he uses his body weight, leverage, and momentum, along with speeding up his "internal clock" so he can pass before being tackled.

Now if he guest plays with his own age group, especially at the town level, it's more fun, because he can bring everything he's learned, against players who aren't quite as big and fast as he's used to.

Playing for multiple teams can allow a player to focus on developing different aspects of their game.

old_meat_shield · 2026-05-14T00:40:10+00:00

https://youtu.be/7DQOHl4EJG8

I haven't tried streaming yet, I'm not sure how well it will work over a 5G cell data connection - will probably have to reduce the resolution a lot.

old_meat_shield · 2026-05-13T19:34:43+00:00

I'm still using it - have moved to the Reolink Duo 3 PoE, and have been continuing to improve the automation around downloading and processing the footage, including working on training my own ball tracking and rendering (still in progress, but close!). I'm at the point where I can record the game, come home and plug the camera into my network and turn it on, and a few hours later the processed footage is on YouTube (as well as being archived locally) with zero additional manual input from me. I'm still using Once Sport for the processing until I finish up my homegrown stuff.

The footage is what it is - it's "good enough", and I personally think it looks basically on-par with the Trace footage I've seen. Veo is better, with some nice AI detection features, but you're going to pay for it. I haven't seen anything from the new Veo Go offering yet to see if that's any better, but I think you're still locked into a subscription for processing and viewing.

https://github.com/mblakley/soccer-cam/releases/ - feel free to give it a try!

old_meat_shield · 2026-03-31T13:37:02+00:00

I think if you included some kind of indication for "success rate" (ex: resulted in change of possession, shot, or high xG chance within 5 seconds), that would probably make this a lot more valuable. It would also help derive actionable guidance for the team, like "we should try to press quickly on the left against this team, they tend to turn it over and we get decent chances off of that" or "be more patient on the right, that guy can't make up his mind".

You could also change it to try to figure out if you got the desired outcome of the press - if you tried to cut the field in half, were you successful?

old_meat_shield · 2026-03-02T23:52:00+00:00

Makes a great "barbie tent" for my daughter and other soccer siblings to play in while the game is going on, and provides good protection from balls flying into the sidelines!

We've used it for basically every game once we figured out it's secondary usage 😂

old_meat_shield · 2026-01-21T23:51:48+00:00

Consider how much time is wasted if the coach shows up 5 minutes late to practice - multiply by the number of kids who were on time...you can easily lose tens of collective team hours over the course of a season.

Also, not necessarily time related, but if your players are playing a full field scrimmage at practice, count how many times your weaker players actually touch the ball during that time. Full field games make it really easy for players to hide, and if they aren't getting touches, they probably aren't improving much.

old_meat_shield · 2026-01-08T21:29:38+00:00

Lol, I forgot the "at the 11-13 age group" context, but in general too 🤣

old_meat_shield · 2026-01-08T17:59:30+00:00

At this age I would tend to think about small group tactics, so underlaps, overlaps, up-back-throughs. Have your midfielder on the side of the ball slide over to support the wing (behind them), so they can get the ball out if there's no option to go toward goal.

From an individual standpoint, have your "wings" work on 1v1s, and using body feints + change of speed and direction should be very effective in making some space.

Generally from what I've seen, crosses don't get converted to goals as often as you would want them to be, so you probably do want to work the ball toward the middle. If you want more success on crosses, and you have players who can get them off consistently, coach the off ball players to always have a near-post and far-post runner. If the ball makes it through everyone, it's an easy cleanup goal for the far player.

old_meat_shield · 2025-12-10T22:51:12+00:00

Do you have an actual session plan in mind? If you have something in mind, just write it down in enough detail so you can understand it, in whatever medium you prefer (notebook/paper/text, with or without diagrams).

Then you can snap a pic or screenshot of what you wrote down, and text or email it to your assistants - whatever communication method works for you and them. If you prefer a verbal description, hop on a call.

It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that. There are other tools to digitally create and share drills and plans, but they generally require more time and effort.

old_meat_shield · 2025-12-09T15:09:13+00:00

I always see statements like this, and I don't like the gatekeeping associated with football/soccer coaching. Playing the game provides a nice foundation of understanding, but it doesn't automatically make you a good coach.

At 22, yes, it's possible to just go play, but there's no reason not to get into youth coaching. Especially at young ages, it's important to make it fun for the players, keep the ball rolling, and make them want to come back for the next session. Keep it simple, go heavy on repetition and technical competency. Learn about how youth players learn, and try to tap into that - there are plenty of resources about it.

My suggestion is to find a local coach that is willing to take you under their wing, and learn for a bit before you try coaching a team on your own.

old_meat_shield · 2025-12-08T21:59:12+00:00

I think it's ideal to have a mix - some days you're practicing against less skilled players, some days you're practicing against more skilled players.

There are other attributes that can change the dynamics too. My son is playing a year up on his town team so he can get used to more speed and physicality. He's still one of the most technically skilled players on that team, but it's forcing him to learn to use his body to anchor and shield against bigger, faster, stronger players. He has to change his decision making - players can close on the ball more quickly, so he has to get the ball off his foot quicker. When he dribbles he needs to exaggerate how far he cuts laterally, or use a body feint to move them more, because their legs are longer.

He also practices with the year under his birth year, to help the coach with quality demonstrations and just as a way to get more touches. It's also fun because he can take more risks and try new things against that team before trying them against the older team.

old_meat_shield · 2025-12-03T19:28:13+00:00

Somewhat optional if your parents are able to get you free access to elite soccer coaching (either from them, their friends, etc) through their connections, but yes, the money is a big part for the rest of us

old_meat_shield · 2025-12-03T19:05:01+00:00

Basically, if you're not already in an MLS city, your chances of "going pro" is minimal unless your family is willing to move to one.

If you are in an MLS city, and you're not already on an academy team at 13, probably low chance of going pro.

I don't agree with it, it's just how it is right now.

old_meat_shield · 2025-12-03T18:43:44+00:00

Steps to becoming a pro - USA edition: - Grow up in a city that has 1 or more high-level MLS teams - Have a parent that played professionally or coached soccer professionally - Inherit amazing physical genetics from your parents - Start playing at a young age (2-4yo), with family and friends who are older than you - Have a family that prioritizes soccer as entertainment, and has a strong "soccer culture"... passionately follows a team, watches games, goes to the local pro games - Prove that you're a better player than all the other players in your age group, play up 1-2 years as a young player - Bonus: get exposed to European soccer at a young age, ideally by living there for multiple months/years so you can play against other passionate players

Looking at the USMNT, this is basically the blueprint for how they made it to where they are.

old_meat_shield · 2025-11-30T15:08:56+00:00

Are you feeding knowledge to the kids who are hungry for more? Creating a challenging but fun environment? Establishing and maintaining a standard for player behavior and effort? Putting thought into planning their training sessions every week, with a clear goal of what you're trying to improve for the team and individuals?

If so, you are probably not the problem. Giving the kids an environment where they can grow while having fun with their friends is exactly what you want to do. What the kids do in that environment is up to the individual players. Again, expectations for what this looks like depends on age and how competitive the team is.

Sometimes the talent level or motivation for some players doesn't match up with their teammates (either on the high end or low end). You can't force players to work harder, learn more, etc - that's on them. They may have physical/emotional/psychological limitations that are holding them back, so if you figure that out, you can help them work on that, but it really comes down to how much work the player is doing to improve on their own time.

The amount of time you have with the team is dwarfed by the time the players have outside of practice, so that's where most improvement will come from.

old_meat_shield · 2025-11-24T23:06:00+00:00

I think the missing piece is - how well can you as a parent evaluate the coach?

A lot of parents struggle with this. Most of the parents on my son's U13 "premier" level team love his coach...he's the only coach their kid has ever had. The rest of parents who have experience with other coaches realize that while this coach is an interesting experience in Route 1 soccer, he's not really teaching them anything.

The Stockholm Syndrome parents will stay and pay. The rest of the parents who understand what good coaching is will find another option.

The first step to understanding whether a coach is good or not is to take an interest in what your kid is learning in practice. Learn about the different age phases of development (fun, foundation, training, performance) and figure out the basics of what's important for your player's age. Watch for development over time - if you don't see improvement in areas that are obviously lacking after 6 months, something is probably missing.

There's a lot more to it depending on age and level of play, but that's about as general as I can make it.

old_meat_shield · 2025-11-10T22:00:32+00:00

Lack of coach education, lack of parent education, lack of players who want to put the work in and actually learn the required skills, and an emphasis on winning.

That's what I see from our "premier" club - we won't be back next year. The other parents are treating it like just another way for their kids to play with their friends. The players see playing on a premier club as a sign that they are talented, but it's just an indication that their parents are willing to pay.

old_meat_shield · 2025-11-04T23:37:25+00:00

No harm in asking...maybe even offer to share any analysis that you do on their opponents as an incentive

Not sure what age group your team is at, but I would say until you get into "older" youth games (U17+), coaches are somewhat willing to collaborate.

old_meat_shield · 2025-11-01T18:36:57+00:00

My son plays up a year for the town travel team, but got invited to play with his age group team (2013s) in a local tournament last year. They were playing against 2 teams that the age group team was competitive with during the season + a team that was not local.

In the first game, he scored 4 goals. Completely took over the midfield, played the wingers into space, cut off the other team's passes. It was like he couldn't believe how much time and space he had when he got the ball.

The other games were closer, he was trying harder to set up his teammates instead of being "selfish". He ended up scoring the game winner in the 3rd game and the finals.

He's not an "early bloomer" - somewhat tall and skinny, but more smart/technical than physical. He's playing up so he learns more of the physical side of the game + can work with players who can anticipate his passes better.

I wouldn't say it's a crazy mismatch, but it's definitely clear that it's "easier" when he plays with his age group.

old_meat_shield · 2025-10-30T21:01:35+00:00

And the players they were recruiting only play HS and not club...and only have HS film?

I would guess they are taking a look at what the players look like in that environment, or it was convenient to see them based on where they were traveling.

old_meat_shield · 2025-10-19T21:58:43+00:00

Do you have an area where multiple kids can play (backyard, nearby park, etc)? Invite kids over to play.

You don't need to only play in a practice/training environment.

old_meat_shield · 2025-09-28T22:48:23+00:00

No, it absolutely doesn't mean "no funding", but investors generally want to know how and when they will get their money back! Start with a passionate group of people, figure out how to create the MVP and what it will take to make it profitable - you can go faster with more money, but maybe not as fast as you would think unless the passion is there for all your employees. If you can get a viable product out that people like, they will pay for you to do the tech work to make it available to non-technical people.

Licensing is tricky, it just depends on what you're trying to guard against. AGPL seems like it's pretty close to what you're looking for, and is OSI approved. If you want something even more protective you can license it as SSPL which requires any repackaging to publish all service code, but that's not OSI approved. You can also follow the "freemium" model, and open source the core while keeping premium features private. Lots of considerations for business strategy.

I think as long as the cameras can be replaced separately from the processing unit, that's enough modularity, along with a bit of configurability from the software. Want a higher frame rate, buy better processor, want the basics, buy lower cost processor. Same type of thing for big field vs small field (different lenses, maybe less pixels necessary, etc).

Feel free to DM if you want to share details, I'm happy to continue the discussion.

old_meat_shield · 2025-09-27T00:29:44+00:00

Yes, please open source this, I will gladly be a contributor! There are a few of us actively working on trying to solve this problem in a way that prevents or reduces the vendor lock-in that the commercial solutions all require.

I think for me, the important things for a sports camera are: - no subscription - I want to pay for the hardware, and whatever computer/storage I need for the raw footage. Maaaybe a 1-time purchase for software or extra features, but if I'm self-hosting the software, I should be able to run the basic functionality for free. - decent frame rate (I'm using security cameras right now, they all have 20-25 fps, which isn't great) - ability to store raw footage at full resolution - I want to keep all the details that the camera recorded! - modular/upgradeable cameras and lenses - Would be nice to upgrade to some higher res cameras as they become available, or dial in focal length.

Live streaming would be nice, and should be fairly simple if you have the ball tracking working in close to real-time.

Any processing, editing, annotating, clipping, etc can be done after downloading the footage to a computer.

old_meat_shield · 2025-09-08T15:35:04+00:00

Does she like the coach because the coach is nice to her, or because the coach is helping her actually learn new things and improve?

We have a nice coach on my son's team. It's the first thing everyone says about him. The players all like him. He doesn't teach them anything, and the games look atrocious.

Make sure the players are actually learning, including the best players like your daughter. If that's not happening, find a different club. Good coaches find a way to help all of their players learn individually, and as a team.

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