Getting fit and staying in shape is hard enough without having to deal with the added layer of work introduced by fitting it in to your busy schedule. If you are like most folks and prefer organizing exercise sessions with others, whether it be a full team or a few friends, then there’s a fix to your organizing woes.
Hoops Connect is an app created by someone who wanted to make it easy to find other basketball players interested in picking up a game. It started with basketball, but has grown into an app that makes it easy for anyone to organize just about any group activity you can think of.
On the one hand, it’s an organizer’s paradise. On the other hand, it’s a social networking tool that opens doors to new fitness opportunities around the corner that you may not have even known existed.
The overall layout of the app is clean and super easy to navigate. It leverages the power of GPS to locate events that are registered in the app and shows them on a map, so you can decide on what exercise class or basketball challenge you want to sign up for. It doesn’t stop at any sport, Hoops Connect supports just about any type of exercise class and activity you can think of.
For events that are class based and require fee payment, Hoops Connect provides a cool interface that allows you to sign and pay, so all you have to do is get there on time and participate.
As mentioned earlier, you can use the app in two ways: as an organizer and as a participant. As an organizer, you can create new events that you want to put out into the Hoops network to see what kind of response you get. If you have a certain set of friends that you specifically want to contain the event to, invite only them, and make it a semi private event.
If you are a gym owner or hold classes of your own, as an organizer, you can easily create a schedule set of events and specify how users can register and pay for the classes. What is really cool about the app is it allows organizers to track attendees and dropouts, so those who are waiting can backfill last minute open spots. You can even communicate directly with participants using the in-app messaging capabilities.
I would like to see a bit more overlap and connectivity via Facebook or other social media so you can put the word out to others who may not be in the app already. This way you can invite them to join in and sign up.
I look forward to finding more classes for sports I already enjoy and hope to make new discoveries for classes I did not know even existed. Hoops is not just for basketball, it’s for everyone.
Rating: 8 /10
Price: Free
