Like most of you all, downloading another app that I’ve never heard of can always seem sketch. Mateo is my city manager and has made it very easy to understand how do use the app. The app is very simple: pick what city you’re in, pick what sport you’re playing, and pick what day you want to play. That’s it, just show up and play! I appreciate that there is no need to have any kind of long chat messages, and yet, if I need to ask any questions, the app includes a message board for each game. You can also see which players are playing in your game, and select each one individually to see their stats and how many games they play throughout the week. They also include a rating system afterwards to see how your game went and how your host was. Speaking of game hosts, there’s one assigned to every game. They’re the ones in charge of making the teams, explaining the rules, and just making you feel welcome. Lastly, you can pay for your games online, so no need to bring cash. Better than funneling through a bunch of Facebook groups, trying to figure out who’s playing.

Recently moved to the city and was looking for a way to find semi organized games, moderate skill level, with flexibility around my schedule. The app makes it really easy to find a game. I’ve been now to three games and all have been solid - well organized, players were friendly and took it just serious enough to make it a compelling pickup game to participate in. I found the price to be appropriate especially considering the organization behind getting the games set up. All in all, It’s a great concept that I hope to see more active users on. It really seems to have been picking up momentum; I’m finding that games are popping up at new fields and getting closer to places I frequent which makes it nice to explore different neighborhoods and games. Lastly, I kind of like the social proof elements (it helped to assuage my skepticism upfront) and tying the app into normal social media channels as well, it’s cool to see photos from the matches on IG/FB - takes me back to my college playing days lol, it’s been a WHILE since I had a photo taken playing soccer.

I use GoodRec for volleyball in NYC.There’s several sessions every night of the week at all skill levels. The quality control to respect each skill level is pretty good, as hosts can flag players who don’t quite fit the level for a given drop in. For example, I tried an advanced session when I wasn’t quite ready for it a year or two ago and the host flagged me. Then management reached out to me and offered a credit to check out a high intermediate session for free in a very encouraging and respectful way - suggesting that I gain confident on the court and strengthen basic skills. That being said, once I improved over a few months I was able to sign up for advanced sessions so it’s not like they blacklist you or anything.I haven’t attended any clinics yet but they’re always sold out and coached by a guy who played collegiate - I’ve had him as a coach at a different volleyball org and I know from that experience that his clinics are probably valuable.Finally, management is constantly reaching out promoting clinics and other volleyball opportunities, as well as reaching out for feedback which they seem to genuinely respond to and consider.Overall I think the format of the GoodRec drop ins is high quality (14 players and often some people don’t show so it’s easy to do 6s, whereas some other volleyball orgs have 24 people so you’re on for two and off for one throughout the session). Management is responsive and I’ve had positive experiences with all the hosts so far. Glad to have GoodRec in NYC!

Where do I even start? The quality of open plays is abysmal - imagine going to an “advanced” session just to find out that not even half of the players can hit a ball over the net. There is no policing, so multiple times I’ve just left the game because it was a WASTE OF TIME. The people running NY volleyball are literally in a different country, so there’s a massive disconnect and complete sense of apathy. The worst example of this is when they organized a 50+ person tournament and DIDN’T RESERVE THE COURTS. Literally had 50+ people from all across tri-state come to this place just to turn them all away at the door, and this was after I SPECIFICALLY MESSAGED TO ASK IF THE TOURNAMENT WAS STILL HAPPENING. Regardless of what happened behind the scenes, this shows that nobody bothered to call and confirm courts the day before a massive tourney. The worst part is the amount they offered as consolation: $50 in app credit PER TEAM. Yep, just about $7 per person for wasting countless hours of time, when a typical session is $23. Absolutely disgusting. Other cities might have it better, but if you’re in NYC then do yourself a favor and play volleyball somewhere else. These people don’t deserve a single cent.