Customer Story · AI Migration
How Dr. Phillips Soccer Club replaced Square, Google Sheets, and WhatsApp with one AI-native platform
Orlando's non-profit youth soccer academy ran on Square for payments, Google Sheets for rosters, and a tangle of WhatsApp groups and personal SMS for parent support. Hurdle's AI pulled the whole club onto one platform, automated the marketing funnel that fills their developmental and competitive programs, and now answers parents around the clock — so the coaches can get back to coaching.
Dr. Phillips Soccer Club — the official youth soccer club of Dr. Phillips, Windermere, and Metrowest, FL, now running on Hurdle
Dr. Phillips Soccer Club
Orlando, Florida · Non-profit youth soccer academy
Founded in 2015 by the Navarro family, Dr. Phillips Soccer Club (DPSC) is a non-profit academy serving boys and girls ages 4–17 across Dr. Phillips, Windermere, Winter Garden, and Metrowest. Sanctioned by FYSA and US Club Soccer, the club runs everything from recreational and developmental play to a competitive travel program — plus a Summer Little Lions program for the youngest players and an annual Next Level Elite tryout.
As a community-minded non-profit, DPSC pours everything back into its players — even offering financial assistance to families who need it. But that mission also means a lean back office. For years a small team ran registration, payments, rosters, and parent communication for a fast-growing community of families, using whatever tools were free or close to it.
What Hurdle's AI replaced
Square
Payments & invoices
Google Sheets
Rosters & registration
Parent group chats
SMS texting
One-off reminders
The Challenge
Four disconnected tools, a website that couldn't take a registration, and no one to run the marketing
Before Hurdle, every part of the club lived somewhere different. Payments ran through Square and had to be matched to players by hand. Registration and rosters were tracked in Google Sheets that only one or two people really understood. The public site looked the part but couldn't actually enroll a player — parents still had to call, email, or DM to sign up.
Parent communication was the hardest part. Questions, schedule changes, payment reminders, and tryout updates were scattered across WhatsApp groups and personal cell phones. There was no single inbox and no one whose job it was to keep up — coaches answered messages between training sessions, on nights and weekends.
And marketing — the work of turning a free weekly pass into an enrolled family, or nudging last season's players to re-enroll — happened only when someone found a spare hour. There was no marketing team and, as a non-profit, no budget to hire one.
"We were running the club on Square, spreadsheets, WhatsApp, and a website that couldn't take a single registration. Hurdle's AI pulled all of it into one place — now it drafts our marketing and answers parents for us. I get to coach and grow the club again instead of chasing payments and texts."
"For a non-profit that could never afford one, it's like adding a full-time operations and marketing person overnight."
The Solution
AI did the work of a registrar, a marketing team, and a support desk
DPSC didn't hire an agency, a developer, or a marketer. Hurdle's AI consolidated the stack and now runs the funnel and the front-line support — so the club's small team stays focused on players.
AI stood up the site and registration for every program
Hurdle's AI built a public site that actually enrolls players and spun up registration for the club's developmental, competitive, and re-enrollment programs — plus the Summer Little Lions program and Next Level Elite tryouts. Parents now sign up and pay online instead of calling or DMing.
AI runs the marketing funnel end to end
From the free weekly pass to a fully enrolled family, Hurdle's AI drafts the campaigns that fill the club — tryout announcements, re-enrollment nudges for last season's players, and Summer Little Lions promos. The funnel that used to depend on a spare hour now runs on its own.
Payments moved off Square and onto the roster
Registration fees and monthly player training fees now run inside Hurdle and reconcile to each player automatically. No more matching Square payouts to a spreadsheet by hand.
AI customer support replaced the WhatsApp scramble
Parent questions, schedule changes, and payment reminders now live in one place, and Hurdle's AI drafts the replies 24/7. Coaches stopped fielding club business across personal cell phones and group chats.
Google Sheets rosters are gone
Every registration flows straight into rosters and teams, so the club always has one source of truth — not a spreadsheet only one person can read.
A branded parent app, included
Every DPSC family now has the Hurdle member app on their phone, branded for the club — schedules, payments, and announcements in one place, at no extra cost.
Before Hurdle
- A website that couldn't take a registration
- Square for payments, reconciled to players by hand
- Registration and rosters tracked in Google Sheets
- Parent support split across WhatsApp groups and personal SMS
- Marketing done manually, only when someone had time
- No single source of truth for the whole club
With Hurdle
- AI-built site with self-serve registration for every program
- Payments and monthly training fees in one platform
- Rosters update automatically from registration
- One inbox with AI drafting every email, SMS, and reply
- An AI marketing funnel from free trial to enrollment
- Branded parent app — one platform for the whole club
Results
One AI-native platform did the work of a back office a non-profit could never afford
DPSC didn't just simplify its software — it gave a volunteer back office its time back. Square, Google Sheets, WhatsApp, and manual texting collapsed into one platform. The marketing funnel that fills the club now runs on AI, and parents get answers around the clock. As the academy keeps growing across Dr. Phillips, Windermere, and Metrowest, the platform grows with it — without another login, contractor, or spreadsheet.
Run your club like Dr. Phillips Soccer does
See how Hurdle's AI-native platform can replace your old stack and automate your marketing — book a quick demo and we'll walk you through it.