The BBall Story

A Passion Project Born on the Court

The founder of BBall began his journey at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, balancing his studies with coaching education and active coaching duties. What started as a student project called "B-Ball Fascination" in 1993 would evolve into something much greater. This initial work was connected to development efforts for Ammerud Basket in Norway while simultaneously supporting coach development for Save the Children in Eritrea, Africa.

From 1993 to 1997, the foundation was laid. Working with the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, establishing long-term development programs, and organizing various tournaments became the focus. By 1995-1996, the first databases and registrations were created using FileMaker, marking our first steps into the digital world of basketball.

Pioneering in a Digital Desert

Between 2002 and 2004, new initiatives emerged as we attempted to develop our own solutions while central systems were beginning to gain momentum. Our vision? Online databases where players could register their own activities.

As social media began to take shape, we recognized untapped potential in database usage. The sports industry was largely uncoordinated in IT, with systems predominantly centrally controlled, aimed to serve the organitational entities rather than the users themselves. We saw an opportunity to change this paradigm.

In 2005, we launched our test database, and by 2006, the first specification of BBall was created. Although our initial website and online solution weren't immediately successful, this period gave birth to our logo – the same one we proudly use today.

This early specification formed the foundation for tracking activity hours, logging participation, and enabling the monitoring of athletes across different geographical locations. The system was even used with Norway's U16 and U18 national basketball teams, testing our core concept of supporting players regardless of their location.

Education Meets Innovation

During this period, BBall's founder pursued additional studies in pedagogy, psychology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The project gained momentum and was submitted as a test project to a professor at UC Berkeley for feedback and guidance on further development.

By this time, Facebook had emerged, bringing various directions and opinions on potential collaborations. It was during this phase that BBall's founder made a pivotal decision: to keep BBall advertisement-free and committed to privacy protection. This choice has defined us ever since, though it has presented significant challenges in developing the project, especially regarding external partnerships and investors.

Evolution and Adaptation

Following this phase, BBall evolved into a comprehensive web-based solution offering services for various stakeholders in basketball: federations, clubs, parents, tournaments, coaches, and players.

We developed our own live scorekeeping system with dedicated tablet apps for both recording and following games. BBall also created simulation games and video tools. During this period, we were pioneers – the first technical solution for live scorekeeping and online video uploading of games.

Despite being first to market, the rapid development of similar tools presented challenges. With so many different stakeholders in the game, often with conflicting interests and priorities, it became clear that serving everyone with a single tool was suboptimal.

Players and coaches have different needs than parents, clubs, and federations. The interests of those surrounding players and coaches don't always serve to improve the development of the game itself, and levels of dedication vary significantly.

Refocusing on What Matters

After 2014, our founder shifted direction to shape the brand we see today. BBall now functions as a dedicated assistant and app for those closest to the game: coaches and players.

There are no walls, reels, stories, or announcements. If you're not a player or coach, BBall offers little value. The app remains empty (and unintelligent) until you actually start using it – there's no entertainment or time-wasting features designed to gather likes or followers.

BBall is for authentic players who genuinely need the tool to track practices and attendance, communicate with teammates and coaches, and log injuries, sleep, motivation, and fatigue.

The choices made throughout our history allow us to proudly claim that BBall has resisted superficial commercialization. Today, we're a product for players, by players, with genuine dedication to basketball.

BBall – Because You Love the Game