From standout high school student-athletes and UCSB Gauchos to former competitive athletes, Santa Barbara has a rich history of sports and plenty of talented athletes currently in town.
However, those local athletes in search of low-stakes sports competition may sometimes have issues finding opportunities to play their favorite sports with other members of the community.
This discrepancy led to the creation of SportsMatch, a free matchmaking website for those interested in playing pickup sports, created by San Marcos High School rising senior Owen Eiler and his friend Paolo Shamshiri, who grew up in the 805.
“The idea is simple: so many people want to get out and play, but they have no one to play with. Meanwhile, courts and fields sit empty. SportsMatch connects those people,” Eiler said.
What is SportsMatch?
The concept for the website was born last fall, when both Eiler and Shamshiri were upset with the traditional process for putting together pickup games.
“My friends and I were playing pickup basketball, but it was so annoying to try and get new people on a group chat every single day and get new people to try and join and expand,” Shamshiri said. “I was really frustrated one day because I came to one of the pickup games, and there were genuinely three people there because everyone else just couldn’t make it and didn’t say anything in the group chat.
“I called Owen later because we were catching up, and my original idea was ‘Tinder for Sports’ because I felt like there was nothing else.”
The idea came more into focus throughout the past school year as Eiler, who is in the San Marcos Entrepreneurship Academy, took a finance class and pitched the concept of SportsMatch to his teacher and fellow students.
After positive early reactions, Eiler and Shamshiri came together and created a website that gave those interested in playing pickup sports everything they could ask for in one place.
Those interested in starting a pickup game can choose any of the 14 sports and activities included on the website, set up a time and location to play, and send a message to anyone on the website who is interested.
From there, other members of the community sign up to join the “creator” of the game and are immediately placed into a group chat on the website to coordinate who will bring equipment and any other important information.
“[People] have the energy, they have time, but they don’t have anyone to play with,” Eiler said. “I think there is definitely a market for it, because if you have a group chat with 40 people, but only three can show up, there’s another group chat out there that has five people who want to play.”
After the meet-ups for games, players can share photos and videos from the day on the website on a message board for all SportsMatch members to see.
While it is not currently part of the website, Eiler and Shamshiri are also actively working to add a rating system to the website so that those interested can play pickup games with players of similar talent or experience levels.
The website, which was created in May, has 89 total members so far and there have been about 15 meetups scheduled, according to Eiler.
The sports currently included on the website are soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, pickleball, ultimate frisbee, running, golf, baseball, softball, cycling, ice hockey and hiking.
Building a Community
Eiler and Shamshiri both grew up in the Santa Barbara area and played a plethora of sports throughout their lives, from soccer with the Santa Barbara Soccer club to tennis at the high school level.
As a result, the duo has seen firsthand the impact that sports can have on a community and wants to bring that impact to Santa Barbara through SportsMatch.
“In my personal experience, with my family especially, playing sports has brought us so much closer together, and it gives us things to do together,” Shamshiri said. “With Owen, after I moved away from Santa Barbara, we made plans to go play golf, play tennis, play basketball, and that sort of thing… sports helped us keep in touch.
“It would be more inspiring for a community to have this option to get outside and grow and meet new people.”
While the majority of pickup games are played between friends and people who are familiar with one another, Eiler and Shamshiri are hoping SportsMatch will be a website used to bring new people together through shared interests.
Shamshiri specifically noted how SportsMatch would be beneficial for those who recently moved into the Santa Barbara area who do not have an automatic entrance into the community, such as school or children.
By bringing together members of the current Santa Barbara community and welcoming in those looking to join, Eiler and Shamshiri will look to continue to grow the already rich sports atmosphere in town through SportsMatch.
“Sports are just so great because it’s a true connection,” Eiler said. “It’s a gateway into the community, and everyone can benefit from growing the community.”