Sheldon Bradley | League Mobile Apps Brings Athletes to Compete

Sheldon Bradley is the MVP behind League Mobile Apps, a platform for players ranging from amateur to pro to rate their peers on five fundamental skills in a given sport. When he's not developing apps, you can find Bradley brushing up on the trumpet or plugging away on his Macbook Pro. His self-starter attitude has taken him far in the startup world, so we got the scoop on how he turned from mathematician to tech geek.

What’s your current role?
I am currently working as a Lead Mobile application developer for a small company called ISI Group here in the Atlanta area, as well as the founder of League Mobile Apps.

Why the interest in startups and the technology field?
Everyone has their reasons for initiating a startup, but I just love the idea of people coming together to solve complex and common issues people may face on a daily basis. So to me, startups represent society's willingness to say, “Hey, I see a problem here, and I’m going to do something about it, even if it means sticking my neck out on the line.” Being a bit of a gadget head and a lover of science and art, the tech field is just a natural fit to me.

Explain your startup, what does League Mobile Apps do?
I created the League Mobile Apps brand for one specific reason, to connect all athletes where they compete. League Mobile Apps give players from amateur to pro the ability to rate their peers on the five fundamental skills of each given sport (ratings are subjective to how players view one another's skills). Using geo-location; players can mark their favorite sporting locations to play at, check out the competition, rate and be rated by the players around them. The goal is to have the highest rating among your peers. League is sports mobile application brand that enhances the way players naturally form communities while promoting physical fitness, healthy competition, and social interaction.

What problem are you solving?
I have been playing sports all my life and there are two main issues that have been plaguing the sports community forever. One, you show up at your favorite spot to play and no one is there, even if people said they were coming. Two, you just want to get out and play, but you have no idea where to go. With League Mobile apps solves these problems by allowing players the ability to add their favorite sporting locations for other players to find. Players can check-in at these location, so that others can see how many people are there ready to play in real-time. And League Mobile Apps offer a host of other features that keep players connected to one another at the locations they like to compete at.

Please describe the market/industry impact of your product.
League Mobile Apps is helping athletes from all over to discover new locations to compete. It’s forcing the big fish to venture out from their little pond. When athletes face to same old competition day in and day out, their skills fall off a little and they lose that passion for playing hard. I get excited when I get feedback from users about how they “found a new spot to hoop at,” that was just a few neighborhoods over. Or better yet, when players use the “Nearby” feature and see all of the potential competitors that they have yet to connect with. This really hits home in rural areas for a lot of players.

Shortly after launching the brand this summer, I received an email from a high school lacrosse player in Indiana that wanted to talk to me about League For Lacrosse app. He just wanted to call and tell me thanks for making the app. Other than the players on his team, he thought that there was no one else in his area that played the game or was interested. He told me how he used the app to create a new field location between two nearby counties so people who were interested in lacrosse could come and practice with him. If creating League only means getting one more person out to play/compete in the sport they love and getting others to join in, then I’ve done my job.

How'd you get the idea for it?
I grow up in Memphis, TN, where basketball is king. And I remember someone donating a portable basketball goal to the kids in my neighborhood. We played on that goal like there was no tomorrow. And because we wanted to play against the best ballers we could find; we would take the goal apart and walk it to other neighborhoods to compete. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but I miss those days of competing just for the sake of being known as the best on the block. So that was my whole motivation for initially creating the League For Basketball app and the entire League Mobile Apps brand. I want people to get out, compete, discover new places, and interact with one another using the tools that we have available today.

There wasn't a sports app out there that connected the weekend warriors, pick-up game searchers, streetballers, AAU, high school, college, and semi-pro players (both men and women) together. The League Mobile Apps brand is the epitome of what playing sports is all about; no matter what your age, gender, or skill level is.

Who are your competitors and how do you stand out?
There are a handful of sports apps out there that help people find or schedule pick-up games, but that is about as far as they go. League Mobile Apps captures the essence of how athletes truly come together to play and/or compete. We show up at the courts and fields because we want to not only have fun; but to get better our game, make a name for ourselves, and find those who will challenge us no more what our skill level. And we want to be recognized for it among our peers. That is what sports are about at the core, that is what being a competitor is about, this is what League Mobile apps sports brand is built upon. And every real-time feature with our apps is built to keep athletes engage in perpetual competition to sharpen their skills, discover new location to play, and form new rivalries.

How does ATL weave into your story?
Atlanta is not only the tech hub of the south, but it is a mecca for athletes and sports lovers. On any given day, you can find some sporting event going on from professional to youth sports. I’m on a mission to connect every athlete in Atlanta to every court or field of play using League Mobile Apps.

The brand's initial offerings include apps for basketball, soccer, volleyball, lacrosse and tennis. We have a thriving community here for each one of these sports, which makes Atlanta the perfect home for League Mobile Apps.