Job boards list roles. Coach Linker had to build a career.
Football coaching recruitment in Australia ran on word of mouth, Facebook groups and PDFs emailed around committees. Clubs couldn't see who was actually available. Coaches had no way to prove what they'd done. Nobody had a system.
Coach Linker needed to be more than a listing site. Every coach needed a living online resume — accreditations, achievements, availability, gallery, CV — that clubs could search, trust and act on. Every club needed a profile, open positions, applicant tracking and a way to talk to coaches without leaving the platform.
And the whole ecosystem — profiles, roles, applications, messaging, subscriptions — had to run itself. The founder left his job to run this full-time. He wasn't going to hire a dev team to keep it alive.
Profile first. Then the hiring workflow. Then the conversation.
Build the brand first
Logo, wordmark, colour palette and typography — navy for trust, orange for action, teal for the coach side. A full style guide locked before design started, so every card, badge and button on the platform reads as one brand.
Design the coach profile as the core product
Verified badge, accreditations, key achievements, specialties, availability, gallery, downloadable CV. If a club can make a hiring decision from the profile alone, the platform works.
Give clubs a real hiring workflow
Club profiles with open positions, facilities, achievements and sponsors. Post a role in minutes, receive applications, shortlist, message. Tags for level, commitment and pay so coaches know exactly what they're applying for.
Connect both sides in-platform
A messaging system between coaches and clubs, role alerts, saved coaches and followed clubs — the ecosystem that turns a directory into a marketplace.
Build it to run without us
Custom React on AWS with subscription billing for both audiences, verification controls and an admin layer the owner runs himself. No developers required for daily operations.
React
AWS
Node.js
PostgreSQL
Stripe Subscriptions