Lightning
From First Step Athletics
Lightning for Players & Parents

Build the profile college coaches actually find.

Multi-sport stats, verified by your team, your tournaments, and your trainers. Coaches search by position, year, region — your profile shows up. Parent-safe by design.

Start your free 30-day Pro trial → See an example profile
No credit card required · Lightning $25/yr · Pro $50/yr
16
Sports Supported
4
Verification Sources
D1–JUCO
College Matchmaker
30-day
Pro Free Trial
$25/yr
Starts At
What you replace

The apps you're stacking. Gone.

Most families paying for recruiting visibility are stacking 3–5 separate services. Lightning rolls every piece into one profile.

Recruiting Profile
Replaces FieldLevel
$99–$299 per athlete / year
Recruiting Service
Replaces NCSA Athlete Recruiting
$99–$2,500 per family
Highlight Reel Hosting
Replaces Hudl Athlete
$100 per athlete / year
Personal Recruiting Site
Replaces Wix / Squarespace
$10–$30 per month
Verified Game Stats
Replaces GameChanger Premium
$8 per month
College Matchmaker
Replaces SportsRecruits / paid consultants
$500–$5,000 per family
What's included

A recruiting profile that actually does something.

Lightning tier includes the core profile. Pro adds the AI college matchmaker, percentile rankings, unlimited video, and "who viewed your profile" intel.

✓Multi-Sport Profile — 16 sports, positions and measurables per sport
✓Team-Verified Stats — pushed by your coach, badge on profile
✓Tournament-Verified Stats — pushed from FSA tournaments, badge on profile
✓Coach Testimonials — submitted directly by coaches, no editing
✓Highlight Videos — Lightning: 5 clips · Pro: unlimited + trimmer
✓Achievements & Awards — unlimited, with dates and source attribution
✓Coach Direct Messaging — coaches contact you, you reply (Lightning+)
✓QR Code & Sharing — print on cards, gear, anywhere
✓AI Recruiting Suite — bio polishing, email drafts, follow-up reminders (Pro)
✓College Matchmaker — D1/D2/D3/JUCO matches by stats + region (Pro)
✓Percentile Rankings — where you stand vs other athletes (Pro)
✓Who Viewed Your Profile — full scout-visit log (Pro)

Don't see a feature you need? Tell us and we'll build it.

Lightning vs FieldLevel & SportsRecruits

The recruiting tools they charge hundreds for — done as well, for a fraction.

FieldLevel and SportsRecruits are respected recruiting platforms. Lightning matches their core recruiting tools — the profile, the coach search, the outreach tracking — and adds coach- and tournament-verified stats, real-time game tracking, and multi-sport profiles they don't. Here is the honest head-to-head.

✓Coach outreach with read tracking — the open- and click-tracking SportsRecruits is praised for. When you email a coach through Lightning, your dashboard shows when they opened it and clicked your links.
✓See who's looking at you — recent profile viewers, coach vs. scout, and repeat visitors — the same profile intel FieldLevel and SportsRecruits keep behind their premium tiers.
✓Real-time stat tracking — log hitting, pitching, and event times live during games. Neither FieldLevel nor SportsRecruits captures your stats as you play.
✓Coach- and tournament-verified stats — every number carries a badge for who entered it. FieldLevel and SportsRecruits profiles are mostly self-reported.
✓Highlight film on one public link — coaches watch with no login, the same as the big platforms.
✓AI College Matchmaker — a D1-to-JUCO target list with coach contact info, built in. SportsRecruits sells this as premium; FieldLevel leans on its network.
✓One profile, 16 sports — multi-sport athletes pay once. FieldLevel is largely single-sport.

Where they still lead: FieldLevel and SportsRecruits have deeper college-coach networks in certain sports, built over years. Lightning's network is newer and growing — so your Lightning profile is the credible, verified destination you send coaches to. Starting at $25/yr, Pro $50/yr — against $99–$1,500 per athlete on the others.

Read the full comparisons: Lightning vs FieldLevel · Lightning vs SportsRecruits

Pricing

Two tiers. Pro includes a 30-day free trial.

No credit card to start Pro. Cancel anytime during the trial with no charge.

Lightning
$25/yr
Verified profile + coach contact
  • Multi-sport profile
  • Up to 5 highlight videos
  • Unlimited achievements
  • Reply to coach messages
  • Coach testimonials
  • QR code & profile sharing
Start Lightning
Pro
$50/yr
Everything in Lightning + recruiting intelligence
  • Everything in Lightning, plus:
  • Unlimited highlight videos
  • Video trimmer tool
  • AI recruiting suite
  • D1/D2/D3/JUCO college matchmaker
  • Percentile rankings vs peers
  • Who viewed your profile (scouts, coaches)
Start free Pro trial
Parent-Safe by Design
Parents control consent on every minor's profile. No batch messaging from adults to minors. Direct-message permissions are age-gated and opt-in. Coaches and scouts see only what you allow them to see.
Frequently asked

Answered. No fine print.

What does "verified" actually mean?
Stats on your profile get badges based on who entered them. Your team's coach entering them via Lightning for Coaches = "Coach Verified." Stats coming from an FSA tournament's live scoring = "Tournament Verified." Stats you enter yourself are clearly labeled as self-reported. Coaches and scouts can filter by verification source.
Which sports are supported?
Baseball, softball, basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse, volleyball, ice hockey, field hockey, wrestling, tennis, golf, track & field / cross country, swimming, gymnastics, cheerleading. Multi-sport athletes get a unified profile.
How does the College Matchmaker work?
Pro tier scans your verified stats and matches you to D1, D2, D3, and JUCO programs that recruit athletes at your level, position, and region. It's intelligence, not a guarantee — but it surfaces real schools you can reach out to directly.
What controls do parents have?
For minors, the parent account holder approves every contact request, controls what's visible publicly, and is copied on every message. No coach, scout, or adult can message a minor without that parent consent chain.
Is there an age requirement?
Athletes 13+ can hold a profile with parent consent. Profiles for athletes under 18 default to age-gated messaging and parent-approval workflows.
Can I switch tiers?
Yes, anytime from account settings. Upgrade or downgrade — pricing prorates.
Get found. From your bedroom.
Start a free 30-day Pro trial · No credit card required
Start Free Trial →
Also Lightning for
Coaches → Schools → Private Trainers →