No More Paper Scorecards!

Friday night in our home is usually game night. We have two boys, who when younger took it upon themselves to 'inspect' (play) each game. It goes without saying that some of the game pieces are missing and the first to go were the game instructions and score cards. So now when we play, my scorecard ends up being the back of the most recent store receipt or some other piece of paper that's within hands reach. When I do find a pencil and paper, I still need to construct the score card template or something resembling the game scoring mechanics that we are playing. At the end of the games, my scorecard look nothing like what they were supposed to look like and sometimes need a translator themselves.

Living in our fast past technology driven world, where it seems almost everyone has a smart phone, there should be an App to replace my scorecard. Do I really need to be keeping score by hand? I searched high and low across both Android and IOS app markets and found many scorekeeper's that could almost keep a decent track of the score, but ended up falling flat. Unfortunately, most of the apps on the android market were just plain ugly or had minimal features. Unlike the IOS market, there is not a lot of quality control for Android. So being a programmer by the day and a father by night, I knew there had to be a special solution, one that involved one of the joys of my life, programming! On top of seeing a need for a more complete scorecard app, I noticed a severe lack of score card websites. If I didn't have my phone available, it would be nice to be able to call up a web page to help me keep score or even download the template for the game we were playing.

Welcome to ScoreLadder.com! We are envisioning a site all about scorekeeping, score card templates and the home base for our Android and IOS score card apps. This site is still under construction and a little lean, but we will be adding to it as new templates (and my time) becomes available. Expect new online templates for all kinds of score cards, such as bowling, golf and various different board games such as Yahtzee score cards.

What Is the Difference between a Scoreboard, Scorekeeper and a Scorecard?

Starting this project, the first item that jumped out at me were how many different words and phrases there are for describing the act of score tracking. So before I could start developing the ultimate score card app, I had to do a little research.

Scoreboards are very large boards that displays the current score of the game. Scoreboards have a rich history and come in all kinds of flavors. The main attribute of the modern scoreboard is that is has to be big enough where many hundreds (thousands) of people can see in real time what the current score of the game is. Scoreboards do much more than just keep track of games, they can also measure time, house buzzers and show game & player statistics. The number one best reasons have a scoreboard is that they are maintained for you. So all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the game.

Score cards are a different beast altogether. Think of the last time you played mini golf and with the putters, you were given cards to keep track of scores. Score cards provide a way of manually keeping track of the game score and are more personalized for you and the group you're playing in. This gives you more control over the entire game flow, but requires more manual maintenance. While score cards also keep track of score, they don't keep time. You usually have to rely on an external timer to keep game time. The sand hour glasses that comes with most board games is a good example. Score cards also require much more work on your part, or whoever is designated to keep score. Hopefully the game you're playing with still has all the pieces, including a way to tabs on the score. If not, then your off tracking down a pencil and paper which also includes constructing some kind so rudimentary scoring template that matches the game mechanics your playing.

Scorekeepers are those diligent folks who take it upon themselves or who get voluntold to keep score (voluntold is an old military term). Before electronic scoreboards, these were the folks who were tasked with the job to physically change the score as the game went on. Even with the complex scoreboards we have today, it still takes an operator to manage the scorekeeping. If you're playing a game at home with family or friends, scorekeepers are usually in charge of tracking the score of the game, keeping time and buzzing the buzzer if need be. Some games today require the use of keeping your own score, like Yahtzee. If you were bowling, most of the time the computer plays the scorekeeper, while playing Golf requires players to keep track of their own scores.

There has to be a way to marry the cool functionality of the big game scoreboards with the small time score cards. The good news is that this has been done. Matter of fact, this whole site is dedicated to that idea! Check out our APP page to download your own score card that can act like a scoreboard.

Quick History of Scorekeeper's and Scoreboards

Keeping track of the score is as old as games themselves. When games started getting popular enough that an audience would watch, the act of score keeping got a little more official. Ways had to be devised where anyone watching the game could with once glance view the current score of the game which would tell whose winning and whose losing. So while score keeping has been around for a long time, the modern ability to show the current game tally on a big board has only been around for the last 100 years or so.

When you go to your favorite sports game you will almost always notice the electronic scoreboard. The functionality you see was not always so. Before the 1980's most of the scoreboards you would see were electro-mechanical. Before 1934, scorekeeping required more than one person to manipulate the scoreboard. But as technology grew, so did the functionality, capability and operability of score keeping through our much be-loved scoreboards.

Around 1900 score keeping was almost a full time job. In the beginning operators would have to climb up to the score board and physically change the score through chalk or by hanging a variety of score signs. Then in 1908 someone got the bright idea to turn at electricity to the scoreboard. Baseball (and many other sports) would never be the same. Once scoring went electric, all kinds of new doors and possibilities opened. One was the idea that you didn't have to be at the game at all to see what was going on. Large groups of people would gather at old time movie theaters or other arenas to watch the game on a scoreboard. Telegraph operators would report the current standing in the game being played and on the other side an operator would change the score on the scoreboard for the viewing crowd. An early form of your favorite sports network.

While an electronic scoreboard was indeed very cool, it was tough to catch on. Most scoring systems in the big games remained mechanical. It wasn't until 1950's that the Yankees introduced a full electronic scoreboard system. It wasn't long after that most scoreboards started including additional game statics. Nothing like the jumbo-trons we have now, but enough to add a new game dynamic to help keep people engaged.

During the early 1980's video boards became popular. These in essence replaced the electro mechanical boards of old. Scoring became as dynamic as the games themselves. Video boards not only allowed cool and new ways to show the score of the game, but also instant replays and of course, more intuitive advertising.

Again a new leap is occurring in modern scorekeeping. With the advent of smart phones, score tracking will never be the same again. Now, not only can you watch the big scoreboards for game information, but you can also have the same features within your phone in real time. While the video boards were a great leap forward, there is still room for improvement. Personally I cannot wait for the new holographic scoreboards.