LBTryout

How the idea was born

While working as an ocean lifeguard for the Long Beach Fire Department, I spent three consecutive March tryouts running up and down the ramp at our headquarters to run the time sheets, which were then tabulated on Excel by a very tense Marine Safety Officer.

The whole process to me just felt very outdated, error-prone, and easy to automate. I wanted to give the tryout a single instant source of truth, to be able to enter a time and have the rankings update immediately. So, after the winter of my first semester of college, I set out to build this app that is now used in my agency every year during the tryouts to score over 100 participants.

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What it does

LBLG Tryout digitizes the scoring workflow for the lifeguard tryout:

• Participant registration — Onboarders register candidates with their name and unique arm number.
• Two scored events — Candidates compete in a Run Swim Run event and a 1000m swim. Editors enter the finish times for each.
• Automatic Ranking — Event ranks are computed from times, and a combined ranking sums each candidate’s two event ranks to produce an overall standing.
• Public rankings view — A read-only rankings page (combined, RSR, and swim tabs) lets anyone follow the results in real time without needing to log in.
• Participant profiles — Each candidate has a detailed profile page containing their individual results and performance breakdown.
• CSV export — Editors can export any ranking table to CSV for seamless record-keeping or distribution.

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How it’s built

I used Next.js and TypeScript for the front end and server components, along with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui for the dashboard, tables, forms, and responsive layout.

For the backend, I chose Supabase for quick authentication and PostgreSQL as the database. To keep the application highly performant and secure, I pushed the heavy ranking logic directly into a PostgreSQL view that joins both events, sums each candidate's per-event ranks, and uses a window function to compute the combined standings on the fly.

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What’s next for LBLG Tryout

This is an incredibly meaningful project because I have been iterating on it for years, and it has come a long way since its first layout. Moving forward, I have two main focuses:

1. Refined Product Design

Making the application more user-friendly, intuitive, and respecting standard design heuristics (like cleaner contrast, optimal spacing, and intentional color usage rather than raw reds for errors).

2. NFC Technology Integration

Beyond visual UI improvements, I want to integrate NFC technology into the physical scoring workflow:

• Instead of manually identifying competitors at the finish line, each participant would wear a waterproof NFC wristband linked to their profile.
• Judges or volunteers would simply tap the wristband with a mobile device to instantly identify the athlete, record their split/finish times, and update the leaderboard in real time.

This will drastically minimize human error, reduce manual typing bottlenecks, and transform the application from a simple digital score sheet into a complete, end-to-end event management platform.