Terms of service
Last updated: 2026-08-11
Status: Headcount Buddy is in early development. Service availability is not guaranteed and the product may contain bugs. These terms may change as the service evolves.
These terms govern your use of Headcount Buddy (“the service”), an SMS-based assistant that helps amateur sports teams coordinate RSVPs and headcount. By using the service, you agree to these terms.
Who can use the service
- Players: anyone 18 or older with a valid US mobile number whose team organizer has enrolled them and who has texted
STARTto opt in. - Organizers: anyone 18 or older who registers a team. Organizers are responsible for their team’s roster, including providing accurate contact information and obtaining informed consent from teammates before enrolling them.
- Teams via PixieNet: members of USTA league teams subscribed through PixieNet, subject to the PixieNet section below and to PixieNet’s own terms. The 18-or-older requirement above applies to them too.
What the service does
Headcount Buddy sends and receives SMS messages on behalf of your team. Organizers use it to coordinate practices, matches, scrimmages, RSVPs, headcount, and related operational logistics. Players interact by replying to messages, including SMS-based opt-in (START) and opt-out (STOP).
We use AI (large language models) to generate responses and to act on the organizer’s behalf in coordinating their group’s logistics. The AI is not always right. Organizers should review important communications and decisions, especially around schedule changes, group-wide announcements, or other sensitive matters.
What you agree not to do
You agree not to:
- Use the service to send spam, harassment, threats, or unlawful content.
- Try to bypass other users’ opt-out preferences.
- Reverse-engineer or attempt to disrupt the service.
- Enroll players who have not given the organizer permission to share their phone number.
- Misrepresent your identity or affiliation with a team.
Organizers’ responsibility for player consent
Organizers are responsible for telling players they’re being added to the service before adding them, and for sharing the Headcount Buddy phone number so the player can opt in via SMS. Headcount Buddy will not send proactive messages to any player who has not directly opted in via START — or, for teams on PixieNet, through the PixieNet consent prompt described below. An organizer can never opt a player in on their behalf. If you (as an organizer) add a phone number you do not have permission to contact, that is a violation of these terms and likely a violation of US law (TCPA, A2P 10DLC carrier rules); your account may be suspended.
SMS costs
Standard message and data rates from your mobile carrier may apply. Headcount Buddy does not charge players. Organizers may be charged a subscription fee per team.
Teams linked to a partner platform (PixieNet)
This section applies only if your team is managed through PixieNet. If you use Headcount Buddy directly, it does not apply to you, and the rest of these terms are unchanged.
USTA league teams can subscribe to Headcount Buddy coordination through PixieNet, our partner platform (“PixieNet Team Services, powered by Headcount Buddy”). For those teams:
- PixieNet is your subscription relationship. Signup, membership, roster, billing, cancellation, and refunds are handled by PixieNet under PixieNet’s own terms, which you accept with them at signup. Questions about charges go to PixieNet, not to us.
- These terms still govern the coordination service. Everything above — acceptable use, organizer responsibility for player consent, service availability, liability, and the privacy policy — continues to apply to your use of Headcount Buddy.
- Some things are managed on PixieNet. For a linked team, the roster and the official schedule are maintained on PixieNet, so we may decline roster changes made by text and point you there instead. Coordination — RSVPs, reminders, headcount, and finding substitutes — continues to work by SMS as usual.
- Coordination follows the subscription. If a linked team’s PixieNet subscription lapses, we may stop coordination for that team. Teams already using Headcount Buddy directly are unaffected by the partnership and continue as they are.
- Consent can be given and withdrawn on PixieNet. At PixieNet signup, players with a verified phone number are asked directly whether Headcount Buddy may text it, in a prompt naming us and linking to these terms. That consent is optional — PixieNet is fully usable without it — and can be withdrawn on the PixieNet website at any time, or by replying
STOPto any message from us. - Data. What is shared between us and PixieNet for linked teams is described in the privacy policy. The content of your messages with us is not shared with PixieNet; your opt-in/opt-out status is.
- If either company ends the partnership, we will give reasonable notice, and your team can continue with Headcount Buddy directly or with PixieNet alone.
Service availability
We make no guarantee of uptime. The service is provided “as is” without warranty. We may modify, suspend, or terminate the service at any time. We will make a reasonable effort to give notice before significant changes.
Liability
Headcount Buddy is a coordination tool, not a source of truth for official team records or a guarantor of coordination outcomes. Whether enough players show up, whether a specific event proceeds as planned, or whether any other coordination objective is achieved remains the responsibility of your team’s organizer and members. We are not responsible for missed events, schedule conflicts, or other consequences of relying on the service. Our total liability is limited to fees paid in the past 12 months.
Privacy
Our handling of your data is described in the privacy policy. By using the service, you agree to that policy.
Termination
You can stop using the service at any time by texting STOP (players) or by deactivating your account (organizers). We may terminate accounts that violate these terms, with reasonable notice when possible.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, USA.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as the service evolves. Continued use after material changes constitutes acceptance.