Questions, answered.

Sideline DJ is a game-day music and announcement app for youth hockey and ringette. The parent or volunteer running the booth uses it to play the goal horn, player announcements, goal songs and hype music from an iPhone. Tap Goal: the horn fires, the scorer is called by name and number, and the goal song plays.

Team managers, parents and coaches who get handed booth duty, and associations that want every team's games to sound the same way. You don't need any DJ or audio experience.

Yes, only for youth sports. Every player gets the same announcement and goal call, the other team's goals get a song too, the horn and call-outs switch off by themselves in a blowout, and youth age groups get clean edits only with the explicit filter locked on.

Yes. Sideline DJ is on the App Store for iPhone, for youth hockey and ringette teams. Download it from the App Store. On the waitlist? Your first year of the Pass is free. Sign up in the app with the same email.

Yes. Sideline DJ Base is free forever: music, goal horns, goal songs and game controls for every team and every game. Every new family gets the announcer and TeamSnap free for a week from their first real game, and teams can raise money with a free fundraising page. Sideline Away, from the same team, plans tournament trips, and every team’s first tournament is free. See every free tool.

Not yet. Baseball and softball are coming in late 2026, with walk-up songs for every batter, the ballpark organ and a game screen built for innings and outs. See what is coming.

Yes. Sideline DJ is an iPhone and iPad app, free to download from the App Store. Android comes later.

The iPhone app is in the App Store in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Nigeria. Songs follow the Apple Music country of the DJ's phone, so each song plays in your country's version, and a song Apple Music doesn't offer there is skipped.

For setup, yes. Sign in at sidelinedj.com on a computer to add teams and rosters, import from TeamSnap or a CSV file, schedule games, mark attendance and send invite links. Game day itself runs in the iPhone or iPad app, which plays the horn, the names and the music together through the rink speaker. Parents can check how their child's name sounds from an invite link, in any browser.

Yes. Sideline DJ runs full screen on iPad. Turn it sideways and the game buttons sit beside the game, which makes a good booth screen.

Sideline DJ Base is free, no subscription needed. For songs, the DJ's phone needs an Apple Music subscription (new subscribers usually get a free trial); the goal horn works without one. The announcer and TeamSnap are free for a week from your first real game, then come with the Sideline DJ Pass (US$49 or C$64.99 a year, up to 5 active teams) or Pass Light (US$5.99 or C$7.99 a month, one team on your own phone).

Youth hockey and ringette. Each has its own game screen: hockey runs up to three periods with a Faceoff button, and ringette runs two periods (four at U16 AA and up) with a Hype button for longer stoppages, since play restarts with a free pass. More sports come later.

Yes. The hockey game screen runs Pre, P1, Break, P2, Break, P3 and Final, and teams can set two or three periods. Before the game there is Warm-Up Music, Lineup Callout (with music underneath or names only) and Puck Drop. If it is tied at the end, there is overtime and a shootout. During play there are four buttons: Goal, Opponent, Penalty and Faceoff.

Yes. Ringette gets its own game screen: two periods and one break by default, or four periods at U16 AA and up. Start of play replaces Puck drop, and because ringette has no faceoffs, the fourth button during play is Hype, a short clip for a longer stoppage that fades out by itself after about 20 seconds. Divisions U9, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U19 are built in.

More sports come later. Right now the app is built for youth hockey and ringette only.

No. Everything runs on your phone. Connect it to the rink's sound system or a speaker and you're set.

Connect the phone to the rink's sound system or a speaker by cable or Bluetooth. Turn on Do Not Disturb so notifications don't reach the speakers. In DJ mode the screen stays awake, and the app keeps playing with the screen locked.

Tap Goal and the horn fires right away, before you pick who scored. Pick your team's horn ahead of time: there are eight to choose from, from classic arena to ship horn. The horn is saved on the phone, so it plays with no signal.

Tap Goal. The horn fires right away and a picker opens so you can tap the player who scored. The goal song starts as the horn ends, their goal call plays over it, and the score updates. One more tap credits the assists. If nobody is sure who scored, skip straight to the song.

Tap Opponent. Their goal is counted and a quieter, upbeat song plays. We believe that is the sportsmanlike thing to do: every kid deserves their moment, whichever bench they are on. The horn is for the home team, so the other team gets the song without it.

Yes. Hockey Canada keeps no score at U7 and U9, and many leagues do the same for their youngest players, so a team set up for U9 or younger starts with No score, and the manager can change it in Team Settings. Every goal still gets the horn, the player's call and a goal song. There is no scoreboard, no blowout mode, nothing about the score on the recap or share card, and the game ends with the victory song for everyone. For a one-off jamboree or tournament, switch it on the game screen for that game only.

When your lead reaches five goals, the horn and call-outs switch off by themselves. A notice on the screen says so, and it stays until you close it. Goal songs keep playing, but only upbeat ones that never taunt. If the gap closes to four or fewer, everything comes back on by itself, and one tap turns the horn and call-outs back on at any time. A win by five or more ends on a friendly Big Win song instead of a victory song.

Yes. Penalty plays a penalty song. In hockey, Faceoff plays a song until the puck drops. In ringette, Hype plays a short clip for a longer stoppage and fades out by itself after about 20 seconds. Between periods, the break screen plays a song and Back to play fades it out. Fade & Stop brings the music down at any time.

Yes. Warm-Up Music plays songs back to back until puck drop or start of play, with Pause, Resume and Next Song. Your team's own warm-up songs play first. Then Lineup announces the players who are here tonight, with music underneath or names only.

The goal horn and every recorded player announcement are saved on your phone ahead of time, so they play with no signal. Apple Music songs need a connection, so use the phone's data if the rink Wi-Fi is weak.

Yes. Run a test game, then tap Reset to go back to 0-0. Test runs are kept out of your real game history.

Undo sits right under each team's score. Change song swaps the current goal song without a second horn or a second goal.

Apple Music is the only music source for now. Sideline DJ picks each song from its own curated catalogue of clean songs, by moment and by the genres your team chooses, and plays it through the phone's music player. The song is lowered under player names and goal calls. The goal horns are built in.

Yes. Sign in to Apple Music on the DJ's phone and connect it in Sideline DJ. Songs for every moment then play from Apple Music, clean edits only. Songs follow your Apple Music country: where your country has its own version of a song, that one plays, and a song Apple Music doesn't offer there is skipped.

Not yet. Apple Music is the only music source for now. Songs come from the Sideline DJ curated catalogue by moment and genre, and you can add your team's own Apple Music picks for each moment in the team's Songs tab. Spotify, your own music files and full playlists are not supported.

Yes, if you want to, though you don't need to: Sideline DJ already has songs for every moment. Open your team, then Songs, and add up to 5 songs from Apple Music for each moment: goal song, warm-up, penalty, faceoff or hype in play, period break, victory and good game. Yours play first, in your order or shuffled, never twice in a game, then Sideline DJ's list takes over. Songs belong to the team, so every DJ who runs it gets the same songs and can change them, and a new team can start with a copy of another team's songs. Each song you add gets a quick check, with a heads-up if it might not suit a moment or a kids' game. You always decide.

Yes. Add it in your team's Songs tab, under Goal song. Choose In my order (one per goal), Same song every goal (the one at the top of your list) or Shuffle. You can switch between them during a game with the goal song button. For youth teams, an explicit song only plays if Apple Music has a clean version.

Yes. In Goal horn and announcements only mode, the horn and every player announcement work without any music subscription. To try songs, Apple Music usually offers new subscribers a month free.

Yes. Youth teams only get clean edits, and the explicit filter is locked on for youth age groups. It can't be switched off.

Every player gets a recorded announcement made for them: their name and number in a clear announcer voice. If a name is often said wrong, add a Sounds like spelling (NEE-ko) and it is recorded that way. Until a recording is ready, the phone's own voice reads the name, so nobody is skipped.

Yes, if you want. Give a player their own goal song from Apple Music in the team's Songs tab, and turn on Player Goal Songs before puck drop. A goal song starts right after the horn; name the scorer and their own song takes over the moment their call ends. Clean versions only, and in a blowout only songs that never taunt. Leave it off and every goal gets the team's goal song.

Yes. Set an Announced as name, like Hawks for Riverside Hawks U11, and add a pronunciation hint so it sounds right.

Yes. Goal calls rotate through five wordings, and every player on the roster gets the same treatment. Nobody is singled out for scoring again.

Yes, if you turn it on. Switch on Call 2nd assists in Team settings. Pick the second assist while the goal is being celebrated and it is called right after the first ("And, number 7, Sam Lee"), so the whole call plays together. Picked later, it is recorded for the stats with no call.

No. A song plays once per game, warm-up included, and each new game opens with songs your team hasn't heard lately. A player's own goal song is the exception: it plays every time they score.

Playing recorded music in a public venue is covered by a performance licence, and most arenas already hold one (in Canada through SOCAN and Re:Sound, in the US through ASCAP and BMI, in the UK through TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS). Check with your rink before your first game.

Setup happens once, at home. Add your roster by hand or bring it in from TeamSnap, pick your age group and horn, and you're ready for the season.

Yes. Sign in to TeamSnap, pick your team, and bring in your players and upcoming games. Only each player's name, jersey number and position are kept. Importing again never duplicates players. Attendance for each game can be filled in from TeamSnap answers, using only clear yes or no replies.

No. TeamSnap is optional and everything works without it. You can add players, create games and mark attendance by hand.

Yes. Add players one at a time, add several at once, paste a list or upload a CSV file. Then reorder them to match your lineup.

After the first TeamSnap import, the app offers a ready-made message with invite links for the coach to post in TeamSnap's team chat. From an invite link, parents can check their child's name in any browser.

No. One Pass covers the whole team: if one parent who runs the team has it, every DJ on that team gets the recorded names and TeamSnap. The team screen shows who covers it. If your association covers the team, nobody needs one. (Pass Light covers only its holder's phone.)

A playlist for the dressing room before the game. Families pick a song or two for their player on the team's family link (clean versions only), the DJ checks them, and Play the Team Playlist on Home plays them, followed by Sideline DJ's own dressing room mix so it never runs out. It's separate from game day: opening the game fades it out.

When you import from TeamSnap and pick a team another parent already runs in Sideline DJ, the app tells you and offers Ask to Join instead of making a second copy. The owner approves with one tap, and you share the same roster, recordings and songs.

Yes. Clubs, associations and leagues can cover their teams for the season with one package: up to 10 teams for C$199 (US$149), up to 25 for C$449 (US$329), or up to 50 for C$799 (US$589), plus C$11 (US$8) for each team over 50. No volunteer pays, every DJ on those teams gets the recorded names. Teams can still run their own fundraiser. See Clubs & Associations on the website.

Yes. Share the team and another parent can run the booth from their own phone, with the same roster, announcements, attendance and songs.

No. One Pass covers the whole team: if one parent who runs the team has it, every DJ on that team gets the announcer and TeamSnap, and the app shows who covers it. A Pass covers up to 5 teams its holder runs. Pass Light is different: it covers one team on its holder's phone only.

Yes. After you save the final score, Share the game makes a Story-size card of the night: the score, the goal songs and a few numbers, with the Sideline DJ logo. It opens the iPhone share sheet, so it goes to Instagram, WhatsApp, the team chat or your photos.

No. The card never names a player. A caption is copied for you with a blank for your own player's name, so each family decides what to say about their own child.

Yes. Start your team's page and Sideline DJ gives your team $10 for each new customer whose first Sideline DJ Pass is bought through your page, link or team code, including a move up from Pass Light. Pass Light on its own and renewals don't count, and a team can earn up to $500 a calendar year. Families who join through your team also get the announcer and TeamSnap free for a week from their first game.

Pick your players' birth years or a division shortcut: U13 for hockey, or U9, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U19 for ringette. Youth age groups turn on the youth protections, including the locked explicit filter.