When John Barbosa founded U-Pro Soccer, he wasn’t trying to create the next Silicon Valley tech empire — he was a dad designing a better way for kids to train from home.
His AI soccer training platform uses computer vision and biomechanics to turn any living room into a world-class soccer academy, giving young athletes access to professional-level feedback without leaving the house.
But while Barbosa had the vision, the passion, and the entrepreneurial grit, he knew one thing: he never intended to be a tech founder.
“I’m just the dad trying to create a new toy for his kid,” Barbosa said. “…there’s a lot of technical skills needed to take on this journey.”
That’s where The Builders League, a Manitoba-based organization founded by friend and fellow entrepreneur Diogo Iwasaki, came in. Builders League runs meaningful sports hackathons and tech sprints designed to unite the local startup community, promote teamwork, and ultimately help founders and non-profits find tech-based solutions they might not be able to build themselves.
The partnership between U-Pro Soccer and the Builders League was the perfect opportunity for collaboration rather than competition.
“The tech environment in Winnipeg is very supportive. We are always friendly — like our province’s [slogan],” Barbosa said. “If we see one of our friends and startup founders thriving, that will bring us up too. We try to raise ourselves by pushing each other up.”
The collaboration came to life at a 72-hour hackathon for startups — an intense, fast-paced sprint where developers, designers, and mentors pooled their talents to tackle real-world challenges. Over the weekend, 65 participants worked side-by-side on U-Pro Soccer’s platform, giving its soccer training app a fresh look, improving its iOS and Android features, and refining the overall user experience. Barbosa stayed hands-off during the build, only seeing the full results for the first time at Demo Day, when each team presented their work.
“It was my first hackathon,” Barbosa said. “Interacting with tech people throughout the weekend was a very rewarding experience. The most rewarding part wasn’t even the product itself, it was the people involved.”
Grace Gyolai, North Forge Program Manager, attended the event and said hackathons like this are more than just coding marathons — they’re talent pipelines and community builders.
“For a founder, you get a final product, you get to connect with talent, and for the ecosystem it’s great too,” she explained. “It gives people the opportunity to showcase their work to startups making waves in the city, and it might even open doors to job opportunities. It’s a very collaborative atmosphere.”
The hackathon also showcased the kind of opportunities events like this can offer — from helping developers and designers build their portfolios, to creating new connections, to proving their skills under pressure. For Barbosa, it was a clear example of the power of Manitoba’s tight-knit Canadian startup ecosystem.
“John needed help, and through his network, word got to Diogo,” Gyolai said. “The hackathon came together in a matter of weeks. It’s a testament to the importance of having a network and tangible resources for people.”
Barbosa, a member of the North Forge Founders Program — a cost-free program from Manitoba’s non-profit incubator and accelerator that helps entrepreneurs take an idea from ideation to investment readiness — says the next steps are clear: finish beta testing, achieve a minimum viable product, and launch a soft release of U-Pro Soccer.
“It’s been stressful and painful, but also meaningful and rewarding,” he said. “The next step is to finish our beta testing, achieve our MVP, and do a soft launch.”
