Varsity Stack is not trying to replace Teamworks. Teamworks helps a department manage its operations and nutrition in one system. Varsity Stack focuses on supplements: what an athlete actually takes, whether each product is third-party tested, and whether the plan is followed.
Teamworks has become an important part of how many athletic departments operate. It brings messages, calendars, rosters, travel, tasks, nutrition and other parts of the athlete experience into one connected system.
Varsity Stack is not trying to replace that infrastructure. Instead, it is built for a narrower but critical job, which we call supplement intelligence.
It helps athletes and staff see what an athlete actually takes. They can also see whether each product is third-party tested (meaning an outside program has tested it), and whether the plan is being followed.
The question is not "Teamworks or Varsity Stack?" The better question is: How can Varsity Stack fill the supplement-specific gaps around the systems a department already uses?
What problem does Teamworks solve?
Teamworks solves a broad operational problem. It describes Hub as a central system for rosters, calendars, messages, travel, files, forms and other daily work.
Its Nutrition platform covers personalized meal plans, nutrient analysis, food logging, recipes and grocery lists. It also helps athletes, dietitians and performance kitchens work together.
That breadth is valuable. Athletic departments should not have to abandon systems their staff and athletes already rely on.
Varsity Stack serves a different primary purpose. It goes deep on the supplement decisions that can be hard to capture inside a broader system for running a department or its nutrition.
| Teamworks' primary role | Varsity Stack's primary role |
|---|---|
| Organization-wide operations and communication | Supplements, from checking to tracking |
| Rosters, schedules, tasks, travel and forms | Every athlete's supplement stack |
| Meal planning, food logging and performance-kitchen workflows | Product-level certification checks |
| Broad nutrition and performance coordination | Personalized supplement guidance, staff review and adherence |
This is not a claim that one platform can never do a task the other handles. It is about what each product is mainly for.
Teamworks is a broad system for running sports programs. Varsity Stack is a focused tool, so supplement use is safer, more personal and easier to account for.
Why does a supplement protocol start before the schedule?
A protocol is a written plan that tells an athlete what to take and when. But the schedule is only one part of handling supplements well.
Before and around that protocol, staff still need answers to a series of important questions:
- What supplements is the athlete already taking?
- What is the exact brand, product and lot? A lot is one production run.
- Is that product and lot covered by a recognized third-party testing program?
- Is the supplement appropriate and necessary for this athlete?
- Does it duplicate an ingredient already present elsewhere in the athlete's stack?
- What dose and timing make sense in the context of the athlete's sport, training, diet, goals and health information?
- Has an authorized staff member reviewed or approved it?
- Is the athlete following the protocol consistently?
- Has anything changed that means the protocol should be reassessed?
These questions matter because what an athlete really takes does not always start and end inside the athletic department.
How many athletes buy supplements outside their department?
Nearly half of surveyed athletes did. A 2024 peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Athletic Training surveyed 410 NCAA Division I athletes across more than 20 sports. The researchers found that:
- 91% reported using nutritional supplements.
- 48% reported purchasing supplements outside their athletic department.
- Only 38% of athletes who used supplements reported consistently using third-party-tested products.
The 48% figure shows the gap most clearly. A department may have a strong fueling program and an established supplement protocol. Many athletes may still bring in products bought online, from a store, through social media, or by a parent or teammate.
Those outside purchases raise their own questions. Staff need to know what entered the athlete's routine, and athletes need a simple way to disclose it. Both sides need a reliable way to verify the exact product.
Is a certification logo enough?
No. Third-party certification means more than a logo on a label. For example, NSF keeps a searchable NSF Certified for Sport® directory. It lists products and their lots. NSF states that certified production lots are tested for banned substances.
So checking the exact product and lot is a key part of the process, not just a nice extra. Our comparison of NSF, Informed Sport and BSCG explains how each program works.
Third-party testing can help reduce risk. But it does not tell you whether a supplement is needed, right for the athlete, dosed correctly, or works with everything else they take. Certification is one part of the decision, not the whole decision.
Where does Varsity Stack fit?
Varsity Stack is designed to connect what the athlete really does with the plan the staff wrote.
Athletes add everything they take, including products they bought on their own, and check whether each one is certified. Staff see every athlete's stack and review what athletes take, and reminders and simple logging help athletes stick to the plan.
How does Varsity Stack work alongside the systems teams already use?
Varsity Stack does not ask athletic departments to rebuild all their technology. Its long-term value comes from adding focused supplement tools to the ways of working they already trust.
A program using Teamworks can keep it as the home for messages, schedules, rosters and broader performance nutrition. It can then use Varsity Stack for supplements: what each athlete takes, whether each product is certified, and whether athletes stick to the plan.
Varsity Stack can sit beside a department's current system rather than replace it.
That is better for staff, who do not need to move to another major system. It is better for athletes, who get clearer guidance on supplements. Most of all, it helps departments deal with what athletes are actually taking, including products that come in from outside.
A focused solution to a critical gap
Teamworks helps athletic departments run their programs and gives broad support for performance nutrition. Varsity Stack focuses on one problem inside that picture. It helps athletes and staff make safer, smarter supplement choices they can account for.
The goal is not to replace the system a department already uses. It is to close the gap between the plan the department wrote and what athletes really take.
Already using Teamworks or another team platform? Varsity Stack is its own app, so it can sit alongside your existing workflow. Contact us to learn how supplement intelligence could support your athletes and staff.
