GHANA COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY (GCTU)

FACULTY OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

BSc INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

PROJECT
Title:

DESIGN OF AN ONLINE SCOUTING SYSTEM

A project Work Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for:

BSc Information Technology

BY:
ADABLAH PROSPER DELALI - 4215220142
DAVID YEBOAH LAMPTEY - 4215220152
AGYEKUM BOATENG ALEX - 4215220118

SUPERVISOR:
PROFESSOR STEPHEN ASUNKA
OCTOBER, 2023
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 DECLARATION
This project is presented as part of the requirements for BSc Information Technology

awarded by Ghana Communication Technology University. I hereby declare that this

project is entirely as a result of hard-work, research and enquiries. I am confident that

this project is not copied from any other person. All sources of information have

however been acknowledged with due respect.

GROUP MEMBERS
AUTHOR: Adablah Prosper Delali SIGNATURE: ………………………..

STUDENT ID: 4215220142 DATE: ……………………………….

AUTHOR: David Yeboah Lamptey SIGNATURE: ……………………….

STUDENT ID: 4215220152 DATE: ……………………………….

AUTHOR: Agyekum Boateng Alex SIGNATURE: ……………………….

STUDENT ID: 4215220118 DATE: ……………………………….

SUPERVISOR: SIGNATURE: ……………………….

DATE: ……………………………….

HOD: SIGNATURE: ……………………….

DATE: ……………………………….

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ABSTRACT
Online Scouting System is a form of a web based social media application that is
designed to discover talents across the globe through the web. The Online Scouting
System was specifically designed for athletes and sports agents. The online based
scouting system is called “ScoutMe”. ScoutMe helps athletes to take trials online. It
also helps sports agents to upload videos in the database. These videos are tutorials
that will help athletes meet standard level required at the professional level. The web
based software is developed using HTML, CSS, PHP and XAMPP database. The
system allows users to sign up as either athletes or sports agents. Before using the
system both users need to register and after that they must login with their username
and password in order to enter the system. The online scouting system is constituted
of different components. The system has a login function that allows users to access
their profile by entering their usernames and password. It also has a post function that
allows sports agents to upload videos for the purpose of training athletes. This function
also allows the athletes to post videos of themselves showcasing their skills. The
problem with the current system is that athletes take their trials manually. This
outdated system will take long time utilization; the manual procedure used for
conducting trial is a time consuming process. More time being used for agents to bring
the necessary tools for the trials to take place. The materials that are used to conduct
these trials are very expensive, that makes the manual way of scouting very expensive.
With the manual way of scouting, a club may run a number of trials at a time, and
requires input from a number of athletes, whereby an online scouting system is needed.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
❖ Title Page…………………………………………………………. 1

❖ Declaration………………………………………………………... 2

❖ Abstract…………………………………………………………… 3

❖ Table of contents………………………………………………….. 4

❖ List of Figures…………………………………………………….. 6

❖ Acknowledgment…………………………………………………. 7

❖ Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………… 8

1.1 Background Study……………………………………………... 8
1.2 Problem Statement…………………………………………….. 8
1.3 Aim and Objectives……………………………………………. 9
1.4 Significance of the Study…………………………………….. 10
1.5 Limitation of the Study……………………………………….. 10
1.6 Organization of Study………………………………………… 10

❖ Chapter Two: Literature Review……………………………….. 11

2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………. 11
2.2 Social Media Concepts………………………………………… 11
2.2.1 History of Social Media……………………………… 11
2.2.2 What is an Online Forum?.............................................13
2.3 Review of Existing Systems…………………………………….14
2.3.1 The Student Room…………………………………… 15
2.3.2 Wyscout……………………………………………… 15
2.3.3 Football Talent Scout………………………………… 16

❖ Chapter Three: System Specification and Design ………………17

3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………… 17
3.1.1 Proposed System…………………………………… 17
3.2 System Requirements and Analysis………………………… 17

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 3.2.1 Software Architecture of ScoutMe……………………17
3.2.2 System Analysis……………………………………… 18
3.2.3 System Requirements……………………………… 19

3.3 System Design………………………………………………… 20

3.3.1 Object Oriented Analysis and Design……………… 21
3.3.2 Unified Modeling Language………………………… 21
3.3.3 Use Case Diagram…………………………………… 21
3.3.4 Sequence Diagram…………………………………… 22
3.3.5 Activity Diagram…………………………………… 23

3.4 System Requirements………………………………………… 24

3.4.1 The Hardware Requirements………………………… 25

3.5 Database Design……………………………………………… 25

3.6 Research Methodology………………………………………… 26

3.7 Project Activities……………………………………………… 26

3.8 Tools…………………………………………………………… 27
3.8.1 Notepad ++……………………………………………27

3.8.2 MySQL……………………………………………… 27

3.8.3 Microsoft Word Office……………………………… 28

3.8.4 Operating System…………………………………… 28

3.8.5 Hardware…………………………………………… 28

3.9 System Features…………………………………………………28

3.10 Conceptual Idea……………………………………………… 29

❖ Chapter Four: Summary and Conclusion……………………… 33

❖ References………………………………………………………… 34

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List of Figures
Figure I: Software Architecture of ScoutMe…………………………… 18

Figure II: The Use-Case diagram for the Online Platform……………... 22

Figure III – Sequence Diagram…………………………………………. 23

Figure IV – Activity Diagram…………………………………………… 24

Figure V – Sign-Up User Interface………………………………………. 29

Figure VI – Login Interface………………………………………………. 30

Figure VII – Codes for Signup Page……………………………………… 30

Figure VIII – Codes for Login Page………………………………………. 31

Figure IX – User Profile Interface………………………………………… 31

Figure X – Codes for User Profile Interface………………………………. 32

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 Acknowledgement
We would first like to thank the Lord Almighty for granting us the strength
and grace of life to be able to complete this project.

We acknowledge Mr. Joshua Mawuli Ametepe, an IT expert for his

motivation and guidance throughout this project. Mr. King Richfield
Azameti, of Invetek Global Ghana that guided us in our project research.

Lastly, we also like to acknowledge Dr. Ezer Yeboah-Boateng for the

relentless supervision and continual motivation he gave us for the project
to become a success.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Study
Computerized and online systems have been increasing in every aspect of human
living. Information Technology plays a very important role in our daily lives.
Computers and internet have made dramatic changes in the scouting system.
Communication is a basic human need and for that reason, man has always found a
means of meeting this need. The media, which is an umbrella term for various means
of communication, has become an integral part of human life around the world. The
earliest forms of personal media, speech and gestures, had the benefit of being easy to
use and did not necessarily need complex technology (phpBB, 2007). Through social
media, the internet community has drastically increased over the years. The social
media has become a significant part of today’s modern civilization. It is a defining trait
of how integrated social interactions have become. The impact of the social media
have been seen in basically five different contexts; news, interactions, political
landscapes, learning and marketing (Threads, 2013). With over 80 percent of teen
Internet users frequenting social media sites, it’s no wonder the real world social lives
are seeing some changes. Social media is definitely changing the way people
communicate, but in many ways it’s for the better as we expand our social circles and
explore new horizons through our online connections (Ronald, 2001). Face to face
based scouting are replaced by online and off-line applications. With computer
software, we can be able to have access to huge databases of information. This gives
fundamental change to scouting. Online Scouting System is a web based social media
application that is designed for athletes and sports agents. The system helps athletes
take trials at anytime and anywhere. It helps also sports agents to upload videos that
will prepare athletes for trials and the professional level in the long run.

1.2 Problem Statement

Prospective athletes have had issues in the past when it comes to selecting careers in
the world of sports, choosing their sporting fields and indecisions about the right sports
career to pursue. However, to solve these problems, a platform needs to be created
where these athletes can relate with scouts and agents who can answer these questions.

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Consequently, relevant requirements have to be taken into consideration in the
development of a web application to solve these problems stated above.

Another problem with the current system is that athletes take their exam manually.
This outdated system will take long time utilization; the manual procedure used for
conducting trials is time consuming process. More time being used for sports agents
to bring necessary tools to trial locations. These materials are also expensive. The
manual based scouting system has for many years been very effective. However with
the increase in the number of applicants, the process wastes a lot of time in terms of
searching for the applicant record. With manual systems the level of service is
dependent on individuals and this puts a requirement on management to run training
continuously for staff to keep them motivated and to ensure they are following the
correct procedures. It can be all too easy to accidentally switch details of athletes and
end up with inconsistency in data entry or in hand written orders. This has the effect
of not only causing problems with customer service but also making information
unable be used for reporting or finding trends with data discovery. Reporting and
checking that data is robust can be timely and expensive. This is often an area where
significant money can be saved by automation (Breitmeyer, 2015). In addition to
requiring a large number of human resources which has led to high cost of operation.
It is because of the above that an online scouting system was developed to allow sports
agents and clubs to save time and reduce on the cost of operation.

1.3 Aim and Objectives

The main aim is

➢ To design an online scouting system that will enable agents scoop the internet
for talents.

To develop an online scouting system where athletes and agents can share different
questions or views on various areas, and majorly allow athletes make information
about drills to enhance their fitness level. This will be achieved through the following
objectives:

1. Gathering the right requirements for this application.

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 2. Modeling the requirements gathered using a Unified Modeling Language
(UML).
3. Implementing the system by creating a user-friendly platform that will be
easier for these athletes to interact with agents and scouts.

1.4 Significance of the Study

This study has its relevance in solving real life problems affecting athletes today, like
indecisions about sports career choices, and misinformation about that career choice.
The application will also be flexible to provide different categories where users can
have specific choices to select from.
Information and knowledge is the bane of decision-making for athletes and present
time web applications cannot live up to providing real time information that can be
accessed from anywhere by the end user. It is important to put interest into the
development and usage of online forums in solving these problems.

1.5 Limitation of the Study

The basic limitation of this project is that athletes living in rural areas with no access
to internet will have difficulties accessing the system. Another limitation of this project
is that discovering athletes with the right of set of skills for agents, may be difficult at
times. But, this will also be taking into consideration during the implementation of the
project.

1.6 Project Organization

In Chapter Two, relevant literatures will be reviewed so as to elicit requirements for
the proposed system. In Chapter Three, the requirements for the proposed system using
the unified modeling languages will be designed. Chapter Four will be discussing and
showing the system development, deployment and evaluation. Chapter Five will
summarize the work and give recommendation for future work.

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CHAPTER TWO: OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Introduction
A literature review provides for the exploration of the success of secondary
information required for the research study, as well as the identification of the progress
and limitations of the study's primary subjects. The literature review's major goal is to
establish and support the project's topic and objectives. (vBulletin, 2014). While
keeping the issue area in mind, the literature review ensures that the project's
background and literature are in sync. The difficulties and topics that are crucial for an
online scouting system are highlighted in this chapter.

2.2 Social Media Concepts

An online scouting system being a form of social media, it is necessary we look at the
background of a social media system. Social media is a form of electronic
communication which facilitates interaction based on certain interests and
characteristics. Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible
and scalable publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to
transform and broadcast media monologues into social dialogues (Freeproject, 2018)
. A social media network platform is one that provides a medium for interaction by
groups of people making it easy to share information (such as training materials and
drills, pictures and ideas) across a circle of people or groups. Statistics has shown that
the use of social network such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is on the increase
most especially among young individuals (Ikhu-Omoregbe, 2012).

2.2.1 History of Social Media

According to (Freeproject, 2018), the Social media started as a concept many years
ago but has evolved into sophisticated technology. The concept of social media can be
dated back to the use of the analog telephone for social interaction. The most
recognizable use of social media was through innovative application, an online
dialogue framework, created by Ward Christensen, a former IBM employee and Randy
Suess. Initially, they envisioned a place where they could immediately contact their
co-employees for announcements, i.e. meetings, reports, and other affairs, rather than

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making multiple phone calls, distributing memos, and the like. They were looking into
creating a computerized bulletin board, which is why they named the program CBBS
(Computerized Bulletin Board System). Soon enough, more and more employees
contributed their ideas and comments in the said online community. That event was a
momentous episode in the history of computer and internet. It was the birth of online
social networking. The CBBS platform was made known to other companies and has
been used for specific purposes. The Bulletin Board System expanded largely and
began breaking into the mainstream much sooner than it was planned to. It was during
the rise of the Internet Service Providers in the early 1990s when social networking
sites began to flourish. Along with the availability of internet service to people, many
people rummaged to have themselves acquainted with this new technology. With the
fast response of people to the budding internet community, the bulletin boards which
were usually used by companies have started to expand their roles by offering their
service to more people around the globe. More and more people joined the online
community with the innate goal of creating an identity in this space and at the same
time exploring the vast place that is the internet. Because of this, many internet-savvy
companies gave what people wanted- getting to know more people and sharing
common interests and points of view; that is through websites where they can socialize,
websites which are now referred to as social networking sites. Social media attained a
great measure of success with the launch of the then very popular friendster.com.
Creator of Friendster, Jonathan Abrams concocted a perfect mix of popular features
from earlier social networking predecessors. Friendster became an instant success and
gathered about three million members who signed up in its early months of launch. As
years passed, Friendster reached an overwhelming hundred million users from all over
the globe. With much demand from its users, Friendster unfortunately got out of hand
and suffered from too many glitches in the server. Today, Friendster has been
announced as a newly owned entity of a Malaysian Company, and outshone by present
social networking sites but still remains to be patronized most especially in Asia. The
conception of myspace.com opened the internet users to vast opportunities of self-
expression which include wide control over a user’s profile content. Practically
different people from all walks of life have dedicated pages in MySpace. In MySpace,
users experienced the best of creating unique identities to show to the online world.
MySpace remained as the uncontested favorite among all the social networking sites

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until 2005 when it met its future competitor in the market. Soon enough, MySpace
created additional features like mobile applications in order to keep up with the latest
trends in the online community; and at the same time be at par with the growing
popularity of contemporary social networking sites, more specifically the next thing in
line. 7 Facebook started as a local social network made for the students of Harvard. It
was developed by a sophomore, Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook was actually made by
hacking Harvard’s database containing identification images of students. The initial
idea was actually to compare the faces of students with images of animals, for
entertainment purposes. However, due to the potentially damaging contents of the site,
the creators decided to put it down before it caught the attention of school authorities.
The application was shut down, but the idea of creating an online community of
students came to existence. The platform was then improved and sooner than they
expected, Facebook was released in campuses other than Harvard. Thereafter, high
schools were already starting to get attracted to the idea of having online communities,
thus opening the website to the younger population. In 2006, facebook.com ultimately
offered the opportunity to the rest of the world. As 2007 approached, the registrants
reached an overwhelming digit-roughly a million dozen. Facebook has grown to
become the biggest and most popular social networking site today with a population
of above 500 million active users. Other social networking sites continued to appear
in the scene. Blogging sites like Bebo, Multiply and many others came into view.
Microblogging partnered with social networking became popular with the launch of
Twitter. On Twitter, online users can post their Tweets, basically a 140 character
phrase or line about what they have in mind. With the help of API (Application
Programming Interface), microblogging sites like Twitter and Tumblr and other
dedicated sites like Flickr, Photobucket and many others were able to connect with
popular social networking sites, making an unending link of information in the World
Wide Web (phpBB, 2007).

2.2.2 What is an Online Forum?

Online forums provides a unique type of social environment that enables people to
share and access information freely. Users can either start new topics or leave
comments in the threads of existing topics. Usually, an online forum has tens or

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hundreds of distinct boards or communities. These boards or communities group
hundreds to thousands of threads of similar related topics 8 together. Because of the
huge numbers of users and the high dynamics of online forums, this type of
environment has a rich complexity (Ronald, 2001). An Online forum is also a system
designed for the discussion of topics, with each topic separated into its own area, called
a thread. A thread is begun by a user writing a short document, called a post, which
introduces the topic or asks a question about the topic (Freeproject, 2018). Internet
users search online forums, generally, for two types of information. Some of them
search the forums for subjective information such as different viewpoints, opinions,
emotions, evaluations, etc., on specific problems instead of a single correct answer
(Threads, 2013)

Computerized systems have been increasing nowadays. Information Technology plays

a very important role in the world. Computers have made dramatic changes in the
scouting system. Information technology enables scouting agencies to save space and
time, and allow the delivery of scouting services with easiness, anywhere, and anytime.
For instance physical training workouts are replaced by online tutorials available to
anyone; anywhere in the world. Athletes can interact with sports agents online whether
live or via video. With computer software, we can be able to have access to huge
databases of information. This gives fundamental change to the scouting system.
Information technology makes the exchanges of information fast and easily. Athletes
don t need to have a physical meet up in order to know what workouts to do. Computers
are a powerful tool used in all aspects of our lives. Communications technologies
create possibilities, both individual and institutional, for an unprecedented expansion
of home-based learning, much of it part-time. Information technology provides
systems that allow athletes to perform many tasks in an automatic way and not
manually. Athletes can take trials using computerized system; they don’t need face-
face-based trials. They save time and money when using computer system.

2.3 Review of Existing Systems

Several platforms/systems have already been established as online discussion forums.
This section will carefully review each of these existing systems in line with this
project.

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2.3.1 The Student Room
The world's largest student community, The Student Room have attracted students to
the site for help with their studies, advice from their peers and, quite often, just to have
a good conversation. It is ranked as one of the first 500 visited websites in the United
Kingdom (Freeproject, 2018). It is mainly for universities in the UK like University of
East London, London School of Economics, University of West London, etc. It has
also been noticed that every year after high school graduation, students start looking
for the right university, often referred to as the Clearing Phase, where the traffic to The
Student Room increases significantly. They have also been able to withstand the surge
in traffic anytime the site is fully active (Threads, 2013). A large part of The Student
Room consists of the forum, of which the major sections are:

1. University Applications
2. University Courses: most subjects have their own sub forum
3. Universities: most universities or university towns have their own sub forums
4. Exams
5. Academic Help: at any educational level though mostly focused on secondary
school and college level; each subject with its own sub forum
6. Gap Years
7. Debate and Discussion: with politics, society, religion, Model Parliament,
Model United Nations and philosophy sub forums 14
8. Careers: with teaching, armed forces and finance sub forums
9. Life and Style: with relationships, health, fashion and beauty sub-forums
10.Hobbies and Interests: with sport, entertainment, technology, gaming sub-
forums, etc. (Student Room, 2014).

2.3.2 Wyscout

Wyscout is the most used technology in the world for scouting, match and performance
analysis.

They provide a complete set of products to bring together videos, data and information
on each and every player, competition or game. All in one place!

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They provide an Online Scouting System to players, coaches, scouts, referees and
journalists. It is a web-based system developed in PHP and MySQL. This Online
Scouting System in PHP and MySQL can be modified and customized to suit the need
of any Training Academies or club. This web based system is particularly suited to
provide advanced statistics help coaches analyze and prepare matches, give scouts
powerful tools to identify the most promising profiles and enable player agents to
better understand their players’ strengths and weaknesses.

2.3.3 Football Talent Scout

Football talent scout is also an example of an online based scouting system that gathers
data of players to enable scouts discover desired talents they are looking for. This
system does not give users the platform to sign up. It works as an advertising website
for players. It does not require users to sign up to access data of players. Football talent
scout focuses more on professional athletes.

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CHAPTER THREE – SYSTEM SPECIFICATION AND DESIGN

3.1 Introduction
In this chapter, the requirements for ScoutMe were gathered by observing the existing
systems and their operations. This chapter also provides details on the analysis and
design of the proposed web application. It describes the methodology and design that
will be used in modeling the application with the necessary Unified Modeling
Language (UML) diagrams that will be used to analyze the architecture of this system
like use case diagrams, activity diagrams and sequence diagrams.

3.1.1 Proposed System

ScoutMe is an online scouting system built basically for prospective athletes as a
platform where they can show case their skills by posting videos and other discussion
and reviews can be made. ScoutMe takes advantage of the usefulness of an online
forum in the sporting environment, to provide the best solution to various problems
like selecting their sporting careers, knowing the best possible training drills to
undertake and uncertainties regarding their chance at the professional level. The
benefits of this web application include: easy access to information, streamlined
interaction between athletes and agents, fostering social interactions, no loss of
relevant information, security & access form anywhere. It is flexible and requires
nothing more than a computer system with access to the web. ScoutMe proposes to
allow prospective athletes to showcase their skills, which will be reviewed by
professional scouts, enabling them know if they stand a chance to make it at the
professional level.

3.2 System Requirements and Analysis

3.2.1 Software Architecture of ScoutMe

The software architecture of this web application which represents its software
(logical) implementation and deployment processes. This software architecture
comprises of three (3) main layers under the server-side logic and one separate Layer:
Presentation, Business and Data Layers and the cross-cutting concerns
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 Figure I: Software Architecture (Santos, 2012)

The Presentation Layer represents components that will aid user’s interaction with the
system. Here, different components like desktop computers, smart phones, tablet
computers and laptops will be used as a bridge into the core business logic. The
Business Layer represents the core functionality of this web application working with
some development tools and environments to build applications. In this Layer,
languages like PHP, Java, Python, etc. are supported. For this work, PHP programming
language will be implemented using the Notepad++ framework. The Data Layer
represents access to data hosted within the boundaries of the web application using a
relational database management system (RDBMS). This work will be implemented on
the MySQL database. The Cross-cutting concerns contain common functionalities that
span layers and tiers of the majority of the web application. This functionality typically
supports operations such authentication, authorization, caching, communication,
exception management, logging and instrumentation, and validation. Such
functionality is generally described as crosscutting concerns because it affects the
entire application, and should be centralized in one location in the code where possible.

3.2.2 System Analysis

System Analysis is problem solving technique that entails the decomposition of the
studied system into its component parts with the view of studying the various
functionalities and how those component parts interact to accomplish the system’s
purpose (Freeproject, 2018). It also involves the breakdown of a system and the study

18
of how the various components work together. The basic process of system analysis
involves three steps:

1. Understanding the Existing Systems.

2. Identifying Improvements.

3. Defining Requirements for the new system (ScoutMe).

3.2.3 System Requirements

System Requirements are processes that specify what the information system must do
or what property or quality the system must have. The requirements that specify what
the system must do are frequently referred to as functional requirements and the
requirements that specify what attribute the system must have are called non-
functional requirements (Freeproject, 2018).

A. Functional Requirements
ScoutMe is conceived in different interfaces for the different users; Athletes,
Scouts/Agents, Moderators and the Administrator. Each interface has been designed
to meet different requirements.

For the Scouts/Agents, these are the requirements that have to be met:

1. Manage their account.

2. Post training drills/tutorials for athletes
3. Respond/review athletes’ posts.

For the athletes, these are the requirements that have to be met

1. Respond to reviews from scouts/agents.

2. Manage their account.

The above functional requirements will be carefully met in the development of this
web application.

B. Non Functional Requirements

1. Look and Feel Requirements

a. ScoutMe should be presentable on low resolution devices (mobiles & tablets).

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 b. The toggle navigation will fit an Android device.
c. ScoutMe should be compatible across browsers.

2. Usability Requirements

a. Ergonomic and clear usage.

b. Users will have no problem learning how to use this web application.
c. Convenience of usage.

3. Performance Requirements

a. Reliable storage of information.

b. Scouts/Agents will be able to respond to posts of athletes as a means of follow-
up.
c. Posts will be placed in the right category for quick response by athletes.

4. Operational Requirements

a. ScoutMe should be able to work with relevant hardware devices.

b. Not prone to crashing.
c. ScoutMe should be able to handle multiple users.

5. Security Requirements

a. Sensitive information is hidden from non-users.

b. Password sensitive.
c. Only registered users can use the system except for the administrator.

6. Portability Requirements

a. ScoutMe should operate on demand.

b. ScoutMe should work on the browser of any operating system.

7. Legal Requirements

a. Personal information of users should be protected.

b. ScoutMe should comply with quality assurance standards.

c. The Administrator is fully responsible for most operations in the forum.

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3.3 System Design
The system design illustrates how the system will fulfill the objectives or requirements
identified during the analysis of the system. In system design, the question ‘How?’ is
always raised. It also illustrates the overall architecture of the system and the setting
of standards, for example, for the design of an artificially intelligent system (Ronald,
2001). This project utilizes the Object-oriented analysis and design methods which are
becoming the most widely used methods for computer systems design.

3.3.1 Object Oriented Analysis and Design

Object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) refers to the use of object-oriented
modeling (an approach where a system is modeled in terms of objects which have
attributes and perform operations) in the analysis of systems or in modeling the system
requirements and in the design of object-oriented systems fulfilling these
requirements. OOAD is a software engineering approach that models a system as a
group of interacting objects. Each object represents some entity of interest in the
system being modeled, and is characterized by its class, its state (data elements), and
its behavior. Various models can be created to show the static structure, dynamic
behavior, and run-time deployment of these collaborating objects.

3.3.2 Unified Modeling Language (UML)

Unified Modeling Language is a diagrammatic object-oriented modeling language. It
uses diagrams to document an object-based decomposition of systems showing the
interaction between these objects and the dynamics of these objects. UML aims to
provide a common vocabulary of object-based terms and diagramming techniques that
is rich enough to model any system development project from analysis to design. This
system is modelled with:

1. Use case diagram

2. Sequence diagram
3. Activity diagram

3.3.3 Use Case Diagram

Use case diagrams were used to perform requirements analysis in order to understand
the core functionalities and usage scenarios associated with the identified
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requirements. A Use case diagram simply shows a look at the system from an outsider
(e.g. user) point of view. The system is treated as a black box and one solely identifies
what the system is used for. The components of a use case diagram include, Actors,
Use cases, Associations and the system boundary.

1. Actors: represents the external entities of the system i.e. people or things that
interact with the system that is being modeled.
2. Use Cases: are functional parts of the system. It is what an actor does e.g. a
customer "browses the catalog", "chooses items to buy", and "pays for the
items".
3. Associations: are shown between actors and use cases, by drawing a solid line
between them. It links an actor with the use case it interacts with.
4. System Boundary: represents the scope of the system the actor is interacting
with.

The use case has four (4) actors and nine (9) use cases. The Administrator is the
manager of the system and the athletes and scouts/agents are the main users of the
system. The following use case diagrams illustrate the relevant subsystems of the
system. The Use-case diagram is shown in Figure II below.

Figure II: The Use-Case diagram for ScoutMe

3.3.4 Sequence Diagram

A Sequence diagram provides a graphical representation of interactions between
objects over time. It shows the messages that pass between classes over time for a use
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case. The objects involved in the operation are listed from left to right according to
when they take part in the message sequence. A sequence diagram typically shows a
user or an actor, and the objects and components they interact with in the execution of
a use case.

There are four primary elements of a sequence diagram:

i. Objects: are arranged on the horizontal axis. Time increases downwards.

Below each object there is a vertical dashed line. That is the life-line of the
object spanning the period (the vertical axis represents time) over which
the object lives.

ii. Lifelines: The life-line of the object spanning the period (the vertical axis
represents time) over which the object lives.

iii. Messages: Between the life lines (or activity bars) we show arrows
representing the messages which are exchanged between objects. The
message itself is shown as a label on the message arrow.

iv. Focus of control: These are vertical rectangular boxes used to connect
and send messages between two objects in a sequence diagram. It is
also used to bridge the communication of different lifelines.

The Sequence Diagram below shows the interaction between the scouts/agents and the
athletes on ScoutMe. Figure III carefully describes this interaction that is the most
functional on the online platform.

Figure III – Sequence Diagram (Freeproject, 2018)

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3.3.5 Activity Diagram
The activity diagram depicts the workflow of activities within the system. It
graphically represents the flow of performance of various actions by the system
entities. The activity diagram for posting the tutorials and drills by scouts/agents is
represented in Figure IV below.

Figure IV – Activity Diagram (Freeproject, 2018)

3.4 System Requirements

The system requirements consist of the various tools required from the point of design
and development to the eventual deployment of the portal system. These requirement
are presented in tabular form in the tables below.

Requirements Software

Microsoft Windows XP, Windows

Operating System
Vista, etc.

Database Management System MySQL Database Management System

Model Design Tools (UML Modeling) Microsoft Office Visio 2007

Programming Language Used PHP 5.3.8, CSS, HTML

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 Integrated Development Environment Netbeans 7.4, Notepad ++

XAMPP 1.7.7, Apache HTTP server,

Web Servers
MySQL Server.

The Web Client Software Requirements

Requirements Software

Operating System Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1

Internet Explorer 8, Google Chrome,

Internet Browser
Mozilla Firefox, etc.

3.4.1 The Hardware Requirements

Minimum Requirements

✓ Minimum of 1GB
✓ Random Access Memory (RAM)
✓ Minimum 32 Bit Video Graphics Adapter (VGA)
✓ Modem or Ethernet Card
✓ Keyboard and Mouse
✓ Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

3.5 Database Design

A database is a mechanism that is used to store and manipulate information, or data.
With a database, users are able to store data in an organized way and once it is stored,
it is easy to retrieve any form of information. This can be implemented using a database
management system (DBMS). A DBMS is a software that allows the storage and
access of data to a user. The database design is geared towards stating the purpose of
the database of this system (Ronald, 2001). The Database Design was conducted to
show a modelled view of the system. The database program for ScoutMe is the
MySQL; a relational database design was implemented and tested using a local
MySQL (open-source relational database management system).

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3.6 Research Methodology
Main methodology activities held during the research is acquiring information and
knowledge about online examination system through reading books, and researches
that were previously done in related area. All the research materials were obtained over
the internet, Wikipedia and other websites. Next step taken is reading, comprehending
and analyzing literature review and matching information obtained. This research
emphasize online scouting system, which include usability, user-friendly interface,
reliability, costing and meeting needs of target users.

3.7 Project Activities

In order to give solution to problems in an environment, a developer or a team of
developers must incorporate a development strategy that encompasses the process,
methods and tools layers and generic phases. This strategy is often referred to as
process model or a software developing paradigm. A process model for software
developing is chosen based on the nature of project and application, the methods and
tools to be used, and the controls and deliverables that are required. All software
development can be characterized as a problem solving loop in which distinct stages
are encountered. Regardless of the process model that is chosen for a software project,
all of the stages coexist simultaneously at some level of detail. The methodology
chosen to develop this system is waterfall model approach. We opted for this method
because we found that it is the best for our project where the stages involved can assist
our level of progress. Many developers prefer waterfall model and widely use it as a
development strategy. Waterfall model approach is chosen because the approach
allows the development of the system to be revised after the stages is finished. Once
the stages are not satisfied, then going back to the previous stages can be considered
necessary to add or modify any features. The different stages for this model: Project
planning, requirements design, design, development, integration and testing,
installation and acceptance.

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3.8 Tools
The tools used to develop the system are: Notepad ++, Microsoft Word Office and
MySQL in XAMPP.

3.8.1 Notepad ++

Notepad++ is a free (as in “free speech” and also as in “free beer”) source code editor
and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS
Windows environment, its use is governed by GNU General Public License.

Based on the powerful editing component Scintilla, Notepad++ is written in C++ and
uses pure Win32 API and STL which ensures a higher execution speed and smaller
program size. By optimizing as many routines as possible without losing user
friendliness, Notepad++ is trying to reduce the world carbon dioxide emissions. When
using less CPU power, the PC can throttle down and reduce power consumption,
resulting in a greener environment

3.8.2 MySQL

MySQL is an open source RDBMS that relies on SQL for processing the data in the
database. MySQL provides APIs for the languages C, C++, Eiffel, Java, Perl, PHP and
Python. In addition, OLE DB and ODBC providers exist for MySQL data connection
in the Microsoft environment. A MySQL .NET Native Provider is also available,
which allows native MySQL to .NET access without the need for OLE DB. MySQL
is most commonly used for Web applications and for embedded applications and has
become a popular alternative to proprietary database systems because of its speed and
reliability. MySQL can run on UNIX, Windows and Mac OS. MySQL is developed,
supported and marketed by MySQL AB. The database is available for free under the
terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) or for a fee to those who do not wish
to be bound by the terms of the GPL

3.8.3 Microsoft Word Office

Microsoft Words is Microsoft’s word processing software that we chose to document

all the documentation part.

27
3.8.4 Operating System
For the project, we used Windows 10 - 64-bits, a series of operating systems produced
by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops,
laptops; notebooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs.

3.8.5 Hardware
The hardware that I have used to develop the system is a HP laptop with Intel Celeron
processor at a speed of 1.80GHz. The RAM is 4GB.

3.9 System Features

Signup:
The user will be able to create an account as either an athlete or an agent.

Login / Logout:
To assure the security of the system, the user would be able to sign in before using the
system and sign out after finishing.

Send Private Messages:

Agents can send private messages to athletes to give them tips on what skills need to
be improved on.

Upload:
Athletes can post videos to be reviewed by scouts and agents can post tutorials to help
athletes train at home.

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3.10 Conceptual Idea

Below is a conceptual idea of how ScoutMe is going to work.

Sign Up / Log In as an Athlete

Sign up / Log
In Sign Up / Log In as a Scout or
Agent
Athletes posts videos and pictures exhibiting their skills

Add Posts
Scouts and Agents post tutorials and drills for Athletes

Reviews and Scouts leave reviews on posts by athletes and also give them
ratings based on their performance.
Comments

Athletes receive messages from various scouts if

Selection they get selected.

ScoutMe is going to be a web based app which can be assessed with any mobile device
or PC as long as there is an internet connection. The whole idea came out from looking
at how one of the famous social media accounts work, thus Facebook. Facebook allows
users to post pictures just for likes, and to also connect friends around the world. The
idea of Scout Me came from this existing system, but it is limited to only athletes.
ScoutMe is going to be a platform that will allow users to showcase their talents to
scouts and agents across the globe.

Sign-Up Interface

Figure V: The User signs up as either an athlete or an agent at this stage. Every
field must be filled before you can proceed to the Login page

29
Log-In Interface

Figure VI: After Signing Up, the site takes you to the Login Page where you
login into your profile page.

Below are screenshots of some of the codes written to get our signup and login pages.

Figure VII: Codes for Signup Page

30
 Figure VIII: Codes for Login Page

User Profile Interface

Figure IX: User Profile Page

Figure IX shows how the User’s page looks like when they login into their profile and
below is some of the codes written to achieve this.

31
Figure X: Codes for User Profile Interface

32
CHAPTER FOUR - SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
ScoutMe is an online scouting system that provides necessary tools that will enable
athletes across the globe get the chance to showcase their skills with just one click on
their mobile phones. The system allows users to create a profile as either an athlete or
as an agent. After creation of a profile, you can now post videos of what you are good
at for scouts to review them. Scouts can also post videos that will serve as tutorials for
athletes. Videos of athletes will be reviewed by scouts, and tips will be given to athletes
on what to work on to meet the standards required.

Athletes will know if they have chances of becoming professionals based on the
reviews they receive from agents / scouts. This will save money and time since
everything will be done online at the comfort of their homes.

33
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