Does your kids’ club need its own app?

We think every club should have its own app. We would say that, because we build them. So here are the reasons we have one at our own club, and the honest downsides too.

1. Messages parents actually see

Emails get buried. Texts cost money. WhatsApp groups mean sharing your personal number, messages at 11pm and a hundred “thank you”s every time you post.

A notification from your app lands on the parent’s lock screen, costs nothing to send and goes to exactly the right families: one class, one age group, or everyone. Class cancelled because of snow? Everyone knows in seconds.

2. Less admin for you

Registers on your phone, with QR check-in at the door. Medical notes and emergency contacts in your pocket during every class. Payments taken and chased for you. No paper, no spreadsheets, no cash tin.

3. Everything in one place for parents

Parents juggle a lot. An app gives them one place for everything to do with your club:

• the timetable and holiday dates
• their child’s pass to scan in
• payments, receipts and pausing
• uniform, kit and show tickets
• photos, news and messages from you

When everything is easy to find, you get fewer “what time is it again?” messages.

4. Your name on their home screen

Some booking systems put your club inside a shared app, next to lots of other clubs. Your own app has your name and logo, sits on the parent’s home screen, and is about nobody but you. It makes a small club look established.

5. A community, not just a timetable

A feed for photos, news and celebrating wins makes families feel part of something. That sense of belonging is a big part of why children stay.

The honest downsides

• Apple and Google charge for developer accounts. £79 a year for Apple and a one-off $25 for Google, paid to them.
• Getting into the stores takes time. Apple and Google review every app, which usually takes 1 to 4 weeks.
• Parents have to download it. The trick is making the app the place where things happen: the pass to scan in, the payments, the photos. Then they open it every week.

What to look for

1. Your own name and logo, in the App Store and Google Play.
2. Notifications you can send to one class or everyone.
3. QR check-in and registers for your coaches.
4. Payments, pause and failed-payment chasing built in.
5. A shop for kit and tickets.
6. Everything also working on your website, for parents who don’t download it.

Questions