How to Prepare a New Season in a Sports Club: Checklist for Coaches and Management
Why a New Season Often Starts in Chaos
Every year the same scenario: coaches and the club secretary sit over old Excel files, paper lists, and Viber group messages. Someone left for another club, someone changed category, parents ask about membership fees, and medical check-ups are already expiring — yet you have not even held the first training session.
Preparing for a new season is not just “entering kids into a spreadsheet.” It is the moment when the club sets the foundation for the next nine months: who plays on which team, how much membership costs, who records attendance, and how parents get information.
Good season preparation means fewer arguments during the year, better membership fee collection, and more time for training, not administration.
Checklist before the first training session
Go through these eight steps before you call parents to the first meeting or send the notice that work is starting.
1. Open a new season in the system
Do not create “Season 2025–26 FINAL v3.xlsx.” Open a new season in one place, in one system, with a clear name (e.g. 2025/26) and a start date. All data from the previous season stays archived; new data starts clean.
2. Review teams and categories
Do you have the same number of squads as last year? Did you add a sports school group, pioneers, or a new recreational group? Each team should have:
- a clear name and category (year of birth or level),
- an assigned coach,
- a defined training schedule.
Without that, schedule overlaps and confusion appear in the first week.
3. Update the player and parent list
Go through the member list:
- who left the club,
- who moved to another category,
- whether parent contact details are still correct.
One accurate list at the start saves dozens of hours later, especially when sending notices or membership fee reminders.
4. Set membership fees by group
At the start of the season, agree on prices: monthly fee, sibling discount, special programs (camp, extra sessions). Enter everything at once, not “as you go” when a parent asks why a neighbor pays differently.
Transparent prices at the start reduce misunderstandings during the year.
5. Check medical examinations
Before the first training session, review who has:
- a valid medical check-up,
- a check-up expiring in the next 30 days,
- missing documentation.
Paper tracking easily misses expiry dates. Digital records with reminders reduce the risk of a player training without valid clearance.
6. Agree who records attendance
One coach per team? Secretary at reception? Everyone should know who and how, so you are not guessing in March whether Marko attended when a parent disputes the number of sessions.
Attendance recorded at the start of the season becomes the reference for the whole year and directly affects billing.
7. Centralize communication with parents
Instead of three Viber groups, WhatsApp messages, and email, agree on one channel for:
- schedule changes,
- notices about games and tournaments,
- membership fee reminders.
Parents know where to look; you do not repeat the same information five times.
8. Send a clear season-start notice
One message with all essential information:
- date of the first training session,
- location and equipment,
- membership fee amount and payment deadline,
- coach contact.
The fewer questions in your inbox afterward, the better you prepared the season.
The most common mistake: new season = new Excel file on the Desktop. A year later you have five versions of the table and nobody knows which one is correct.
What not to do at the start of the season
- Do not mix old and new records in the same file without a clear season label.
- Do not postpone entering membership fees — parents will ask, and you will not have a ready answer.
- Do not rely only on Viber for payment confirmations; messages get lost in the chat flood.
- Do not forget medical check-ups — checking at the start is cheaper than problems at a competition.
How much time does it really take?
| Way of working | Estimated time |
|---|---|
| Manual (Excel + paper + Viber) | 2–3 days of scattered work |
| Digital (one platform) | A few hours, often less |
A club with three to five teams and about 80–120 members can finish basic preparation in one afternoon in a digital system, if data is partly ready from last season.
The key is not “clicking faster,” but enter once, use all year: attendance, membership fees, notices, and reports from the same source.
Example: a club with four teams
Imagine a local club with 86 players, 4 teams, and two coaches who kept records in Excel and Viber last season.
Before digitalization:
- two days merging spreadsheets and checking duplicates,
- parents calling the secretary about payment status,
- one expired medical check-up in October that you almost missed.
After switching to digital season preparation:
- new season opened in one day,
- teams and membership fees set the same day,
- automatic medical reminders,
- parents see membership status without calling the club.
The result is not just “less paper,” but fewer interruptions during training and fewer uncomfortable conversations with parents.
When is the right time to start?
Ideally August or early September, before mass enrollment and the first sessions. But even if the season is already underway, it is better to fix the system now than wait for next year.
If the first month was already chaotic, that is a signal to change the start-of-season process — not accept that “it is always like this.”
Who should do what at season start?
Clear roles stop the secretary redoing work the coach already captured in a private spreadsheet. In volunteer clubs, one person often covers several jobs — but for preparation week, agree who owns each task.
Management and board
- approve membership fee levels and payment deadlines,
- confirm how many teams and categories you run this year,
- choose one official system for records (not Excel on the side “just in case”).
Coaches
- confirm squad lists and who moved up or down a category,
- set training times per team and flag schedule clashes early,
- agree who marks attendance at each session (and a backup if they are absent).
Secretary or admin
- enter members and parent contacts in the central list,
- review medical check-up status and send renewal reminders,
- send the season-start notice only after coaches have verified their squads.
When each role has a short list, the first week is calmer — and you spend less time fixing duplicate or conflicting data.
Pricing and trial
€4 per team per month (up to 40 members). 30-day free trial — no credit card required. Open your new season, set teams and fees, and test with real squads before you commit.
A club with four teams pays €16 per month for the whole organization — less than the cost of one lost membership fee reminder in a busy inbox.
New season in minutes — everything ready, no Excel chaos
Chlanko lets you open a season, organize teams, add players, set membership fees, and track attendance and medical check-ups — all in one place. Focus on the first training session, not spreadsheets.