A club within the club
The seniors play every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Their secretary keeps a spreadsheet of section members, including who has paid the section fee, and an email list in their personal account. Roll-up entries are taken on a sheet on the table in the lounge, with a pound or two into a tin. The draw is made by pulling names from a hat. The ladies' section has its own secretary, its own spreadsheet and its own Wednesday.
When a member moves house, they tell the office, but not the section. When a section secretary steps down, the new one inherits a laptop, or a spreadsheet emailed from a personal account, or nothing at all.
Why sections go their own way
Section officers are volunteers doing their best with what they have. The club's systems are often only available on the office computer, or give access to everything or nothing, so sections build their own.
Section events also have their own rules: roll-ups with a mixed draw, section knockouts, away days, the Christmas lunch. The club's competition software may not suit an informal roll-up, so paper feels easier.
Communication is another reason. Section members want to hear about their own events, not every club newsletter, and a section secretary with a personal email list can reach them quickly. The club's system, when it is used, tends to send everything to everyone.
And the money matters. Section fees and sweeps are collected in cash, recorded by hand and banked occasionally, which creates a job nobody likes and a risk nobody wants.
What separate section admin costs
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Separate member lists | Out-of-date contacts and missed members |
| Emails from personal accounts | Data held where the club cannot see it |
| Cash tins and paper sheets | Money handling and record keeping headaches |
| Tee blocks agreed by phone | Clashes with members and societies |
| Knowledge held by one volunteer | Hard handovers when officers change |
How your club handles member data and cash is for your committee and adviser. Our part is to make the sensible way also the easy way for section officers.
How we give sections their own tools on shared data
- Each section has a member list drawn from the club's membership records, with section-specific details such as section fee paid or team eligibility kept alongside.
- Section officers get their own login with access limited to their section, so they can see and message their members without a personal spreadsheet.
- Section emails and texts go out from the club's system under the section's name, and members can manage their own preferences.
- Roll-ups are entered online or at the table on a tablet, with a draw made to the section's rules, and published to the tee sheet as a block agreed with the office.
- Section fees and sweeps can be paid by card or through a member account where your club offers one, with a clear record for the section treasurer.
- The section's regular tee blocks are held in the tee sheet as a standing booking, visible to everyone, and released automatically if the roll-up is small.
Where your club management system already offers section tools, we help you use them properly before adding anything.
A Tuesday roll-up afterwards
Seniors put their names down for Tuesday from a link sent on Sunday. The secretary makes the draw on Monday evening with a tap, and it lands in the tee sheet block. Unused times are released to members at the time the club agreed. The sweep is recorded against the entry, and the treasurer can see where every pound went. When the secretary hands over next spring, the new one logs in and everything is there.
- One source of member details for the whole club
- Section officers with the access they need, and no more
- Fewer cash tins and paper sheets
- Easy handovers between volunteers
Is this how your sections run?
- Section secretaries keep their own member spreadsheets.
- Section emails go from personal accounts.
- Roll-ups and sweeps are run on paper with a cash tin.
- Section tee blocks are agreed informally.
- A change of section officer means starting again.