Friday afternoon in the sports office
Saturday has fourteen fixtures across rugby and hockey, home and away. Team sheets go up on the noticeboard on Friday lunchtime. Coach times are confirmed with the coach company by email. Parents want to know departure and return times, whether to bring their own car, and whether the U13B match against a school forty miles away is still on after the rain.
At half past four on Friday, the U14A fixture is cancelled because the other school has a sickness outbreak. The sports office emails the team, cancels a coach, tells catering there will be fewer teas, and hopes everyone reads their messages.
Fixture details live in too many places
Fixtures are planned in a calendar, teams are picked by coaches, transport is booked by the sports office, teas are ordered from catering, and parents are messaged separately. Each is a separate task with its own list, and a change to one does not update the others.
- Team sheets are pinned on a noticeboard or emailed as attachments.
- Coach bookings are made by email and not linked to team sizes.
- Parents are messaged by hand for each change.
- Catering numbers for match teas are estimates.
- Results are collected from coaches by email after the weekend.
What scattered fixtures cost
Sports office time, especially on Fridays. Pupils who miss fixtures because they did not see the team sheet. Parents who drive to a cancelled match. Coaches with empty seats or too few. And a website that shows last week's results, if any.
Staffing adds another layer. Every away fixture needs the right number of staff travelling with the team, and those staff may be teaching Saturday school in the morning or running a different team in the afternoon. When the plan lives in the director of sport's head, a single illness on Friday night can mean several early morning phone calls to rearrange cover, with nobody sure who else is affected.
Fixture admin we build
- The fixture calendar is set up with each fixture's teams, venue, times, transport and catering needs.
- Coaches pick teams from their squads in the system, and team sheets are published to pupils and parents in the parent app or by email.
- Transport requirements are calculated from team sizes and staff, and the booking with your coach company is recorded against each fixture.
- Match tea numbers go to catering from the home fixtures and team sizes.
- A change or cancellation is made once, and messages go to exactly the pupils, parents, drivers and catering affected.
- Coaches enter results and a short report on a phone, which can go to the school website and newsletter.
| Task | Before | In the fixture record |
|---|---|---|
| Team sheet | Noticeboard, email attachment | Published to pupils and parents |
| Transport | Emails to the coach company | Linked to team sizes |
| Match teas | Estimated | From fixtures and team sizes |
| Cancellation | Several separate emails | One change, messages sent |
| Results | Collected by email | Entered on a phone |
If a sports management tool you already use covers some of this, we will build around it rather than replace it.
A Friday afternoon that stays calm
Team sheets are out on Thursday evening. Parents see their child's fixture with times and venue. When the U14A match is cancelled, one change sends the right messages to the right people, cancels the coach booking request and adjusts the teas. On Saturday evening, results are already on the website.
Signs your fixtures need this
- Team sheets are pinned to a noticeboard.
- Parents ask the sports office for times each week.
- Cancellations need several separate emails.
- Coach bookings are not linked to team sizes.
- Results reach the website late or not at all.