Monday at the leisure centre, Tuesday at the school, Saturday at the park
Your academy runs football, multi-sport or tennis sessions across the week at a handful of venues. Under-sevens on Monday at a school sports hall. Two age groups on Tuesday at the leisure centre. A Wednesday girls' session. Saturday mornings at the park pitches, with four groups running at once. Adults on Thursday evenings.
Each venue started with its own spreadsheet or its own page in the booking system, set up at different times. Some parents pay termly, some monthly, and some turn up and pay on the day. When a family moves from the Monday group to Saturday, someone updates two lists. When a coach asks how many are coming on Tuesday, the owner checks messages, the booking system and a notebook. Nobody can easily answer the question parents ask most: is there space for my child, and where?
Why multi-venue timetables get out of hand
- Sessions were added one at a time as the academy grew, each set up slightly differently.
- Capacity depends on the venue, the age group and the number of coaches available, and is kept in the owner's head.
- Families have children in different groups at different venues, and those links are not recorded anywhere.
- Transfers between sessions are handled by message and updated in more than one place.
- Coaches get their lists by WhatsApp photo or printout, which are out of date by session time.
What the mess costs
Empty places at one venue while another has a waiting list. Parents told a session is full when it is not. Coaches arriving with the wrong list and having to take names at the door. The owner spending evenings answering availability questions instead of planning next term or coaching.
It also limits growth. Every new venue adds another spreadsheet and more work for the same people, so expanding feels like more trouble than it is worth.
One timetable for every venue
Where a class booking system you already have can be set up to do this, we set it up. Where it cannot, we build what is missing around it.
- Every session is set up once: venue, day, time, age group or ability level, coach, capacity and price, in one timetable that covers the whole term.
- Parents see availability across venues on one page, filtered by their child's age, and book or join a waiting list.
- Families are one account, with each child linked to their own sessions, so a parent sees everything in one place and pays one bill if you want that.
- Transfers between sessions are one action, which updates both registers and adjusts the payment by your rules.
- Coaches see their session lists on their phones, updated live, and take the register there.
- The owner sees numbers and spaces for every session in one view, by venue and age group.
| View | Who uses it | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Timetable | Parents | Sessions by venue and age with spaces |
| Session list | Coaches | Today's children, key notes and register |
| Family account | Parents | Every child's sessions and payments |
| Capacity overview | Owner or manager | Spaces and waiting lists across venues |
A term that runs itself more
At the start of term, parents book from one timetable. The Saturday under-nines fill and a waiting list starts, while the owner can see Tuesday's leisure centre group still has space for that age and suggests it to waiting parents in one message.
Coaches arrive with their lists already on their phones. When a family moves their child from Monday to Saturday mid-term, the parent does it through their account, the registers update and the price difference is handled by your rule. The owner spends Sunday evening on something other than spreadsheets.
Is this your academy?
- Each venue has its own spreadsheet or booking page.
- You answer availability questions by checking several lists.
- Coaches get their lists as photos in a group chat.
- Families with children at different venues are hard to keep track of.
- Some sessions have waiting lists while others have spaces.