Who this is for: everyone — members, coaches and administrators who are new to Boathouse Connect.
Boathouse Connect is a management platform for rowing clubs, teams and programs. A club runs its day-to-day operations in one place — rosters, communications, practices, lineups, equipment, regattas, waivers and fees — and every athlete, parent, coach, volunteer and administrator uses their own personal account to see the parts that apply to them.
Accounts and organizations
There is only one kind of account in Boathouse Connect: a person. Every athlete, parent, coach, volunteer and administrator has their own account, tied to their own email address, created at Register → New User.
An organization — a club, team or program — is not an account. It is a space that people belong to. It has its own members, groups, settings and subscription, and it is run entirely by members who have been given the permissions to run it (see Roles & permissions). Registering a new club at Register → New Organization creates the organization and makes the person registering it the organization's first member, with every permission.
No shared "club login". Club administrators should use their personal accounts and give themselves the permissions they need, rather than creating an "office" or "admin" account whose password is passed around. Every action is then tied to a real person, and nobody loses access when a volunteer moves on — you simply adjust group membership.
Because your account is yours and not the club's, you keep the same login if you row for more than one club, move from a juniors program to a masters program, or coach at one club and row at another. Each organization you belong to appears in the organization switcher next to the notifications icon, and everything else in the app changes to match the organization you have selected.
Groups: how organizations are organized
Inside an organization, people are sorted into groups — for example Varsity, Novice, Masters, Coaches, Parents or Board. Groups drive almost everything:
- Permissions. Each group carries a set of permissions. A person can do whatever any of their groups allows (see Roles & permissions).
- Communication. Emails, texts and chat go to groups.
- Practices and lineups. Practices are scheduled for groups and lineups are built from the members of those groups.
- Equipment. Boats and oars can be restricted to certain groups.
- Fees and documents. Joining a group can require signing documents or paying a fee.
Every organization starts with an administrators group that holds every permission. The person who created the organization is its first member.
The product areas
The left navigation in the web app is organized by product area. The areas you see depend on your permissions, so a member usually sees fewer items than a coach or administrator.
| Area | What it covers |
|---|---|
| My Profile | Your personal details, dashboard, preferences, notifications, API keys, external IDs and erg scores. Everything here follows you between organizations. |
| Groups | The groups you belong to, group rosters and join requests. Administrators also manage group permissions and stakeholders here. |
| Communications | Chat, sending email/text messages to groups, your message history, message templates, analytics, and communication settings. |
| Practices | The practice calendar, lineups, your attendance, coaching notes, practice locations and weather alerts. |
| Equipment | The boathouse inventory, reservations (check-out / check-in), reported issues, usage settings, insurance and valuation records. |
| Regattas | Regatta search, regatta planners and the regattas you are entered in. |
| Tasks | Surveys, volunteer hours and user checklists. |
| Org Settings | Organization-wide settings: general, communication, data export, calendar, subscription, onboarding, external IDs, user uploads and user profile fields. Administrators only. |
| Waivers & Docs | USRowing waiver status, documents for members to sign, your own waivers and documents, and compliance reporting. |
| Finances | Your account balance and payments, plus (for finance administrators) fees and discounts, all accounts, payments received, fundraisers and tax records. |
| RowStats | Race results — your races and your team's regattas. |
Each of these areas gets its own set of guides; this Getting Started section covers what you need on day one.
Who uses it
Boathouse Connect runs programs of every shape: high school and scholastic teams, collegiate and club teams, masters clubs, combined juniors-and-masters clubs and new start-up programs. The product is the same for all of them; what changes is how you set up groups and who holds which permissions. If you are weighing it up for your own club, How clubs use Boathouse Connect walks through a season, and the Common workflows guides show how clubs solve specific problems such as collecting dues or running a regatta weekend.
Try it. New organizations get the Professional plan free for 30 days with no card required — register your organization — or schedule a demo first.
Web and mobile
Boathouse Connect is a web application that works in any modern browser on a computer, tablet or phone. A companion mobile app is also available; the mobile app covers the everyday member features (schedule, lineups, attendance, chat and notifications), while administrative setup is done on the web.
Where to go next
- Rowing for a club that already uses Boathouse Connect? Start with the New member guide.
- Bringing your club onto Boathouse Connect? Start with the New club guide.
- Deciding who should be allowed to do what? Read Roles & permissions.
- Need help with something specific? Search the guides above, browse the Help & How-To's, or email [email protected].
FAQ
Can we try it before paying? Yes. Registering an organization starts a 30-day trial of the Professional plan with no card required. See Subscription & billing.
Do we have to move everything over at once? No. Each product area works on its own. Most clubs start with groups, messaging and practices and add fees, documents and equipment later.
What does it cost? Plans are priced per organization per month, not per member; current prices and what each plan includes are on the pricing page.
Is there a shared login for the club? No. Everyone, including administrators, uses their own account; what a person can do comes from the groups they belong to. See Roles & permissions.
Does it replace our website? No. Boathouse Connect is the members' and administrators' workspace. You can embed the club calendar on your website and link to the public fundraiser pages from it.