Who this is for: anyone deciding whether Boathouse Connect fits their club, and new administrators who want the big picture before the details. Permission required: none to read this; the steps below name the permission each one needs.
Most clubs run on a mix of spreadsheets, a group chat, a shared calendar, a payment app and someone's inbox. Boathouse Connect replaces that mix with one place where the roster, the schedule, the boats, the money and the paperwork all refer to the same people. This page walks through a typical season to show how the pieces fit together. Each step links to the guide that has the clicks; the Common workflows section goes deeper on the problems clubs most often bring to us.
Pre-season: set the club up once
| What you do | Where | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Register the organization, pick a plan, set logo and time zone | Register → New Organization, Org Settings → General | New club guide |
| Create rowing groups (Varsity, Novice, Masters) and job groups (Coaches, Treasurer) and give each the permissions it needs | Groups → Manage Groups, Groups → Permissions | Roles & permissions, Groups |
| Attach season fees, payment plans and discount codes to groups | Finances → Fees & Discounts | Fees, payment plans & discount codes |
| Write the waiver and code of conduct and require them for each group | Waivers & Docs → Manage Docs | Documents & waivers |
| Enter the boats, oars and ergs, and decide which groups may use what | Equipment → All Equipment, Equipment → Settings | Your inventory |
| Add the boathouse and any other practice locations | Practices → Locations | Creating & managing practices |
Setup takes an afternoon. The payoff is that every later step — a new member joining, a practice being scheduled, a fee coming due — already knows which group, which boats and which documents apply.
Sign-ups: members onboard themselves
- Pre-authorize the email addresses you already have, upload a roster spreadsheet, or share a custom registration link that drops people straight into the right groups — Importing members, Onboarding workflows & user checklists.
- Each person creates their own account, answers the first-login questions (rowing experience, emergency contact) and lands on your Dashboard — New member guide.
- When they join a group, Boathouse Connect collects what that group requires: documents are signed on screen, and a join fee is paid with a card or bank account they choose on the spot — Join requests, Paying as a member.
- Parents and supporters who do not need an account are added as stakeholders on the group so they receive its messages — Stakeholders.
Nobody at the club types names into a spreadsheet, and the treasurer's "who has paid and signed?" question is answered by the roster itself.
In season: practices, lineups and messages
- Coaches schedule practices for groups — singly, in bulk or by cloning last week — and members mark whether they are coming — Creating & managing practices, Attendance.
- The lineup builder shows who is attending, their sides and experience, the boats reserved for the practice and the weather, and publishes the lineup to each athlete's schedule and phone — The lineup builder.
- Announcements go to groups by email and text, from your club's own domain; members who are not allowed to send directly can still draft a message for review — Sending email & text, Message review.
- Members book singles and ergs within the limits you set, and report damage the moment they see it — Reservations, Reported issues & maintenance.
- Coaches leave notes for athletes and read the post-practice survey; the attendance and erg-score reports build up on their own — Coaching notes & post-practice surveys, Practice analytics & erg scores.
Regattas
Regattas arrive from RegattaCentral already filled in. A coach opens a regatta planner for each one, collects who is going and which events interest them, builds race lineups from the reserved boats, messages everyone travelling, and checks every athlete's USRowing waiver on the Compliance tab — The regatta planner. Athletes see all of it on their regatta dashboard — Finding and attending regattas. Results flow back into RowStats, and trailer loading and the drive are handled in the companion product RiggerPlus.
Money, all season long
The treasurer works from Finances → All Accounts: every member's charges, payments and credits in one timeline, overdue balances charged automatically to the payment method on file, one-off charges uploaded from a spreadsheet, and payouts landing in the club's bank account — Setting up club finances, Member accounts. Fundraisers get a public page of their own — Fundraisers.
Off-season: records and renewal
- Export rosters, attendance, finances and documents for the board, the insurer or a grant application — Data export.
- Pull the insurance summary, current valuations and usage per boat before renewing cover or deciding what to sell — Insurance, valuations & usage analytics.
- Approve the season's volunteer hours and send an end-of-season survey — Volunteer hours, Surveys.
- Archive last season's groups and set up next season's fees. Members keep their accounts, so returning rowers just join the new groups.
Which clubs this fits
Boathouse Connect is used by high school and scholastic programs, collegiate and club teams, masters clubs, combined juniors-and-masters clubs and brand-new start-up programs. The same features apply; what changes is how you use groups and who holds which permissions. See the use-case pages for high school, collegiate, masters, juniors & masters and start-up clubs.
Try it with your own club. New organizations get the Professional plan free for 30 days with no card required: register your organization. Prefer a walkthrough first? Schedule a demo. Plan details and prices are on the pricing page.
FAQ
Do we have to move everything over at once? No. Most clubs start with groups, messaging and practices, then add fees and documents the following season. Every feature works on its own; they simply work better together because they share the roster.
How long does setup take? An afternoon for the organization, groups, fees and documents, then a week or two of members registering. The New club guide has the checklist.
What do our members need to install? Nothing. The web app works in any browser. The mobile app is optional and covers the everyday member features — The mobile app.
Who at the club should be an administrator? Whoever runs the club day to day, using their own accounts in an administrators group. There is no shared club login — Roles & permissions.
Can we get our data out again? Yes — Data export covers members, attendance, finances and documents, and your API keys let you pull data into other systems.