The natural next step
When your running group becomes a club
The group chat and basic booking app that got you here have done their job. Here's what running it properly actually looks like.
Most running clubs follow the same path. A few friends, a group chat, a simple app. Then more people, more sessions, and more that one person can carry in their head. connectMyClub is built for the stage when the informal way stops being enough.
A club's growth path
Recognise where your group is today.
A few people running together
It starts small. A handful of people, the same spot each week, organised over a group chat and maybe a basic app to book a slot and tick people in. That is all a group this size needs, and it works.
Regular sessions, more than one leader
The group grows. There is a rota of leaders now, sessions at different paces, and beginners turning up alongside people training for their next race. The group chat is getting noisy, and one person is doing most of the organising in their head.
Becoming a proper club
At some point it stops being a running group and starts being the club. That usually means affiliating with a governing body, taking membership fees, and welcoming juniors. It also means appointing a welfare officer, getting leaders DBS-checked, and safeguarding policies stop being optional.
This is the point where the informal way stops scaling. Not because the people running it are doing anything wrong, but because the club has grown into something the tools were not designed for.
Running it well, sustainably
This is where the workload that used to live in one volunteer's head needs somewhere safer and more sustainable to live. connectMyClub was built for exactly this stage, by people who have been that volunteer.
That's where connectMyClub comes in. Here's where the organising actually goes.
Where does all that organising go?
Club news, in one place
Junior safeguarding
DBS expiry reminders
ActiveSafe
what3words emergency location
LiveMap
Garmin and Apple Watch apps
Training platform connections
Is safeguarding the reason you're here?
Bringing juniors into a club is often the moment that makes proper platform support non-negotiable. There's a full breakdown of how connectMyClub handles junior safety, guardian-linked accounts, ActiveSafe, incident reporting, and welfare officer tools on the safety page.
Read about safety & safeguarding →Your club has grown. Your tools should too.
connectMyClub was built for exactly this stage, by people who have been that volunteer. Start a free one-month trial — and if you'd like a walkthrough with the founder, just ask.