Is Spond free for schools?

Yes. Spond is free to use for clubs, schools and teams, with no cost for the core scheduling, attendance, payment and messaging features.

How can a school rugby app help with parent communication?

It gives a programme a single trusted channel to reach every family with fixture details, safety information and updates. That helps close the gap between parental perception of rugby and the reality of the age-grade game, which is one of the biggest challenges schools face in keeping numbers up.

How safe is rugby at school level?

According to Neil Rollings of the RFU's National Rugby Leadership Programme for Schools, the data shows injury risk only really rises from age 16, and the age-grade game has never been safer. Much of the public anxiety comes from coverage of the professional game rather than school rugby itself.

Is UK school rugby actually in decline?

Recent findings reported by The Telegraph suggest the picture is more positive than the headlines. An ICE survey found 75 per cent of established rugby-playing schools have the same or more boys playing than three years ago, with 640 teams in RFU schools' competitions in 2026. Numbers are lower than two decades ago, largely because contact rugby can no longer be made compulsory, but the decline has levelled off.

What is a school rugby app and what does it do?

A school rugby app is a tool that lets staff and volunteers manage a rugby programme in one place, covering fixtures, attendance, squad selection, payments, consent forms and group messaging. It replaces the mix of spreadsheets, email chains and WhatsApp groups most school sport relies on, which saves the volunteers running the programme a significant amount of time.

How can we turn camp attendees into full club members?

Capture each family's details during booking, then follow up afterwards with a warm invitation to a taster session or to register for the new season. Mentioning what their child enjoyed at camp makes the invitation feel personal and lifts the response.

How do we fill places without spending money on advertising?

Start with your existing club families, who are your warmest audience, via Spond. Then reach out through local community groups, nearby primary schools, and your own social media. Word of mouth and a few good photos from past camps do most of the work.

Do we need qualified coaches and DBS checks for a holiday camp?

Yes. Anyone coaching children should hold the relevant qualifications and an in date DBS check, and you should meet your governing body's coach to child ratios. First aid cover and collected medical and consent information for every child are essential too.

What should we charge for a summer football camp?

Price it around your actual costs plus a sensible margin, and check what other local providers charge. Full day camps in the UK commonly sit between twenty and forty pounds per child per day, with sibling and early bird discounts to encourage early bookings.

How far in advance should we plan a summer football camp?

Aim to confirm your dates, venue, and coaching staff at least two to three months ahead. This gives you time to open bookings early, market the camp properly, and reach the numbers you need before the summer holidays begin.

How many events should a school sports day include?

A well-structured sports day typically runs between eight and twelve events. A mix of individual and team events, classic races and novelty challenges, and high-intensity and lower-impact activities gives every participant something to engage with. Always build in recovery time and water breaks, particularly in summer heat.

What equipment do you need to run a school sports day?

The basics — traffic cones, measuring tape, hula hoops, bean bags, and sacks — cover most events. Foam javelins, a large parachute, water balloons, and relay batons extend the programme significantly. Most schools already have the majority in their PE store; the rest can be sourced inexpensively or borrowed from other local schools or clubs.

How can Spond help with organising a sports day?

Spond makes it straightforward to manage the organisational side of any sports day. You can create the event, send invitations, collect attendance confirmations, assign volunteer roles, and communicate changes — all through one free platform. It's particularly well suited to schools and clubs without a budget for paid event management tools.

How do you make sports day inclusive for all children?

Inclusivity starts with event selection. Avoid a programme that rewards only speed or strength. Multi-skill circuits, team events, accuracy-based throwing challenges, and seated alternatives all help ensure different children can contribute meaningfully. Novelty events like welly wanging or water balloon toss can level the playing field entirely.

What is the best age group for sports day events?

Most sports day ideas can be adapted for children aged 5 to 16 with the right modifications. Younger children respond best to novelty events like egg and spoon, sack races, and parachute games. Older children tend to engage more with team formats where tactics play a role. The key is varying the programme so no single athletic ability dominates the day.

What types of sports clubs use Spond in the UK?

Spond is used by sports clubs across a huge range of disciplines in the UK, including football, rugby, cricket, hockey, swimming, athletics, gymnastics, basketball, and many more. It is equally effective for small community clubs with a handful of volunteers and larger clubs managing dozens of teams and hundreds of members.

Can Spond handle multiple teams and volunteer groups?

Yes. Spond is designed for clubs that manage multiple teams, age groups, and volunteer categories simultaneously. You can create separate groups for different teams or volunteer roles within a single club account, giving each group its own communication thread and event calendar while maintaining an overview at club level.

How does Spond compare to using WhatsApp for volunteer coordination?

WhatsApp is useful for quick messages but is not designed for structured volunteer management. Spond adds event scheduling, attendance tracking, role assignment, and RSVP features that WhatsApp cannot replicate. It also keeps club data separate from volunteers’ personal messaging, which is better for privacy and GDPR compliance.

Is Spond really free to use?

Yes. The core Spond platform — including volunteer coordination, event management, group messaging, and availability tracking — is completely free for clubs and their members. Spond also offers optional paid features, including payment processing, fundraising and Club Website, but these are not required for effective volunteer management.

What is a volunteer management system?

A volunteer management system is a platform that helps organisations recruit, schedule, communicate with, and track their volunteers. For sports clubs, it typically includes tools for event sign-ups, availability tracking, role assignment, and group messaging — replacing the patchwork of spreadsheets and messaging apps many clubs currently rely on.

Is Spond available to football clubs across the whole of the UK?

Yes. Spond is available to clubs throughout the UK, and its fundraising tools — including Superdraw and Spot the Ball — are accessible to any club using the platform.

Do clubs need technical knowledge to run Spond fundraising campaigns?

No. Both Superdraw and Spot the Ball are fully integrated into Spond, so clubs can set up and manage campaigns directly through the app they already use. No separate tools, payment processors, or technical setup are required.

What is Spot the Ball and how does it help with fundraising?

Spot the Ball is a seven-day progressive jackpot game where participants guess the ball's position in a match photo. Prizes are awarded in gift cards, keeping players engaged throughout the season.

How does Superdraw work for football clubs?

Superdraw is a seasonal prize draw run through Spond. Clubs set ticket prices and promote the draw to members, who enter for a chance to win cash prizes.

What are the best football club fundraising ideas for grassroots clubs?

Spond's Superdraw and Spot the Ball are among the most effective options, combining low admin burden with genuine member engagement.

Where can youth sports clubs find mental health resources for young people?

Reliable UK resources include Young Minds (youngminds.org.uk), the Mental Health Foundation (mentalhealth.org.uk), and NHS Every Mind Matters. These organisations offer free, age-appropriate guidance that clubs can share directly with players and parents.

How does Spond help clubs run mental health awareness activities?

Spond allows clubs to schedule wellbeing events, send group announcements with mental health resources, collect RSVPs, and keep welfare information pinned and accessible — all in the same app players and parents already use for training and fixtures.

What mental health activities are suitable for young athletes?

Good mental health activities for young athletes include group check-ins using a traffic light system, wellbeing walks, social events with no competitive element, and sharing simple mental health tips through club communications. The goal is to normalise talking about wellbeing in a low-pressure setting.

How can youth sports clubs support players’ mental health?

Clubs can support players’ mental health by creating a safe and open environment, training coaches to spot early warning signs, running regular check-ins, signposting to professional resources, and making welfare contacts clearly visible to players and parents.

What is Mental Health Awareness Week?

Mental Health Awareness Week is observed each May and is dedicated to raising awareness of mental health conditions, reducing stigma, and encouraging people to seek support. In the UK, it aligns with activity from organisations including Mind, the Mental Health Foundation, and Young Minds.

Do I need any technical skills to set up a fundraiser in Spond?

No. Both Spot the Ball and Superdraw are designed to be set up by anyone with admin access in the Spond app or Spond Club. Creating a campaign takes under 60 seconds, and Spond provides all the digital collateral your members need to promote the fundraiser. They are deliberately built to be among the most accessible club fundraising ideas available — no technical background required.

How often does Spond Superdraw run?

Spond Superdraw runs three times a year. Clubs that incorporate it into a seasonal fundraising plan — alongside other club fundraising ideas like Spot the Ball — can use it as a reliable, repeating income stream. Each draw features a £2,500 guaranteed prize fund provided by Spond, with 65% of all entry revenue going directly to participating clubs.

Is Spot the Ball available to all sports clubs?

Spot the Ball from Spond is available to groups, teams, and non-commercial organisations in the UK via the Spond app. Entrants must be residents of Great Britain aged 16 or over. It’s one of the most widely accessible club fundraising ideas on the platform and can be used by clubs across all sports and activity types.

How much can my club raise with Spond’s fundraising tools?

There is no upper limit. Clubs using Spot the Ball have raised over £1,800 in a single seven-day campaign, while Superdraw campaigns have generated over £2,600 for a single club. The more entries your members sell, the more your club earns. Both tools are among Spond’s top club fundraising ideas because the earning potential scales directly with your community’s engagement.

What are the best club fundraising ideas for grassroots sports clubs?

Some of the most effective club fundraising ideas for grassroots sports clubs are digital competition formats that require minimal admin. Spond’s Spot the Ball and Superdraw are two of the leading options in the UK — both run inside the Spond app, both give clubs a significant share of entry revenue, and both can be set up in minutes without any specialist knowledge.

How can Spond help a brand new football club?

Spond gives new clubs a single free platform for availability polling, group messaging, payment collection, event management and member records, removing the need to juggle WhatsApp groups, spreadsheets and separate payment apps. For a brand new committee, that consolidation is the difference between volunteers staying engaged and volunteers burning out by Christmas.

What’s the difference between affiliation and league registration?

Affiliation is your annual registration with your county FA — it’s what makes your club legitimate and gives you insurance. League registration is a separate application to the specific competition you want to play in. You must affiliate before you can register for a league, and both renew every season.

Do I need to be a registered coach to start a football club?

No, you don’t need coaching qualifications to found a club, but anyone delivering coaching sessions to under-18s should hold at least an FA Introduction to Coaching Football certificate, plus an in-date DBS check and a Safeguarding Children certificate. For adult football, qualifications are recommended but not mandatory.

How long does it take to set up a new football club?

Realistically, six to nine months from founding meeting to first competitive fixture. Affiliation windows, league entry deadlines, DBS processing times and bank account approvals all run on fixed timelines, so you can’t shortcut the process much. Start planning a full season before you intend to play your first match.

How much does it cost to start a football club in the UK?

Budget around £1,500 to £3,000 to launch a single adult team, covering FA affiliation, league entry, basic kit, equipment, pitch hire and insurance for the first season. A youth club running multiple age groups can easily reach £10,000 in year one. The realistic cost of how to start a football club depends heavily on whether you secure Football Foundation grants, county FA small grants, and local sponsorship, all of which can offset a meaningful portion of these costs.

How Long Does It Take to Switch to New Volunteer Management Software?

Most UK grassroots clubs get a single age group or team fully onboarded within a week. A full club rollout, including subs collection and membership, typically takes four to six weeks if you phase it sensibly rather than big-banging it.

Will Older Volunteers Actually Use It?

If the app is simple enough to sign up in under a minute and works on any phone, yes. The clubs that struggle with adoption usually have two tools running in parallel — pick one, communicate it clearly, and keep the old channel read-only for a short handover period.

How Does Volunteer Management Software Help With Safeguarding?

Dedicated volunteer management software keeps adult-to-junior communication auditable, applies role-based permissions, and avoids the grey areas of personal WhatsApp groups. Spond goes further with guardian accounts — parents get full visibility of their child's messages, schedules and payments — which is why safeguarding officers at youth clubs routinely recommend it over consumer messaging apps. It is fully UK GDPR compliant out of the box.

Is Spond Free for Grassroots Clubs in the UK?

Yes. Every core feature is free for UK clubs and teams — scheduling, RSVPs, group messaging, membership management, subgroups, safeguarding controls and admin roles. There is no trial, no premium tier and no per-user charge. Optional add-ons like integrated card payments carry a small transaction fee, and fundraising tools like Superdraw are opt-in, but the day-to-day volunteer coordination toolkit costs the club nothing.

What Is Volunteer Management Software and Do Small Clubs Really Need It?

Volunteer management software is a tool that centralises recruiting, scheduling, communication and payments for the people who run your club. Even small clubs benefit, because the admin load per volunteer is often higher in smaller committees — there is no paid office to absorb it.

How can Spond help grassroots clubs secure funding?

Spond helps grassroots clubs build the participation records, membership data and organisational structure that funders look for in a strong application. Member counts, attendance figures and team rosters tracked through Spond can all be used as evidence when applying for funding for grassroots clubs.

What do grassroots clubs need to apply for funding successfully?

A successful application for grassroots club funding typically requires evidence of current participation numbers, a clear community need, realistic project costs, a sustainability plan, and demonstrated inclusion of under-represented groups such as women, girls, or disabled players.

How do grassroots clubs apply for funding in England?

In England, grassroots clubs apply for capital facility grants through the Football Foundation at footballfoundation.org.uk. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. For non-capital funding covering coaching, equipment and participation programmes, clubs should apply through Sport England's Movement Fund at sportengland.org.

Can non-football clubs apply for grassroots club funding?

Yes. Despite being administered through the Football Foundation, funding for grassroots clubs is open to any eligible community sports organisation. Rugby, cricket, basketball, netball and other clubs can all apply, provided the project includes a multi-sport element.

What funding is available for grassroots clubs in the UK?

The UK government has committed £400 million to the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, with £85 million available for grassroots clubs in 2026/27. Sport England's Movement Fund distributes a further £250 million annually in National Lottery and government money across all sports.

Spond Reaches 3 Million MAUs | Club and Team Management

A young girl celebrating a goal during a sports match.

Spond is proud to announce that we have reached a significant global milestone: 3 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs). From our roots in Norway, we have grown into a trusted name for club and team management, now gaining traction in major international markets, including the UK, the US, France, and Germany. It is inspiring to see how our platform is revolutionising the way organisations manage their teams and communities worldwide.

Rapid Growth Beyond Norway

While Norway remains our foundation, our expansion into larger markets has been remarkable. In the UK, we have achieved a market-leading position, with over 1 million MAUs actively using Spond to simplify their club and team management. Meanwhile, our growth in the US, France, Germany, and other regions highlights the platform’s universal appeal. By focusing on making club administration seamless and saving time for organisers, Spond has become a go-to solution for clubs and teams across borders.

Martin Eide, our Interim CEO, expressed his excitement about this milestone: “Hitting 3 million MAUs, just one year after we reached 2 million, is a significant achievement for Spond and reflects the hard work of the entire Spond team. Our mission is to ‘take the hard work out of teamwork’, so we’re especially proud to see this growth in key markets outside Norway, which proves that our platform has global appeal.”

This achievement underscores the hard work of the entire Spond team and the trust placed in us by millions of users around the world.

Transforming Fundraising and Payments

Spond is more than just a tool for managing clubs and teams – it is an enabler of growth and success. Our innovative fundraising and payment features provide sports and community organisations with the tools they need to thrive. Whether it is collecting fees, running fundraisers, or managing finances, our platform removes administrative hurdles, freeing up more time for organisers to focus on what matters most.

The simplicity and transparency of our payment system have been key to its success. Organisers can manage all transactions in one place, and members can make payments quickly and easily. In 2023, we introduced installment payments, allowing clubs and teams to offer flexible options for memberships, match fees, courses, and kit. This feature has been warmly welcomed by both organisers and members, as it makes participation more accessible for everyone.

Spond Club: Enhancing the Admin Experience

For clubs with multiple teams or groups, Spond Club offers a powerful suite of admin tools that integrate seamlessly with our app. From messaging to member management and payments, Spond Club simplifies the admin process, saving time and reducing stress for organisers. Recent updates, such as Auto Approval for new members and a streamlined Membership Renewal feature, have further enhanced the user experience, helping clubs operate more efficiently.

Martin Eide emphasised our commitment to continuous improvement: “Our goal is to provide admins and coaches with a single platform that covers all their needs, making their lives easier and their clubs or teams more successful. We’ll continue to enhance and refine the Spond offer based on user feedback to ensure it remains the best option out there.”

Spond Club has quickly become an essential tool for larger organisations, proving that we can adapt to the unique needs of clubs and teams of all sizes.

A Commitment to Making Teamwork Easier

At Spond, our mission is simple: to take the hard work out of teamwork. Every feature we develop, every update we release, and every milestone we achieve is driven by this purpose. Reaching 3 million MAUs is not just a testament to our growth – it is a celebration of the communities and organisations that trust us to support their activities.

We are dedicated to continuing this journey, building on our successes and finding new ways to empower admins, coaches, and members worldwide. Discover how Spond can make life easier for your club or team by visiting www.spond.com.

Find Out More

FAQs

How has Spond achieved the milestone of 3 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs)?
Spond reached 3 million MAUs through its user-friendly platform that resonates with clubs and teams worldwide. Its focus on ease of use, transparency in payments, and comprehensive management tools has driven user adoption. Significant growth in markets like the UK, the US, France, and Germany has contributed to this milestone.
What are some key features of Spond that set it apart from other club and team management solutions?
Spond offers a range of features including seamless messaging, member management, and integrated payment solutions. It also supports fundraising efforts . Spond Club has recently introduced features like Auto Approval for new members and streamlined Membership Renewal. These enhancements make it a preferred choice for clubs and teams looking for a reliable management solution.
How does Spond's payment platform work and what benefits does it offer?
Spond’s payment platform allows organizers to collect fees and manage finances all in one place. Members can make payments quickly and easily, and the introduction of installment payments in 2023 has been a welcome feature for spreading the cost of memberships and other fees. This system ensures transparency and efficiency, reducing administrative burdens for organizers.
What is Spond and how does it benefit sports clubs and teams?
Spond is a comprehensive management solution designed for sports clubs and teams. It streamlines club administration, offers intuitive payment solutions, and simplifies fundraising efforts. By using Spond Club, organizers can save time on administrative tasks and focus more on core activities, enhancing the overall experience for members and admins alike.

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Spond Hits 3 Million Monthly Active Users

Rapid Growth Beyond Norway

Transforming Fundraising and Payments

Spond Club: Enhancing the Admin Experience

A Commitment to Making Teamwork Easier

Find Out More

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