Coventry Bears in-focus – online registrations

In a series of features, we’ll be looking at ways that amateur and community clubs can improve the running of their club.

Determining how a Club will manage player registrations each season can be a complicated task especially when collecting fees, chasing down unpaid players and completing all the necessary paperwork.

One club that sought to improve this area of operations is Coventry Bears who outside of League 1 also compete in the Midlands Community League.

Coventry decided to accept online payments for the 2019 season using LeagueNet, the RFL’s registration system provided by SportsTG.

Realising it was easier to incorporate their own fee’s into RFL registration forms, it not only allowed the Bears to collect their registrations but also got players paying up front and on time for the entire season straight away.

The records of each player remain tightly secured within Coventry Bears’ own private LeagueNet database, and enables them to view who has registered, who has paid, and who owe’s what for the forthcoming season.

All registration fee’s that the club collects through LeagueNet are directly deposited into their own account. They receive unique references to each payment taken, and can complete fully comprehensive financial reporting all from LeagueNet to help reconcile their received payments.

As a result Coventry saved time on processing paper registrations, or other third party applications and managed it from one central place – LeagueNet!

Debbie Watson, the club’s finance director, said: “It was a case of parents/players entering the online form, filling out their details and making payment on the spot. Having the ability to complete this task all at once made it a lot easier for families to register.

“Coaches having the ability to focus on their training sessions without following up players for registration fees. Our Club has regular cash flow to operate effectively and a clearer understanding of reconciling funds from our juniors.”

As more and more Clubs transition their operations online, taking online payments and registrations is certainly one area Club can help themselves get sharper on to ensure as an organisation they stay in control.

If your Club would like to know more for the upcoming Winter or Summer Leagues, email us at news@loverugbyleague.com.