University sports management: a practical guide
A practical guide to university sports management: teams, communication, fundraising, athlete health, paperwork, camps and merchandise in one app.
University sports management means running teams and competitions, communication with athletes and staff, fundraising, athlete health, federation paperwork, sports camps and the university's branded merchandise from one place. The most effective way to do it is to bring everything into a single university sports management software, instead of spreading it across spreadsheets, email threads and group chats. This guide walks through each area a university sports department has to cover, and shows where Clubily University, the version of Clubily built for universities, fits in. It is offered as a tailored proposal rather than an off-the-shelf price.
What does university sports management involve?
A university sports department doesn't run one team. It runs a whole ecosystem. These are the seven areas worth keeping under control:
- Teams and competitions: squads, coaches, fixtures, matches and results.
- Communication: announcements, call-ups and messages between athletes, coaches and staff.
- Fundraising: money for travel, equipment and sports scholarships.
- Athlete health: medical history, injuries and check-ups.
- Paperwork: licences, federation registrations, insurance and documents.
- Sports camps: summer camps and clinics with registrations, groups and instructors.
- Merchandise: kits and products in the university's colours and with its crest.
When each area lives in a different tool, information gets duplicated and disappears every time the person in charge changes.
Why is it harder than running a regular sports club?
University sport has a few quirks that make organisation tougher:
- Squads change every academic year: students arrive, graduate or go on exchange, so teams have to be rebuilt each year.
- Many sports at once, each with its own calendar and competition.
- Several groups involved: coaches, the medical service, physios, administrators and the athletes themselves all need different information.
- Tight budgets: travel, equipment and scholarships often depend on extra funding.
- International communities: not every athlete speaks the same language.
That's why an app for university teams has to do more than share a calendar.
How do you organise teams and competitions?
Start with a dashboard that holds every member, team, player and coach, together with dues and finances, with no spreadsheets involved. In Clubily you can import players from a CSV file and start a new season, which is handy when the squad changes with every academic year.
Each team gets its own calendar, call-ups and training sessions. On match day you record the line-up (starters and bench), the in-game events, entered manually as they happen, and the minutes played. The app then produces a match summary, player and team stats and a PDF report for each player. Matches can be streamed live and watched later as replays, with a timeline of goals, cards and substitutions (racket sports don't support streaming).
Clubily covers football, basketball, volleyball, rugby, water polo, handball, American football, hockey and racket sports (padel, tennis, table tennis and badminton). You'll find every format on the sports page. If you coordinate lots of teams at once, our guide to multi-team coordination for sporting directors is also worth a read.
How can you improve communication with athletes and staff?
Clubily includes a calendar, team and one-to-one chats and club news. Everyone signs in with a role that has its own permissions, so administrators, coaches and athletes each see what's relevant to them.
Two practical points for universities. The app is available in English, Spanish, French, German and Italian, which helps international students settle in. It runs on the iOS app or on the web app in any browser. The Android app hasn't been released yet, but Android users can get in through the web app.
How do you raise funds for university sport?
Clubily University includes a fundraising module to pay for travel, equipment and sports scholarships through campaigns the whole university community can back from the app. You can run donation campaigns, collect alumni contributions and track progress towards each goal.
A tip: give every campaign a specific, visible target, such as travel to a championship. People are far more willing to give when they know exactly what their money pays for and can watch the progress.
How do you keep track of athlete health?
Clubily University's medical area holds each athlete's medical history, kept secure and at hand for the coaching staff and the medical team. It covers history and injuries, medical check-ups and coordination with physiotherapy.
That way no coach accidentally selects an injured player, and the physio can follow every recovery. Because this is sensitive data, decide from day one who should have access to it.
How do you cut the paperwork?
Licences, federation registrations, insurance and documents eat up hours every season. With Clubily University, the Clubily team takes care of all the federation paperwork, meaning the documents, so your department's staff save time and can focus on the athletes. Clubily doesn't, however, file anything with the federations on the university's behalf.
How do you run the university's sports camps?
Summer camps involve a lot of logistics. Clubily University lets you run them from start to finish, from registration to the very last day: online registration and payments, groups, schedules and instructors, and communication with families.
How do you sell merchandise with the university crest?
The custom store, built into the app, offers the university's own kits and merchandise designed in its colours. 100% of the profit goes to the club, so the store doubles as a source of funding.
Clubily Club or Clubily University?
| Clubily Club | Clubily University | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | Clubs with 2 to 50 teams | University sports departments |
| Price | From €17.98/month | Tailored proposal, no public price |
| Teams, dues and finances | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar, stats and matches | Yes | Yes |
| Chats | €10/month add-on | Yes |
| Live streams and replays | €20/month and €10/month add-ons | Yes |
| Fundraising | Not included | Yes |
| Medical area | Not included | Yes |
| Federation paperwork handled | Not included | Yes |
| Sports camps | Not included | Yes |
| Store with your crest | With the Personalized plan | Yes |
How much does university sports software cost?
Clubily University has no public price. It adapts to each university with a tailored plan based on the teams, sports and modules it needs.
If you only need to run one team or a student sports society without the university modules, there are plans with public pricing. Clubily Team costs €9.99/month or €99.99/year with unlimited members, and the Club plan covers 2 to 50 teams from €17.98/month (€8.99 per team for the first two and €7.99 from the third). Paying annually saves roughly 17%, payment is by card through Stripe, and you can cancel at any time.
Frequently asked questions
Does Clubily University have a public price?
No. It comes as a tailored proposal adapted to each university, which you can request from the Clubily University page.
Which sports can I manage?
Football, basketball, volleyball, rugby, water polo, handball, American football, hockey and racket sports (padel, tennis, table tennis and badminton). Cricket, baseball and lacrosse are coming soon.
Does it work on Android phones?
Yes, in the browser through the web app. There is an iOS app; the Android app hasn't been released yet.
Which languages is it available in?
English, Spanish, French, German and Italian.
Write the next chapter of your university's sport
If you run a university sports department and want teams, communication, fundraising, athlete health, paperwork, camps and merchandise in a single app, request your Clubily University proposal. We'll put together a plan built around your teams and sports.