Start with the first useful outcome
Setting up a new Club can feel like a long list of empty screens. There are settings to review, categories to confirm, spaces to describe and workflows to configure. It is tempting to complete every option before creating anything useful.
A better starting point is simpler: get the Club ready to create its first Teams, then add the detail that supports the way the Club actually works.
For most Clubs, the first useful outcome is a Season with the right Age categories and a set of Teams. Once those exist, staff and Players can be connected to something real, and the Club can start using its operational workflows.
For the complete checklist, see Set up a new Club in 10 steps.
Why the Season comes first
A Season is more than a label for a year. It keeps Teams, Events, Review Periods and Reviews together so that current work does not become mixed with historical records.
Create or confirm the Season that the Club is about to use, then select it in the Season selector. A Season can be created without dates when those details are not known yet, but a clear name makes the Club easier to understand later.
The important part is selection. Creating a Season is not enough if the new Season is not selected when the first seasonal records are created.
Ages turn an empty Team into the right Team
An Age category describes the group a Team belongs to and supplies important context for later planning. It is also required when creating a Team.
New Clubs should create the Age categories they need. The useful question is not whether every possible category has been configured; it is whether the categories needed for the first Teams are ready.
Space requirements can be associated with an Age when the Club uses the Spaces feature. That is a reason to think about Spaces early, but not a reason to delay Team creation for Clubs that do not need physical-space planning yet.
Create Teams before perfecting the Club
Once the Season is selected and the required Ages exist, create the Teams. This gives the rest of the setup a useful centre of gravity.
Teams can be prepared before staff and Players are added. That makes it possible to build the Club structure first, then invite or assign people as those details become available.
After the Teams exist, add an operational staff member and build the Player lists. The Club can now begin using Events, Attendance and other team-based workflows while the remaining configuration is completed.
Configure only the workflows you need
Not every Club needs every part of ClubSort on its first day.
- Spaces: Create Space Types before Spaces and Training Areas when the Club uses physical-space planning. Defer this work when it does not apply.
- Phases and Themes: Review the supplied values before building Plans. Keep the defaults if they already match the Club's coaching language.
- Tasks: Add custom Tasks when the Club needs its own event task categories. They are not a prerequisite for Teams.
- Review Periods: Create these after selecting the relevant Season, and only when the Club uses Reviews. They describe the Club's review cycle; they do not need to delay the first Teams.
This approach keeps configuration connected to a real use case. A Club can return to each area when it knows what it needs, rather than making guesses about every future workflow during the first setup session.
A setup order that leaves room to adapt
A practical sequence is:
- Confirm the Club, Package and active Profile.
- Review Club Settings.
- Create or confirm and select the active Season.
- Confirm the required Age categories.
- Create Teams.
- Add staff and Players.
- Configure Spaces if the Club uses them.
- Review Phases and Themes for Plans.
- Add custom Tasks if needed.
- Create Review Periods if the Club uses Reviews.
The goal is not to postpone useful setup. It is to put each decision where it has enough context to be useful. A Season and Age categories unlock Teams; Teams give the Club something to operate; the remaining configuration can then follow the Club's real priorities.