Running a volleyball section in a multi-sport club
The short answer
A volleyball section in a multi-sport club runs on a small section committee with a technical committee, within clear agreements with the main board on mandate, budget, membership fees, gym time and communication. Koach Club handles teams, roles, committees and halls, but not the membership records.
A volleyball section in a multi-sport club combines two advantages: the sports hall, the insurance and the clubhouse of a big club, and still a sport of its own with its own teams. The tricky part is the boundary. What does the section decide itself, and what does the main board decide? This article helps you draw that line.
What is a volleyball section within a multi-sport club?
A multi-sport club is one club with several sports under one roof: volleyball next to, say, badminton, basketball or gymnastics. Each sport is a section with its own teams, its own coaches and often its own section committee. Above the sections sits the main board. It represents the club to the outside world and is responsible for money, insurance and contracts.
Legally, a section is usually not a club of its own, although that differs by country and by club. What it may decide for itself is set out in the constitution and bylaws of the multi-sport club. So read those documents first, even if everyone thinks they know how it works. The model exists in many countries: in the Netherlands it is called an omnivereniging, in Germany volleyball is often an Abteilung of a Mehrspartenverein headed by an Abteilungsleiter, in Spain and Italy it is a sección of a club polideportivo or a sezione of a polisportiva, and in Poland a sekcja of a klub wielosekcyjny.
Who does what in the volleyball section?
A section does not have to copy a full club board. You can run it with four roles; in a small section one person sometimes takes two.
| Role | What they do | Role in Koach Club |
|---|---|---|
| Section chair | Point of contact for the main board, guards the section's policy and budget | Club manager: sees everything and hands out the roles |
| Section treasurer | Budget, spending and extra contributions from teams | Treasurer: Fees and the member list with contact details |
| Technical committee | Coaches, team selection, coach education and youth policy | Board member for whoever does the team selection; Technical manager for whoever only reads along |
| Match secretary | Fixtures, home matches, referees and scorers | Board member: Match day, Halls and Duties |
On top of that, a section often has a youth coordinator and someone who organises the volunteers; in a small section they sit on the technical committee. A full list of positions and tasks is in sports club committee roles, and how the technical committee makes its decisions is in the volleyball technical committee.
What do you agree with the main board?
Most friction in a multi-sport club comes not from arguments but from things nobody pinned down. Who can ask someone to coach? Who pays for the new net? So put these six points in writing, ideally on one page that both boards know:
- Mandate. What does the section decide itself, such as teams, coaches, kit and tournaments, and what goes through the main board, such as contracts, coach fees and large purchases?
- Budget. How much does the section get per season, who can spend it and up to what amount, and when do you report back?
- Membership fees. Does the main board collect everything and give the section a share back, or does the section charge its own top-up? Also agree who collects extra contributions, such as camp fees or a tournament contribution.
- Gym time. Who divides the hours in the shared sports hall, and when is the schedule for the new season fixed?
- Membership records. The main board usually keeps them for all sections. Agree how new volleyball players and cancellations end up there.
- Communication. Which messages does the section send itself, and which go out through the club as a whole?
Put the moments when you review these agreements in the section's annual plan. Which jobs fall when in the season is in the checklist for organising the volleyball season.
Budget, membership fees and hall hire: who pays for what?
Volleyball is an indoor sport, and hall hire is often the biggest cost. In a multi-sport club the main board usually pays the rent in one contract for all sections. How that is split between the sections is then an agreement between boards. Choose whether the volleyball section pays for the hours it actually uses or a fixed share of the total, and write it down.
Volleyball also has costs that other sections do not: balls, nets, referee courses and the fees paid to the national federation. Those belong in the section's budget, so the main board can see why volleyball costs more or less than another sport. Extras that concern only one team, such as a team fund or camp fees, you keep separate from the membership fee. How to keep track of that without hassle is in keeping a team fund.
Sharing gym time with other sections
The sports hall is shared property. Badminton wants the same evenings, basketball needs the same lines and the gymnastics section sets up its apparatus on Saturdays. So start with the schedule of the whole club, and only then divide the hours within volleyball. Also put the other sections' hours in your own schedule, so your coaches can see why a court is taken. How to share the hours within the section fairly between the teams is in making a practice schedule for your club.
How Koach Club supports a volleyball section
Koach is made for volleyball. For a multi-sport club that means: in Koach, the volleyball section is the club. The other sections are not in it, and they do not need to be. With the Club plan the section committee gets a club dashboard with:
- One home screen. At the top it shows how many players have a linked account, and below that the parts in the groups People, Planning, Club and Data, each with a short status.
- A role per person. Under Admins you give the section chair, the treasurer and the technical committee each their own role: Club manager, Treasurer, Board member or Technical manager. You add someone with the email address of their Koach account, and everyone sees only what belongs to their role.
- Committees and groups. Under Organisation you record the technical committee, the youth committee or the social committee, with a role per person: Chair, Secretary, Treasurer or Member. With Add someone you pick from the member list, with a search field for name or team. That list is made up of the players in the teams: someone who is not in a team, such as a parent or a board member who does not play, cannot be added. More on this in recording committees and groups.
- Halls. You set up the sports hall as a floor plan with courts and time slots. Each slot has a type: Team training, Group training, Match or Other. You use the last one, for example, with the description Badminton for the evening when another section has the hall.
- Fees. The treasurer keeps track of extra contributions and sees who still has to pay. Koach does not process payments itself; at most you add a payment link.
Want to start with your own team first? As a coach you can try Koach free for 14 days with one team, no credit card. Club has no trial: for the whole section, get in touch through the page for clubs.
Try Koach with your teamWhat Koach does not do for the section
Koach does not replace the multi-sport club's membership records. Members get into Koach when a coach enters their team or invites someone, not through a link to the main board's member database. Fee collection also stays where it is. What the section does get is one place for everything to do with volleyball: teams, coaches, gym time, duties and committees. What to look for in a membership package is in club membership software.
Club is one plan for the whole section, with unlimited teams and coaches; players and parents use the app for free. Club has no trial. What the plan includes is on the page for clubs, where you can also get in touch.
Start with the one-page agreement, not with the software. Once you know what the section decides itself, handing out the roles in Koach needs no discussion: whoever does the team selection gets Board member; whoever only reads along with the practices gets Technical manager. Keep that page in the handover file, so a new section chair can see straight away what was agreed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the chair of a volleyball section do?
The section chair is the section's point of contact for the main board. They guard the policy and the budget, chair the section committee's meetings and make sure the technical committee and the match secretary can do their work. How much they can decide alone is set out in the constitution and bylaws of the multi-sport club, and that differs from club to club.
Is a section of a multi-sport club a club of its own?
Usually not. The multi-sport club is the legal entity, and the main board is responsible for money, contracts and insurance. The section does have its own committee with its own tasks. What that committee may decide itself is set by the club's constitution and bylaws, and that differs by club and by country.
Does Koach replace the multi-sport club's membership records?
No. Koach is an app for volleyball teams and the volleyball committee: teams, practices, matches, gym time, duties and committees. The membership records and fee collection stay with the main board. Members get into Koach when a coach enters their team or invites someone, not through a link to the member database.
What does Koach Club cost for a volleyball section?
Club is one plan for the whole section, with unlimited teams and coaches; the amounts are on the pricing page. Club has no trial: you get in touch through the page for clubs. A coach can still try Koach free for 14 days with one team of their own, no credit card, and players and parents use the app for free.
Put your volleyball section in Koach
Get in touch about Club, or try Koach free for 14 days with your own team first.
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