Clubs & Coaches
Lightweight tournament clubs, coach access, and how a coach claims a club — no full club setup required.
Every competitor has a club. In the tournament system a tournament club is a lightweight thing that lives only here — it is not a fully managed IpponBoard club, and never has to become one. It exists so clubs can build a presence across your events, coaches can help with their competitors, and — when they're ready — a club can be brought into full management as an easy, optional upgrade.
How clubs are created
You don't create them by hand. Whenever a competitor is added with a club name — typed on the form, imported from a CSV, or entered at public registration — that club is matched to an existing tournament club or created automatically. Spelling variations (“Riverside Judo” vs “riverside judo”) are folded together, so each real club is one record with its whole roster attached.
Coaches
A coach gets a focused view of just their club's competitors — across every tournament — where they fill in coach-only details like competitive aptitude. They never see other clubs' athletes.
Invite a coach
From the club's page, or from the tournament side, invite a coach by email. They get a link to accept — no managed club needed. Coaches can invite other coaches too.
They accept and get to work
Signing in with the invited email, the coach lands on their club view and can fill in aptitude and other coach fields for their competitors.
Claiming the club
A coach can claim an unclaimed club from their own account to become its owner — again, entirely within the tournament system, with no full club setup.
Upgrading to a managed club (optional)
A tournament club is a great on-ramp: a coach runs their roster and aptitude here first, and if they later want full club management — members, payments, classes, the member portal — the club can be upgraded, carrying its roster across. That upgrade is entirely optional; nothing here depends on it.