Use of Spond and WhatsApp

Spond

We use the Spond app to notify parents about upcoming fixtures, training sessions and other events, and to request for availability of players for each match and training session.

When a new player joins SVR Under 11s, we add them as a member on Spond and link their parent/guardians' details to them, so that the parents/guardians receive notifications and availability requests through the app so that they can answer on behalf of their child. Parents/guardians will receive an email with instructions on how to access the app when their child is added.

Notifications about fixtures are made available to parents/guardians on the Spond app well in advance of the fixture dates so that parents/guardians have plenty of time to plan ahead and notify the coaches about availability of their child for those matches.

WhatsApp

We use a WhatsApp Under 11s community to inform and message parents regarding any issue that needs immediate attention. This may include important club information, team sheets, parent polling, fixture or training changes/cancellations/updates or any other announcement that we need to get to parents quickly.

Parents/guardians of newly signed up boys are added to the community and can view the main 'announcements' section, which is available to everyone. On this section, parents/guardians can reply to announcements with comments emojis, and they can respond to polls etc, but they cannot post messages here. 

Parents/guardians will also be added to the 'squad' group for the squad in which their child plays; SVR Whites or SVR Blues. If a player changes from one squad to another, their parents/guardians will be move to the corresponding WhatsApp squad group. Parents/guardians can post messages in these groups as well as interacting with other members posts.

Following matches, coaches from our U11 teams will post match reports in the relevant squad group and all match reports will also be added to this website.