Coaching has always been close to my heart. As both a coach and a parent, I’ve seen first-hand how important the coaching process is in helping players — especially young ones — build confidence, develop skills, and enjoy their sport. It’s often the bridge between simply participating and truly thriving.
Of course, coaching is something that happens in the real world. It’s about people, communication, encouragement, and those one-to-one or small group sessions that shape development far beyond the pitch or court. But while ClubAssemble can’t replicate that personal connection, it can help clubs organise, track, and support the coaching process — bringing structure and visibility to an area that’s often hard to manage.
Two Perspectives — Coach and Player
To reflect the real-life dynamics of coaching, we designed the ClubAssemble Coaching service around two distinct experiences: that of the Coach and that of the Player.
The Coach’s View
We’ve introduced a new role into our RBAC model: Coach. A coach can act as a general club coach or, through the team management interface, be assigned to specific teams. Any coach can work with any player individually, but only coaches assigned to a team can assign development plans to that team and manage fixtures or team selections. This distinction is especially important for youth or academy-level teams, where the coach’s involvement goes beyond match preparation into player growth and welfare.
As a coach, you can create Development Plans — structured documents that define how a player or team should focus their efforts. Each plan includes:
- A title and general aims
- Specific targets with measurable progress tracking
- Optional external resources, such as links to training videos or reference materials
- A message log between coach and player, creating a clear communication trail
This approach gives coaches a simple but powerful way to manage development goals, provide feedback, and monitor improvement over time.
The Player’s View
From the player’s perspective, development plans provide clarity and ownership. Once a plan has been assigned, the player can view their objectives, update their progress, and communicate directly with their coach.
This creates an open dialogue — players understand what’s expected of them, can ask questions or share updates, and feel more connected to their own journey. It turns coaching into a shared experience, where feedback flows both ways and progress becomes something tangible.
Encouragement and Recognition — The Badge System
One of my personal goals with this feature was to encourage engagement among younger players. Motivation is a huge part of coaching, and sometimes a small gesture of recognition can make a big difference.
To that end, we introduced a Badge system. Coaches can create custom badges to recognise achievements — whether it’s mastering a new skill, showing great teamwork, or hitting a training milestone. These badges appear on the player’s personal dashboard, providing a fun and visual way to celebrate progress.
It’s a small feature, but one that reinforces the spirit of positive reinforcement and helps make development something visible and rewarding.
Structure for Real-World Growth
Coaching will always be a hands-on, personal experience — something that happens face-to-face, in training sessions and matches. But by providing tools to structure and track that journey, ClubAssemble helps coaches and players stay aligned. It offers a shared space for goals, progress, and communication — turning a complex, often informal process into something organised and supportive.
For me, this addition brings ClubAssemble full circle. It’s not just about managing clubs more efficiently — it’s about helping people develop, creating opportunities for growth, and giving coaches the tools they need to nurture confidence, skills, and passion for the game.