The problem
Every week a grassroots manager asks 18 players, or their parents, who can play on Saturday, then scrolls through a WhatsApp group of thumbs-up, maybes and silence. At about 2 hours a week that is 8.6 hours a month (2 x 4.3), and the team still turns up a player short.
What the AI does
Spond is a free app for teams and clubs. Its availability requests go out automatically before an activity, reminders go to members who haven't answered, and responses are sorted into Available, Unanswered, Declined and Other. From the request, the manager selects players and creates the match event in one step. Members and guardians can be invited to the same event, so parents answer for junior players. Messages stay inside the app rather than in a group of personal phone numbers.
A worked example
An under-12s football team in a Sunday league in Nottingham has 18 players and one volunteer manager, with parents answering for their children. The club has 6 teams in all.
Before
About 2 hours a week chasing availability on WhatsApp: 8.6 hours a month
After
About 45 minutes a week checking Spond's list and picking the squad: 3.2 hours a month
What it's worth
About $108£81€96A$156C$152 a month in volunteer time saved for one team, at no cost. 5.4 hours a month saved (8.6 minus 3.2), valued at an assumed $20£15€18A$29C$28 an hour; it is a volunteer manager's time freed, not cash. Across 6 teams the saving is several times that. The app is free; fees only apply to payments.
How to set it up
- Create the team in Spond and invite players, adding parents as guardians for junior players.
- Set up the season's fixtures and training as events, using repeating events for training.
- Send an availability request for each match and turn on automatic reminders for anyone who hasn't answered.
- Pick the squad from the Available list and create the match event from the request.
- Agree with parents that availability goes through Spond, not the old WhatsApp group.
What goes wrong
- Parents who don't install the app won't answer. Give them a week's grace and then rely on Spond's list.
- Reminder timing is set by Spond, 48 hours after the invite or 48 hours before the event, not by you.
- Children's data: add only what you need to organize matches. Medical details and safeguarding notes belong in the club's proper records, seen by the welfare officer.
- Team selection stays with the coach. The app shows who is available, not who should play.