We've uploaded app version 2.1.0 for approval in the app store and Google Play today. The main thing with this app update is to bring functionality back to those few users who are using iOS 14 - 14.4.x The web app works for these devices as does the app on our iOS 14 emulator.

Another update is the ability for you members to let the club know who are the people they are able to bring along to help with volunteering at your club's events.

We hope this update proves useful for your club and members.

We've been doing a bit of development on club races.

A few clubs may have recently received an email to say their club's race details have been transferred to their club portal. This allows clubs to add further details for the race and, if your club has a website powered by connectMyClub, you no longer need to create a separate page to show off your club race. Adding your club race in Organise > Races automatically creates a webpage for your race. We are also developing a Races page on the connectMyClub website to give club races free advertising. 

This update is something we're putting in place to allow clubs to sell race ticket directly on a website powered by connectMyClub and through the connectMyClub app, rather than using a third party website. We're currently waiting for UKA to update their systems to allow us to develop a UKA URN validation. We'll keep you updated on this proposed new feature.

Would your club benefit from a website which ensures all information is up to date and is easy for the committee to manage?

Why not try a website which is powered by connectMyClub ?

Below is a list of club websites which are online right now and are powered by connectMyClub

• victoryac.org.uk
• spastriders.co.uk
• redditchstars.co.uk
• kingfisherharriers.com
• cobs.org.uk

Each club which has a website powered by connectMyClub started off with a temporary URI which they used to get their site looking just right. When they were happy we, at connectMyClub, helped them to update their current web hosting to show their connectMyClub powered website. Some of the clubs above had lost contact with the person who set up their hosting and original website. Ian helped them gain access back to their website hosting. He then worked with them to move the hosting to the same servers on which connectMyClub uses. So, they now have all of their website information in one easy to manage place.

If this sounds like a website solution which would help your club please get in touch.

We've been busy at work with the photo albums feature. Before today clubs needed to use their Google Photos account to upload photographs for members to view in their connectMyClub app. This way clubs could keep high resolution photos in a central location before uploading their albums to connectMyClub.

The update which we've been working on enables clubs to create a photo album directly on connectMyClub, without the requirement to use a Google account. Check out the update in the club portal > Photo Albums

We have now set up the Juniors to Seniors to automatically update on a particular birthday. If you have juniors at your club, you can set this birthday on the Members page of the club portal. If you do not have a junior section you do not need to do anything.

We then got to thinking, do any clubs restrict training groups by junior/senior or male/female? At our club we do not have juniors and all groups are open to all genders. But, is this the case for every club?

If you would like us to develop a feature where training groups can be restricted by age group or gender please let us know. 

We have just uploaded an app update (1.4.7) with a tweak to the membership form, qualifications, club documents, and club competitions sections. 

Membership Form

As previously mentioned we have had a few new clubs on board recently. We felt the membership form needed to evolved accordingly to suit. The membership form no longer requires membership categories or payment options. This way the form can be used to get club members to update their details e.g. ICE & contact, without needing to pay for their memberships, assuming your club uses a different option for members to pay their subs.  Obviously you can still set membership categories with the relevant fee and take payment using your Stripe account through the app. 

We have removed the PayPal option from the payment method options. We felt this could be confusing as connectMyClub has never integrated PayPal and this was only an option if the club used PayPal in another way.

Qualifications & Accreditations

Clubs can no longer update members' qualifications through the club portal, however, using the latest app update members can update their qualifications & accreditations along with any expiry date. The qualification will still show on the members profile on the Club Portal.

Club Documents & Competitions 

Both of these features can now be filed in  to 'folders' If you have a lot of club documents stored in connectMyClub or show a lot of Club Competition tables you may want to file the documents or competitions in to folders to reduce the length of the list in the app. If a folder exists the documents / competitions will be shown in an "accordion" (collapsible) list.

We hope these updates will prove useful.

The connectMyClub app is now live on both Google Play and the Apple App Store. The new app replaces the My Running Club and My Tri Club apps. We will leave the both old apps on the app stores for a little while yet. Your members can continue to use their current club app for the time being. They will see a prompt whenever they use their My Running Club or My Tri Club app to invite them to install and use the connectMyClub app.

As you are aware we have been running the new app as a beta version for a while now. Many bugs have been fixed and improvements made, but as always with app development there are bound to be improvements which can still be made. If there is anything which you or your club members think could improve the app please let us know and we'll look at any suggestions.

If any of your members do not have a suitable mobile device on which to run the new app there is also a near fully functioning web version at members.connectmyclub.co.uk

If you have any reference to the My Running Club or My Tri Club app on your website or in club documentation please could you change these references from the old apps and now reference the connectMyClub app. Here are the links to the app on Google Play and on the Apple App Store

Thank you for all help in the beta testing period.

Today we made a big step forward in the iOS app. We have 90% fully functional and should be able to release for Beta testing by the end on August.

Beta testing of the Android and web apps is ongoing with various clubs and their members. If anyone else at any club would like to trial the new Android app please ask them to get in touch with us at hello@connectmyclub.co.uk. Anyone can use the web app at mibile.connectmyclub.co.uk

An update on the new connectMyClub app

We've just begun the beta testing phase for the web version of the all new app. This will run initially for a few weeks internally and with Massey Ferguson Running Club. Following this initial phase we will fix any issues which arise then open up the next phase of testing to all clubs. Once any creases are ironed out during testing we will create the new iOS and Android app. The fully functioning web app will stay online and replace the current member's portal. This means even if a club member doesn't have a mobile device on which to run an iOS or Android app the can have the same app on their computer.

In the meantime we would like to get all app users involved. Please spread the message if you can. We are running a competition on our social media channels @connectmyclub and Facebook where your members can submit a photo to be used on the new login screen. The image shown on the current web app login a screen was kindly submitted by a member of Paul Popham Running Club

We will keep you updated with any further developments.

In line with English Athletics, apologies to our Scottish and Welsh clubs, we assume things will be similar, each member's Gender at birth can now be recorded on their member profile alongside the current Male / Female mailing list option. All members are automatically assigned a Gender at birth based on which mailing list they are currently place on, so there's no need to do any extra admin unless a particular member has changed their gender.

It has become apparent that some clubs leave the membership renewal process open all year, we think, to accommodate new joiners. This isn't how the feature was initially designed. As this seems to be the way in which some clubs use the renewal the feature, in the all new app (in development), there will be an option to show the membership form to new members and the membership renewal form too existing members during the membership renewal period.

The all new app is well into its development. We will let clubs know more later in the year when we're nearer to launching. The current intention is to remove the members portal from the website. Instead have a fully working browser version of the app to sit alongside the iOS and Android apps. 

We will soon be stopping development on new features for the My Running Club & My Tri Club apps. This is because we believe the framework on which the apps are currently built has taken us as far as it can. Therefore we're planning to redevelop the apps from the ground up.

We currently have an improvement to the photo albums feature and a "Meet the committee" feature being developed. When these are complete we will issue the app update. Then we will move our efforts onto the new improved app.

We will be working our way through each of the apps' many features to make them as user friendly and bug free as possible. The new framework which we have chosen will make the app much sleeker by implementing more of Android's and iOS' native features.

Obviously we'll still be here to offer support and to fix any bugs within the current apps.

It's only a few days until the end of the 2021 100km per month Stava challenge and the beginning of the 2022 "900 mins" Strava challenge. Sounds like a lot but it's only ~30 minutes per day of any Strava recorded exercise. Just ensure you've connected your Strava to your connectMyClub account to take part.

We've just added a new feature to app in update 4.2.05 and to the connectMyClub club portal.

If there is an incident or accident during a training session, training leaders can now submit an incident report from their app. Highlighting the time which the incident occurred. Pinpointing the exact location of the incident on the interactive map. As well as submitting a brief description of events and selecting the club member or members involved. This will all feed through to the club portal, enabling the club to keep a record of the incident and to help submit any incident reports to the relevant governing body.

Following the recent Internet wide security update which is preventing some older devices from accessing some websites and apps, including the My Running Club and My Tri Club apps, we have been busy working to get all club based app features onto the connectMyClub user web portal. Club members can now interact with the club and other club members using a computer's Internet browser as well as your club app.

We have added all club related features to the member's web portal so even as technology moves on and older mobile devices can no longer access the apps they used to your club members will still be able to interact with the club via a computer's Internet browser.

We've just uploaded an app update for review with a new Training Wallet feature. This feature will enable club members to add money to a virtual wallet to pay for training sessions.

Rather than needing to enter credit card details for each and every paid training session club members will be able to add money to their virtual wallet. When they want to participate in a paid training session the cost will be deducted from their virtual wallet.

With members only needing to add funds if they want to or when the funds in their wallet are low this will save the club money as transaction fees are only deducted when the wallet is topped up and not each and every time a session is paid for.

Now that most government Covid-19 guidelines have been relaxed or lifted and clubs are beginning to turn off the Covid-19 features we felt it time to simplify the Covid-19 training statement which club members confirm before joining a training group. 

The Covid-19 statement will now read "I will not attend this group if at the time of the training session I cannot adhere to the latest government or my club's Covid-19 guidelines." 

Attendance records (Track & Trace) will still be available to all clubs whether the Covid-19 features have been disabled or not.

We had a few update requests in this week which we've now incorporated into club portals. One of which was for the ability to create bundles in the club shop. 

Club Shop - Bundles

Bundles can now be created in the club's shop. A bundle may consist of a club beanie hat, vest, and a mug. These items may normally cost £35, if purchased individually, with a bundle you can set the cost as £30 when purchased together. Hopefully another way to swell the club coffers whilst giving club members a bit of a discount.

We have now complete the task of updating all races in our race database with their own ///what3words address. You can use the My Running Club or My Tri Club app to find your way to the start of Kenilworth Half Marathon ///brick.other.epic or Brighton Marathon ///haven.hooks.joins

Admin Permissions

We had a request to add in extra admin permission for members with club admin rights. E.g. Bob Jones looks after merchandise but we don't need him to have access to the members list and members' personal details. This feature is now in place. If a member has been given admin rights be default they will have access to all club portal pages. Club's can now limit areas of the club portal by turning off admin rights in the member's profile

Club Location

When setting up training session you will have seen the location map. If a club has saved a postcode the training map will centre on the postcode co-ordinates. As we know postcode areas can be quite broad. You can now fine tune your club's main location in the club set up page

Event Reports

Club members can now submit race / event reports for any event which they take part in. Previously the event needed to be in the member's event calendar. Club's can also copy n' paste any reports which they receive via email so they show in the app.

We've just pushed through an update to the training session creation page. The update will allow each training group to have multiple set group leaders whereas previously this was limited to two set leaders per group.

This has taken some head scratching due to the Covid-19 features which we've developed of the past 16 months. We think all is working as expected in both the app and connectMyClub portal.

If something isn't quite working as you expect please do let us know and we will endeavour to rectify the issue.

/// what3words

We've also now added a feature where locations can be set on the interactive map for both training sessions and separately for each group within the session. In the next app update club members will be able to view each session and group location on the in-app interactive maps.

Group leaders will also be able to set up the ///what3words and interactive map location for new training sessions / groups directly from their app. 

From app version 4.1.49 clubs can show an interactive map of training session locations. The Training Map button can be toggled on or off by each club via the app setup tab of the club training page

Clubs can now set the location of a training session using the new map feature in the training session setup section. The location of the session can then be used to populate all training groups within the session. Training group locations can still be set at the group level should they differ or be changed by the groups leader.

If the Training Map is turned on a marker of each training session location will be shown on the Training Map in the app. When a marker is tapped the corresponding training session will scroll into view in the training section.

This feature is more likely to be useful if your club has training sessions spread over a large geographical area. 

What else is new?

We have added a new Message Board admin feature. In the unlikely event that someone at the club uses abusive language in a message board post the post can be deleted at club level.

We have added a similar feature for training group messages. This feature can be accessed the same way as editing a group's details.

We hope each club can make use of these features. If you do use them and think of a way in which they could be improved please do let us know.

With the easing of Covid-19 restrictions we have now re-activated the No Set Leader option for training groups. No Set Leader can be set with or without the Covid-19 Statement being activated.

Like before, the No Set Leader option allows for any training leader in the club to access member's ICE detail and check members into and out of training sessions. As well as complete other group leader functions.

We hope this helps with organising your training sessions.

We understand that mistakes can happen so we've implemented a small update so training session times can now be updated.

If there is a requirement to update a session's start time and date each club member who is in any of the groups within the session will receive a push notification, to their mobile devices, and an email to let them know of the updated details.

We have tested this feature within our small test group. We feel this feature may need some adjustments going forward, to improve it's functionality, when used with larger training sessions. If your club has any working feedback when this feature is put into use please do let us know. We can only improve features with your feedback. 

Just a quick update today. 

Club members' membership numbers are now linked to their club profile and can be updated by the club admins, as well as the club members, using their app. Some people will have already stored their membership numbers i their app.

The intention of the membership number is to store club members' athletic association membership numbers e.g. English, Welsh, Scottish, Athletics Membership.

We have just uploaded app update 4.1.44 for approval with Apple & Google.

In this update training leaders will be able to create training routes, using their mobile app, using either publicly viewable Strava or Garmin Connect routes.

If a training leader would like to create a training route using a GPX file they can still do this, as well as using Strava or Garmin links, via their connectMyClub portal.

We hope this make managing club training a little simpler.