5 Best Online Tools for Coaching Organisations

• By Nikhil Obhrai
• In Blog
• Sep 29, 2016

5 Best Online Tools for Coaching Organisations

Running a sports activity company is hard work. Three members of OpenPlay’s core team were sports coaches, so we know the pain of taking bookings, coordinating with parents etc. Whether you run a national soccer school for elite players or a small tennis coaching company for tots, I’m sure you will have faced some of the same problems. Whilst some of them are unavoidable, in the internet age there are some tools (paid and free) which can greatly reduce some of your pain points. Here are the pick of the bunch.

Internal Communication: Slack

If you don’t already use it already, you’ve probably heard of Slack. It is the communication tool, being trusted by companies all across the world. With the ability to set up different channels and easily search any previous message, Slack really could be the email killer.

Online bookings and administration: OpenPlay

Gone are the days where you need to take calls or reply to emails to take bookings. OpenPlay’s awesome software tales bookings instantly online and then manages everything including payments, refunds, registers, customers, attendees and more. If this wasn’t enough, it even promotes your activities on its marketplace and other websites (councils, local information websites etc.) P.S. I’m not biased in the least.

Session Planning: Sportplan

Are your coaching sessions getting a little bit repetitive? Keep it fresh by using Sportplan. It is designed to make your life as a coach easier by giving you access to over 1,000+ professionally planned sessions. Alternatively you can design your own using their tools. The only limitation is that they only 20 sports, but all the major ones are there.

Accounting: Xero

Xero is the UK’s leading cloud based accounting software and is especially designed for small businesses. Just like all the others on this list it is simple to use and isn’t cluttered with too many unnecessary functions. One great added bonus of Xero is that it can link in with the OpenPlay online booking system so that all the information feeds into it automatically, meaning you don’t have to do anything.

Social Media Marketing: Hootsuite

It was a close call here between Hootsuite and Buffer. Both are excellent tools for managing all your social media accounts in one place. For us, Hootsuite just came out on top as it can link in with slightly more functionality, however, it really comes down to personal preference. Both allow you to manage campaigns, schedule posts and interact with customers. As you are looking to expand, this is an essential tool.