Clubs — frequently asked questions

Go to Me → My clubs → Create a club. Enter your club name, a short description, your location, and upload a club logo or banner image. Save as a draft first — the club page is not publicly visible until you publish it. You become the club admin automatically on creation.

The club page shows: club name and logo, short description, location, member count, regular runs schedule, upcoming club races, and club admins. Members and prospective members see this page when they search for clubs or are invited to join.

Yes. From the club management dashboard, go to Admins and invite additional admins by their Bield handle. Admins can create and edit regular runs, manage membership requests, send broadcasts and manage club races. Consider assigning at least two admins so the club can continue if one is unavailable.

Go to Me → My clubs, select your club, and tap Edit club. You can update the description, location, logo, banner and any other details. Changes are live immediately on the public page. There is no separate publish step for profile edits.

Yes. In the club settings, toggle Private club. Private clubs do not appear in public search results. Membership is via invite link only — generate one from the club management dashboard and share it with prospective members. Existing members can still see the club page.

Only the primary club admin can delete a club. Go to Edit club → Danger zone → Delete club. You will be prompted to confirm. Deleting the club removes all regular run series and club race listings. Member accounts are not deleted — they simply lose the club association. This cannot be undone.

Yes. A club admin with the Race organiser role can link club races to the club page. This shows your race under the club's event listing and helps members discover and add it. The race itself is managed through the race organiser dashboard, not the club dashboard.

From the club management dashboard, go to Regular runs → Add run. Enter the run name, day of the week, time, meeting point, typical distance and any notes. This creates a recurring series — each future occurrence is automatically generated. Members can RSVP to individual occurrences or set a standing RSVP.

Just this one creates a single engagement for one occurrence of the run. Every week sets a standing RSVP — future occurrences in the series are automatically added to the member's Me → My races without them needing to RSVP individually each week. Members can cancel the standing RSVP at any time.

Yes. From the club management dashboard, open the run series and tap on the specific date you want to cancel. Tap Cancel this occurrence. Members who have RSVPd for that date receive an in-app notification. Future occurrences in the series are unaffected.

Edit the run series from the club management dashboard. For a permanent change, edit the series and all future occurrences will update. For a one-off change on a specific date, edit just that occurrence. Members who have a standing RSVP will be notified of any changes.

Yes. When creating or editing a run series or a specific occurrence, upload a GPX file. Members see the route on a map and can download the GPX. This is useful for club sessions with a specific course — hill reps, tempo loops, long-run routes.

Yes. In the run series settings, enable Capacity limit and set the number. Once the cap is reached, new RSVPs are queued as a waitlist. This is useful for runs on narrow trails or in car parks with limited space.

From the club management dashboard, open the run series and select the upcoming occurrence. The RSVP list shows all members who have RSVPd, their status (going / maybe / not going), and anyone on the waitlist. You can export this list if needed for session planning.

For public clubs, non-members can see club run listings. Whether they can RSVP depends on your club settings — you can restrict RSVPs to members only, or allow guest RSVPs. If you allow guests, they appear on the RSVP list separately from members. Use this for open come-and-try sessions.

For public clubs, people can search for your club in the Bield app and tap Request to join. You approve requests from the club management dashboard. Alternatively, generate a join link from the dashboard and share it — anyone with the link is taken directly to the join prompt. For private clubs, the join link is the only path.

Go to Club management → Members → Pending requests. Tap Approve or Decline next to each request. Approved members are notified and gain full member access. Declined applicants are notified and can apply again.

Yes. In the club settings, toggle Auto-approve new members. Anyone who requests to join via the join link or search result is added immediately without admin review. Useful for open running clubs with no membership vetting. Turn it off when you want to return to manual approval.

Go to Club management → Members, find the member and tap Remove. They are notified that their membership has ended. They lose access to members-only runs and club messaging. Past RSVP history is retained on their own profile.

From the club management dashboard, go to Messages → Send to all members. Members receive the broadcast as an in-app notification. Use this for important club announcements, race-day reminders and run cancellations.

Club admins can see members' public profile information and their publicly visible race history. You cannot access private or consent-gated data (medical, dietary, split-level results) unless the member has explicitly shared it. Respect member privacy — Bield does not provide bulk member data exports.

Go to Club management → Admins and promote the target admin to Primary admin. You will be asked to confirm the transfer. The new primary admin has full club management rights, including the ability to delete the club. You remain as a regular admin unless you choose to remove yourself.

You need both the Club admin role and the Race organiser role. Create the race via Me → My events → Create event as normal, then link it to your club in the race editor under Organising club. The race then appears on your club page under Club races, and club members see it alongside their regular run listings.

This depends on your external registration platform — Bield does not manage race entries or payments. On some platforms (e.g. Race Roster, Eventbrite), you can create a member-only discount code or early-access window, then share the code with your Bield club members via a broadcast message.

Club members tap Add to my races on the race page — the same flow as any other race on Bield. Being a club member does not automatically add the race to their list. Some clubs send a broadcast with the race link to prompt members to add it.

Volunteer recruitment and assignment is managed through the race management dashboard, not the club dashboard. However, you can use club messaging to ask members to volunteer — send a broadcast with a link to the race page where they can tap Offer to volunteer. Club members are often your most reliable volunteer pool.

Use the race management dashboard (not the club dashboard). Upload a results CSV and publish — the same process as any race on Bield. See the Race organisers FAQ → Results & certificates for full details. Results appear on the race page and on runners' engagement pages.

The race page on Bield is public — any Bield user can add the race. If you want to restrict entries to club members, do this on your external registration platform (a members-only entry link, access code, or verified club membership check). Bield does not verify club membership at race entry.

A regular run is a recurring club session managed within the club dashboard — it does not appear in the public Races browse screen. A club race is a full race event (with a GPX, checkpoints, cutoffs, results and potentially certificates) created via the race organiser dashboard. Club races appear in the public Races browse screen and on your club page.

Bield does not currently have a direct integration with governing bodies (UK Athletics, Welsh Athletics, Scottish Athletics, etc.). Add your affiliation as free text in your club description so members and visitors can see it. Contact support@bield.run if you want to discuss formal affiliation features.

Yes. Bield does not restrict dual membership. A runner can be a member of multiple clubs simultaneously — this is common for people who belong to both a local running club and a specialist trail or fell running club. Each club appears separately in their profile.

Use a regular run series for informal group runs — these stay inside the club dashboard and do not appear in the public Races browse screen. Add a note in the run description indicating the pace, group size and welcome level (e.g. “all paces welcome, wait policy at junctions”). Club races are full events with checkpoints and results; regular runs are lighter-weight sessions.

No. Bield does not process membership payments. If your club charges an annual fee, manage this outside of Bield (e.g. via bank transfer, PayPal, or your governing body's membership platform) and use manual approval of membership requests to verify payment before admitting members.

Use the Messages broadcast to notify all members. For recurring social events, you can also create a non-running regular run entry with a clear name (e.g. “Club social — The King's Arms”) and a distance of zero. Members can RSVP so you have a head count. It is an informal workaround — Bield's event model is optimised for running activities.

You can see members' publicly visible race history on their individual profiles. There is no bulk query across all members for a specific race — you would need to check profiles individually. If you want to celebrate a club result at a major race, ask members to share their results in the club broadcast thread.

Transfer primary admin status to another member before leaving — go to Club management → Admins and promote your successor. If the primary admin account is deleted without transferring ownership, contact support@bield.run — the Bield team can reassign ownership with proof of club authority.

You can create each round as a separate race event and link all rounds to your club via the Organising club field. They will appear together under your club races. Bield does not have a native series / league table feature — if you want to aggregate results across rounds, you would manage the series standings outside of Bield and post updates via club broadcasts.

Use the club broadcast to send a message explaining the benefits — including the six-marshal Premium milestone. Link directly to the race page where they can tap Offer to volunteer. Members who already hold the Marshal role in Bield are the easiest to recruit — they are already set up and searchable. A personal ask via coaching chat or direct message is also effective.

Use the Unpublish option in club settings to make the club unlisted — it disappears from public search but remains accessible to current members and admins. This is useful during a hiatus or reorganisation. The club is not deleted and can be re-published at any time. For a permanent closure, use Delete club.

Check Me → Billing for the current offering — plans can change. Club and organiser features may be available on the standard Premium tier or may have a separate club/organiser plan. Contact support@bield.run for the latest pricing if you are setting up a large club or race series.