WhatsApp works, until it doesn’t
WhatsApp is fast.
It’s familiar.
And almost every club uses it.
But somewhere along the way, WhatsApp quietly became the default system for running clubs.
That’s where the problems start.
What WhatsApp is good at
Let’s be clear, WhatsApp is excellent for:
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Quick updates
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Social connection
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Real-time conversation
It was never designed to:
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Track availability
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Store important information
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Create accountability
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Act as a source of truth
Yet clubs use it for all of the above.
The hidden costs clubs accept as “normal”
Using WhatsApp as a management tool leads to:
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Messages being missed
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Important info buried under chatter
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New members having no context
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No history or record
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No ownership of information
When something goes wrong, there’s no visibility — just frustration.
“Didn’t you see the message?”
This is one of the most common phrases in community sport. Either from the coaches not sure why players did not see the training update buried inside a string of unrelated messages or players asking why the coach did not see the message they sent 3 weeks ago saying they can't play this weekend.
And it highlights the core issue:
Messaging ≠ management
If a player misses a message, is that their fault?
Or the system’s?
Why clubs keep using it anyway
Because it’s:
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Easy
- Free to use
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Already there and familiar
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Better than nothing
But “better than nothing” shouldn’t be the standard for running a club.
What clubs actually need instead
Clubs don’t need to abandon WhatsApp.
They need:
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A central place for structured information
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Clear ownership of updates
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Visibility for everyone
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Messaging that supports systems — not replaces them
That’s where purpose-built tools come in.
WhatsApp should support clubs, not run them
The most sustainable clubs use WhatsApp for what it’s good at.
And rely on proper systems for everything else.
That separation alone reduces confusion, conflict, and burnout.