Secretary
The person the whole club routes through
The secretary is the club's memory and its letterbox. Meetings happen because the secretary called them, decisions survive because the secretary wrote them down, and the governing body knows the club exists because the secretary told them. It is the least visible committee job and the one everything else leans on.
The honest hours. One to two hours a week as a baseline, spiking around committee meetings, the AGM and affiliation renewals. The inbox is the job; the meetings are the visible part.
What the job actually is
Run the meetings machinery
Call committee meetings, build the agenda with the chair, take minutes people can act on, and circulate them while anyone still remembers what was agreed.
Own the correspondence
The club's official email lands with the secretary: governing body, council, insurers, other clubs, the public. Triage, reply or forward, and never let the important one sink.
Keep the records
The constitution, policies, minutes, insurance documents and affiliation papers, findable by someone other than you.
Handle affiliations and returns
Annual governing body affiliation, insurance renewals, and whatever returns the club's legal form requires, each with a deadline that does not move.
Run the AGM
Notice periods out of the constitution, papers circulated on time, elections recorded properly. The AGM is the one meeting where process genuinely matters.
Be the continuity
Committees churn. The secretary's records are what stops the club re-learning the same lessons every three years.
The year, honestly
Season start
Affiliation and insurance renewals, first committee meeting of the cycle, welcome information out to members. The deadlines cluster here.
In season
The steady rhythm: meeting, minutes, inbox. Keeping the records tidy as you go is what makes the AGM fortnight painless.
AGM season
Notice out per the constitution, reports gathered from every officer, papers circulated, elections minuted. Start earlier than feels necessary.
Handover
Email access, document locations, the annual deadline list, and introductions to the governing body contacts. The checklist below is the version nobody gave you.
The handover checklist
What the outgoing secretary hands to the incoming one. Most get none of this; be the club where they do.
Access
- Club email account credentials transferred
- Document storage access with edit rights
- Membership system access at secretary level
- Website or social media admin access held by the secretary
Documents
- Constitution, current version, and where amendments are recorded
- Minutes archive for at least the last three years
- Insurance policy documents and renewal date
- Affiliation confirmations and the governing body contact
Calendar
- Every fixed deadline: affiliation, insurance, returns, AGM notice period
- Committee meeting rhythm and how meetings are called
- Booking or fixture deadlines the secretary owns
People
- Governing body and regional association contacts
- Council or facility landlord contacts
- Who holds every other credential the club depends on
The parts software takes off your plate
Member questions answer themselves
Half the secretary inbox is members asking things a decent member portal already shows them.
How it worksAnnouncements reach everyone once
One message to the right group beats three emails, a group chat and a noticeboard.
How it worksRecords outlive the officer
When membership and club records live in the club's system, handover is access transfer, not archaeology.
How it worksQuestions
What does a club secretary actually do?
Runs the meetings machinery (agendas, minutes, the AGM), owns official correspondence, keeps the club's records, and handles affiliations and renewals. It is the administrative spine of the committee.
How many hours does being a club secretary take?
One to two hours a week as a baseline, with peaks around committee meetings, season-start renewals and the AGM.
What makes a good club secretary?
Reliability over brilliance: minutes out within days, deadlines never missed, records findable by others. The club feels well run when the secretary is on top of the rhythm.