Duty rotas
The rota is what keeps the club open
Duty rota software allocates the jobs a club cannot run without. It also makes sure the person allocated is allowed to do them. In most clubs this is a spreadsheet maintained by one volunteer who spends their winter chasing people by email.
What it has to do
Qualifications gate the duty
Set the ticket a duty needs. SailHQ checks the member against that rule when they take a slot. Keep the underlying training records current.
Members request their own swaps
A SailHQ swap goes into an approval queue. The committee reviews it in the app, so the agreed change stays with the rota.
A rota members can read
Members see their next duties in their portal. They do not need to ask the secretary for a fresh copy.
Vacant slots stay visible
See the jobs still needing someone. A name suggested in a chat is not the same as a filled slot.
Roles have clear rules
Race officer, safety boat helm and galley duty do not ask the same things of a volunteer. Record the needs for each job.
The committee keeps control
Choose the duties and keep the records up to date. Software can apply a rule, but the club must decide what that rule should be.
A club task, worked through
Change a duty without losing track of who agreed
A duty swap needs one clear end point: the rota shows the right person. Until the change is approved and recorded, a chat reply is only a request.
Try a duty swap
Fictional club recordsA simplified SportsHQ example. These are not the live app screens. Nothing is saved or sent. No payment is taken.
Use this to see how the task works. Ask to try your club's rules in the app before choosing it.
A Sunday swap, with a clear record
Our fictional club has a safety boat duty on Sunday. Jo cannot attend. Lee offers to help. The duty officer checks Lee against the role rules before agreeing the change.
| Stage | What the rota should show |
|---|---|
| Request received | Jo assigned; Lee has offered. |
| Checks complete | Lee meets the current role requirements. |
| Swap approved | Lee assigned; Jo released from the duty. |
Both people should be able to see the final change. If Lee cannot take the job, leave the request open and find another person. Do not mark it covered just to clear the list.
Use the same steps for each change
- Name the duty, date and person asking to change.
- Find a willing replacement and check the role requirements.
- Get approval from whoever your club puts in charge.
- Update the rota and tell both members what was agreed.
- Check any other duty the replacement already holds that day.
A shared sheet can still be enough
A small rota can work well in a shared spreadsheet. Give one person the final say on changes. Use a status column for requested and approved swaps. Check the rules by hand. The free rota below flags some time clashes, but it does not check training records or approve a swap.
Try the rota before choosing software
No signup. The country-neutral workbook has a blank rota and a worked overlap example. Tested in Excel. Google Sheets imports have not been tested.
Example by SportsHQ. Product source checked . We make the HQ apps.
The same job in four sports
Each sport needs different rules. RowHQ, SailHQ and KanuHQ are live. The GlideHQ example describes planned work, not a feature you can use yet.
Questions
What is duty rota software?
Duty rota software allocates volunteer duties across a season. It tracks who is qualified for each one, handles swaps between members, and sends the reminders. It replaces the spreadsheet and email chain most clubs use.
Can members arrange their own swaps?
Yes, within the qualification rules. That is the single biggest saving, because swap requests are what consume a duty officer time.
Does it stop unqualified people being put on safety duties?
Yes. The qualification sits on the duty itself, so an unqualified member cannot take it.
On most committees this job belongs to the volunteer coordinator. If that is you, or about to be, our guide to the whole role covers the parts software cannot do for you.