Running a junior club on Badminton Clubhouse

Badminton Clubhouse supports clubs that admit under-18 members, whether that is a handful of family memberships alongside your adult players or a dedicated junior development programme. The platform is designed around a single principle: safeguarding comes before enrolment. A club must formally declare that it accepts juniors, and meet two preconditions, before a single child can be added to the roll.

This article is the starting point. It explains what "junior club" means on this platform, how the system works end-to-end, and where to go next for each topic.

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What a junior club actually is

A junior club on Badminton Clubhouse is not a separate account type. It is a standard club that has declared a safeguarding scope (also called a safeguarding posture). Every club has one of three postures:

All clubs start as Adults only. A Chairman or Secretary switches to Mixed or Juniors only through Admin > Settings > Safeguarding. Until that switch is made, the platform will refuse any junior invitation. This gate is intentional: it ensures the right safeguarding infrastructure is in place before any child is enrolled.

A club set to Juniors only is a dedicated junior club with no adult playing members. To keep the admin area focused, the sidebar and bottom navigation drop the adult and competitive surfaces that would otherwise be noise: Find players, Visitors, Visit requests, Competitions, Teams, and Surveys are all hidden. Everything else, including the Juniors register, memberships, club sessions, and committee tools, still shows as normal. A Mixed club (adults and juniors together) always sees the full admin area; only the Juniors only posture hides these items.

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The safeguarding-first principle

Child safeguarding in a club context is not optional and cannot be an afterthought. The platform reflects this by enforcing two preconditions before the posture can change:

1. A Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) - at least one active member holding the Welfare Officer role. This person is the named DSL on record for your club.
2. The three required consent categories - Photography and media, Participation in activities, and Emergency medical treatment must all be active.

Only when both are satisfied can the posture be enabled. Once enabled, every subsequent junior enrolment flows through those consent requirements automatically.

See Setting up your junior club for the step-by-step process.

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How it works end-to-end

Here is the full lifecycle, from a club with no juniors to one running sessions safely.

Step 1: Declare your safeguarding scope

Go to Admin > Settings > Safeguarding. Assign a Welfare Officer (your DSL) if you have not already, confirm the three consent categories are active, then toggle on Enable junior membership and choose Mixed or Juniors only.

The admin area adapts to your posture: the Juniors register, Junior pathway settings, and Welfare holds become visible in the sidebar. Adults-only clubs see none of these. If your club is Juniors only, the reverse also happens: adult surfaces (Find players, Visitors, Visit requests, Surveys) drop out of the sidebar since a dedicated junior club has no use for them. Competitions and Teams stay, because junior clubs field teams in junior leagues. If you answered "Juniors only" when creating the club, the sidebar reflects that from the start, even before the declaration is saved.

Step 2: Create junior membership tiers

Junior membership types work like any other membership type, but with two extra fields: an audience (Adults / Juniors / Any) and an optional age window (minimum and maximum age). This lets you create tiers like "Junior - Under 16 (£30/yr)" and "Junior - 16 to 17 (£45/yr)" alongside your adult tiers.

The platform enforces eligibility: a committee member cannot assign a junior tier to an adult, or an adult tier to a junior. See Junior memberships and fees.

Step 3: Enrol juniors through their guardian

Juniors do not log in to the platform. Instead, you invite a junior by sending the invitation to their guardian's email address, including the junior's name and date of birth. The guardian accepts on the junior's behalf. The junior then appears in the system, linked to that guardian.

A junior starts in Pending status. They become Active only when all required consents are recorded. See Enrolling and managing juniors.

Step 4: Record consents and activate

Once the guardian accepts the invitation, the junior appears on the Juniors register with outstanding consent chips shown in amber. The committee records each consent as the signed form is received. Recording the last outstanding consent automatically activates the junior.

Step 5: Run sessions safely

Juniors can be checked into club sessions, including as walk-ins (where the guardian brings the child along without a prior booking). The platform enforces a current adult rule: a junior cannot be added to a session unless the session lead has a verified, in-date enhanced DBS check on record.

At the end of a session, you can record a handover - the name of the adult who collected the junior - creating a safeguarding record of who they left with. See Running junior sessions.

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Features at a glance

Junior data is always committee-only. No junior member appears on any public page, search result, or member-facing directory.

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Who is this for?

These articles are aimed at club committee members, particularly the Chairman, Secretary, and Welfare Officer, who are responsible for setting up and running the junior section. Some articles are relevant to anyone considering whether Badminton Clubhouse suits their club.

If you are a parent or guardian, your club's committee will guide you through the acceptance journey. There is no separate guardian login: you receive an email invitation, review the consent items, and accept on a child's behalf.

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Where to next

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Related articles

• Running a Junior Section
• Junior Walk-Ins (Under-18 Visitors)
• Roles and Permissions
• Who is Badminton Clubhouse for?