Getting Started · Coaches & Clubs
Onboarding guide · all 10 sports

Set up in 15 minutes.
Run Saturday's game.

Kickd runs your live match: the clock, the rotations, the score, the awards. This guide gets a new coach from install to first game in one sitting, and shows a club admin how to get every coach there without touching a single phone. Nothing here needs a manual. Every step names the exact tab and button.

15 min team set up at home
3 free games per team, no card needed
0 data saved by a Practice Game, so tap freely
1 tap help button on every screen
→ Which path are you on? start where it says
📩

Invited by your club

Your team, players and subscription are already set up. Tap the invite link, sign up with the email it was sent to, and you land on your team.

Skip to § 2 then § 3
📱

Coach on your own

You downloaded the app yourself. Create the team, add the players, set the format. Fifteen minutes at the kitchen table.

Start at § 1
🏟️

Club admin

You run the club side at kickd.au. One spreadsheet creates every team and invites every coach. Your job is the launch, not the phones.

Go to § 6
👪

Parent, PA or player

You join with a link or code from the coach. Parents watch live and, on junior teams, vote after the game. A Performance Analyst runs the app so the coach can coach.

See § 5
↗ The learning ladder one rung per week is plenty
Rung 1 · today

Get in and build the team

Install, sign in, create or claim the team, add your players, set the match format.

15 min
Rung 2 · today

Play a Practice Game

A pretend match on a fast clock. Nothing is saved. Tap everything, break nothing.

5 min
Rung 3 · Saturday

Run the real thing

Attendance, lineup, Start Game, rotations, score, End Game, pick your Player of the Match.

match day
Rung 4 · week 2

Connect parents and a PA

Share the join link. Parents get the live score and the vote. A PA takes the app off your hands.

2 min
Rung 5 · when ready

Stats and Kickd Callout

Full match stats and voice logging with a Bluetooth headset. Open the help button for your sport's call sheet.

optional
🎓 The one rule: never learn the app for the first time at the ground. Do rung 1 and rung 2 at home, the night before. Most coaches set up and play their first game inside the same hour. That works, but it is the game where every tap is new, and the first game is the one that decides whether there is a second.
1 Set up once, at home coach · 15 minutes · any sport
1

Get in

Install Kickd from the App Store or Google Play. Tap Continue with Apple, Continue with Google, or use your email.

  • Invited by a club? Sign up with the email the invite went to. The team attaches itself.
  • Just looking? "Try Kickd without an account" gives you a guest team. Save it later with one tap.
2 minutes
2

Create the team

Pick your sport, type the club and team name, tap Create Team. Got a club code from your admin? Enter it here and your team is club-covered from day one.

  • Then on the TEAM tab set AGE GROUP first. It locks after your first logged game because it decides the rules the app runs.
3 minutes
3

Add your players

TEAM tab → + Add Player. Name and shirt number, one at a time. Shirt numbers matter: they are how you find a player on the live field and how voice logging names them.

  • Check the format rows below the list: HALF / QUARTER TIME, ROTATION interval, and the sport-specific rows (team size, format, extended stats).
10 minutes · the step most coaches skip
≡ Where everything lives the six tabs · coach view
🏠
HOME

Today's team, lineup, Start Game, Practice Game, mic check

▶️
GAME

The live field: clock, rotations, subs, score, stats

🗳️
VOTE

Parents' live view and the post-game vote

📋
RESULTS

Final score, your Player of the Match pick, match stats

👥
TEAM

Players, age group, format, share links, subscription

🏆
STATS

Season minutes, fairness, leaderboards, match history

2 Practice first 5 minutes · the night before

Play a Practice Game before the real one

HOME · 🧪 START PRACTICE GAME

It is a pretend match on a sped-up clock. Nothing is saved, no parent sees it, and it does not use one of your free games. Soccer coaches get a guided Tutorial Game with on-screen pointers; every other sport gets the same sandbox with a banner. Run three of them if you like.

01

Feel the rotation alert

ROTATION TIME! pops with who goes on for whom. Tap Rotate Now once and you understand the whole engine.

02

Sub and score by tap

Tap a field player, then a bench player. Tap the US cell then the scorer. Long-press a player to mark them unavailable.

03

End it and pick a winner

Tap End Game at full time, then pick a Player of the Match on RESULTS. That is the whole after-game job.

3 Game day coach or PA · phone or tablet
1

Before kick-off

On HOME, tap anyone who isn't here to mark them absent. Tap Set Lineup and place your starters (Auto-fill picks the players with the least season time). Tap ▶ Start Game at the whistle.

  • Using voice? Run the mic check on HOME first: 🎧 Bluetooth headset or 📱 phone mic.
2 minutes
2

During play

The GAME tab is the field. Everything is a tap:

  • ROTATION TIME! banner shows the pairings. Rotate Now or Dismiss.
  • Sub: tap a field player, then the bench player coming on.
  • Score: tap the US cell then the scorer; THEM is one tap.
  • 📊 Stats: pick a stat, then tap the player it belongs to.
  • Long-press a player = unavailable or absent. Pause for stoppages.
Undo is one tap on the live screen
3

At full time

Tap ⏹ End Game. That ends the match immediately and opens a one-hour window: you pick Player of the Match on RESULTS whenever you get a minute, and parents cast the Players' Player vote on their child's behalf.

  • Walked off without picking? The app reminds you three minutes later.
Pick within the hour
4 The hour after, and the season what the app gives back

Awards, handled

One flow for every junior sport, one for every senior sport. You never tally a vote.

1Coach picks Player of the Match on RESULTS, any time in the hour after End Game. Change it as often as you like until the window closes.
2Juniors: parents vote a Players' Player on behalf of their child in the same hour. Results are aggregate only. Nobody sees who voted for whom.
3Seniors: players cast their own vote when you switch it on (rugby league can run coach 3-2-1 instead). Parents are view-only.

Stats you don't have to keep

Every match adds to the season without you doing anything.

▸Minutes per player and a junior fairness score, so "every kid gets a fair go" is a number, not a feeling.
▸Scorers, awards and votes roll into a season leaderboard for presentation day.
▸Match history on STATS: open any game for the breakdown, export a PDF, or delete a mis-logged one.
▸Team Stats adds the full stat set for your sport, live and by voice. Three free games come with every tier.
5 Week two: connect your people TEAM tab · share links · 2 minutes
👪

Parents

TEAM tab → 📤 Share Join Link into the team WhatsApp group. Parents install, tap the link, and pick their child.

  • They see the live score and clock while you play, and vote after the whistle.
  • Adults only. Never send the join link to players or other children.
the most skipped step in Kickd
📊

Performance Analyst

TEAM tab → 📤 Share PA Link. A parent, manager or assistant claims it and runs the app on game day while you coach. More than one can join the pool; one logs at a time.

  • The PA gets the same live screen and, on a Team Stats team, the full stat set.
recommended for U10 and up
🔑

Players (seniors)

Opens teams share the Player Code so players can vote for themselves. U13 to U18 players join only through a parent's consent on the TEAM tab. Under 13 never have accounts.

  • Your own child on your team? Answer the one-time "Is your child on this team?" prompt on HOME.
consent-gated by design
6 Club admins: launch the club kickd.au/club · 20 minutes

Four steps on the portal

The setup checklist on your dashboard ticks these off as you go.

1Register and add your crest. Set your password from the welcome email, then upload the club logo. Every coach and parent sees it in the app.
2Import your teams. Teams → Bulk Import → one row per team: team name, age group, sport, coach email, PA email. Upload once. Every coach and PA is emailed a one-tap invite, roster waiting.
3Watch the activation board. Each team shows a light: nobody registered, signed up but no match yet, live, played this week. Resend an invite from the team row. Invites last 180 days.
4Manage PAs from the web. On a team's page, invite, hand over or remove Performance Analysts without touching the coach's phone.

The launch that works

Coaches who claim and practise together on one night are the ones who are live by round two. The email alone gets about half of them.

▸Pick one night at training or the clubhouse. Twenty minutes, phones out.
▸Everyone claims their invite from the email, signing up with that same email address.
▸Everyone runs one Practice Game together. Rotate Now, a sub, a goal, End Game. Done.
▸Name the PA per team on the spot: the manager or a keen parent. The coach keeps both eyes on the game.
WhatsApp message to your coaches · copy and paste
Hi all, the club has put every team on Kickd this season (it's paid for). Check your email for an invite from Kickd and sign up with that same email, your team and players are already in there. We'll do a 20-minute run-through at training on Thursday: bring your phone, we'll all play one practice game together. Print or save the coach guide and your sport's quick-start sheet from kickd.au/quickstart.
7 Your first-season checklist tick as you go · print this page

Before your first game

App installed. Signed in with the email your invite went to, or your own
Team created or claimed. Club code entered if your admin gave you one
AGE GROUP set on the TEAM tab (it locks after game one)
Every player added, each with a shirt number
HALF / QUARTER TIME and ROTATION interval match your competition
One Practice Game played: Rotate Now, a sub, a goal, End Game
Your sport's quick-start sheet opened once from the ? button

After your first game

Player of the Match picked on RESULTS within the hour
Join Link shared with parents (adults only)
PA Link shared with whoever will run the app on game day
Your own child linked, if they play for you
STATS tab checked: minutes look right for every player
Subscription sorted before game four (club-covered teams skip this)
Mic check done on HOME if you want voice logging
8 Getting help, and the common stalls nothing here needs a phone call

Where is the help?

The ? in the header on every screen opens your sport's match-day quick-start sheet and its Callout voice guide. Both are printable from kickd.au/quickstart.

I signed up but I can't see my team.

You used a different email from the invite. Sign out, sign back in with the invited address. Or open Your Teams → 🔑 Join a Team with a Code and ask your admin for the code.

Start Game won't start.

Either no players are marked present, or the lineup isn't set. The app takes you to the screen that needs a player placed. A short team is fine; an empty one isn't.

Who runs the app on game day?

Ideally not the head coach. Share the PA Link with a manager or parent. On senior teams one person calls the action and another logs it.

The clock kept running while my phone was in my pocket.

By design: the referee's clock doesn't stop. When you come back the app offers a one-tap Rewind if play was actually stopped.

No signal at the ground.

The whole live match works offline and syncs when you're back in range. Only the parents' live view needs signal on their end.

My free games are used up.

Three per team. Club-invited teams are already covered. Solo coaches pick a Team Pass or Team Stats on the TEAM tab; a PA logs on the coach's tier, no second purchase.

Something's wrong or missing.

Email hello@kickd.au. The founders read every message, usually the same day. Say the sport, the age group and what you tapped.