Categories
- Articles for review (before publishing)
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GMS Account Management
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Known issues and GMS updates
- Current GMS Issues (2024)
- GMS Update - Oct 2024
- GMS update - August 2024
- GMS Update - July 2024
- GMS Update - May 2024
- GMS update - April 2024
- GMS Update - Mar 2024
- GMS Update - Feb 2024
- GMS Update - Jan 2024
- GMS Update - Dec 2023
- GMS Update - Nov 2023
- GMS Update - Oct 2023
- GMS Update - Sep 2023
- GMS Update - Aug 2023
- GMS Update - July 2023
- GMS Update - June 2023
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Edit account details
- How do I verify my account?
- How do I edit my account details?
- How do I update a player's email address? (Club Admin)
- How do I update details for a linked child account?
- Why do I need a unique email address on my GMS account?
- How do I change my communication preferences?
- How do I edit medical conditions/emergency contacts in the Player Registration Form?
- How do I add qualifications to my GMS account?
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Merge or link accounts
- How do I merge duplicate accounts on GMS?
- How do I edit or delete a relationship? (Club Admin)
- How do I add a relationship? (Club Admin)
- How do I remove/delete a relationship from my GMS account?
- How do I merge records in GMS? (Club Admin)
- How do I add an existing Age Grade player record to a parent account?
- How do I add a family member to my account?
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Known issues and GMS updates
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Club Administration
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Adult Player Registration - Club Administration Support
- How do I approve a players' Club Registration?
- How do I uplift a player to have RFU Registration?
- How do I transfer a player?
- How do I register a 17-year-old to play adult rugby?
- How do I deregister a player?
- Marketing assets to support Adult Player Registration at your club
- How do I register a player on a Student or Service Pass?
- How do I edit a player's registration?
- APR guidelines to support you through the 24/25 season
- Register to play - QR code instructions
- How does my Registration Overview Dashboard work?
- What is my GMS player list?
- How do I expedite an RFU Registration?
- How do I request the loan of a player?
- How do I extend the loan of a player?
- How do I request an England Academy Player (EAP)?
- How do I apply for a player to have EQP status?
- How do I approve a player's International Clearance?
- How do I request a Women's Dual-Registration (WDR)?
- How do I add a player to a representative team?
- How do I review and approve a player's contract & agent declaration?
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Club Business Operations
- What promotional offers are available to clubs?
- Can we get a discount to show Sky TV in our club?
- How do I use voucher codes to purchase coaching courses for members?
- How do I purchase voucher codes for another organisation?
- How can clubs get involved in the Rugby World Cup 2025?
- Who can I speak to about VAT matters for my rugby club?
- Do you have resources to help us promote rugby at our club?
- Where can I get guidance on legal matters in relation to the running of my club?
- Can the RFU help with the cost of living to reduce our energy and operating costs?
- How do we run our bar efficiently and cost effectively?
- Do the RFU arranged policies provide cover for loss of revenue?
- How to host a rugby event to genereate revenue and engage the community
- Is there any guidance or advice to help clubs manage/reduce costs with their waste and washroom services?
- Where can I find guidance on my club's accounts and budgeting?
- How does a club become a voting member of the RFU?
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Club Governance & Management
- What is the Game Management System?
- What positions can I apply for at my club?
- How do I add a group function?
- How do I pull reports from an Organisation Profile as a club admin?
- How do we receive an International Ticket Allocation?
- How do I set up a new rugby club?
- What are golden roles and how do I allocate them?
- How do I add a custom tag to my club profile?
- How do I run a report for a registered player? (Club Admin)
- How does our club complete a risk assessment?
- Does the RFU provide data protection support?
- Where can I find legal and governance guidance for my club?
- Where can I find more information about club incorporation?
- Where can our club get legal advice and support?
- Does the RFU arranged policies provide for loss of income, property or Tours insurance?
- How does the RFU support wheelchair rugby?
- Where can I get guidance on how to make our club even more inclusive?
- Where can our club get advice and support on tax?
- What insurance cover does the RFU provide to the game?
- How can I find out more about becoming a CASC?
- What things do we need to think about to ensure an effective committee meeting?
- How do I run a report? (Club Admin)
- How do I create a club training report?
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Facilities & Pitches
- Who can I contact to talk about my rugby club facilities?
- What are the minimum dimensions of a rugby pitch?
- What funding is available for club facilities?
- How do I book an RFU artificial grass (365) pitch?
- What should we do if our facilities flood due to extreme weather?
- Guidance on floodlights for clubs
- Does the RFU provide guidance on developing a clubhouse?
- Where can I find guidance on Pitch Risk Assessments and managing pitches in drought conditions?
- What are the RFU standards for changing room sizes and layouts?
- How do I get involved with Rugby Grounds Connected?
- How can we manage our facilities in order to minimise the impact of drought conditions?
- How can we manage our facilities in order to minimise the impact of a flooding event?
- Have you completed the facility needs capture?
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Marketing & Communications
- Email Registration Template for club admins
- Why am I not receiving emails from GMS?
- How do I send an email from GMS?
- How do I create a club website?
- How do I make sure I receive the Community Game Updates (CGU)?
- How do I access Club Website to edit content?
- How do I receive the Community Game Updates (CGU) if I am not one of the three key roles?
- How can we use social media to promote and run our club?
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Memberships & Payments
- How do I buy memberships?
- How do I create a membership scheme?
- How do I create and assign new product categories?
- Settlements for multiple bank accounts
- How do I update a direct debit mandate or reschedule adirect debit payments?
- Buying memberships or creating a payment order – club admin
- How do I process a refund? (Club Admin)
- How do I set up a membership scheme and online payment system?
- How do I create an event?
- How do I buy an event in GMS?
- How do I get a receipt for my voucher code?
- Settlement batch revenue analysis
- How do I change my club’s bank account details with the RFU?
- How do I create a new budget code and assign it to a membership scheme?
- How do I set up multiple bank accounts?
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Rules & Regulations
- What is Regulation 7?
- How to complete Payment of Players 2024
- Payment of Players FAQs
- Who has to complete the Payment of Player declaration?
- Where can I find the RFU Regulations?
- What is Regulation 1?
- What is Regulation 2?
- What is Regulation 3?
- RFU's Code of Conduct template
- What are defined as RFU benefits?
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Safeguarding & Player Welfare
- Retrieving emergency contact details
- How do I complete the Club Safeguarding Audit?
- How to apply for a DBS
- How do I get help for an injured player?
- How do I report an Injury / what injuries do I need to report?
- What is the current guidance for First Aid?
- How do I book onto an Emergency First Aid In Rugby Union course?
- What is RugbySafe?
- How do I order Headcase Resources?
- Can I organise a Play it Safe safeguarding course at my club?
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Player Management
- How does the Player Management Module work?
- Player Registration Report in GMS
- How to create player cards in GMS
- How do I approve Age Grade registration? (Club Admin)
- How do I register an Age Grade player as a Club Administrator?
- Age Grade Registration - Club Top Tips
- Do I need to complete Player Registration to participate in non-contact Rugby?
- How do I give my child permission to access their GMS account?
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Adult Player Registration - Club Administration Support
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Coaches & Match Officials
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Amend a course booking
- Who should I notify if I have specific mobility / learning requirements?
- Why is my qualification missing?
- Can I transfer to a different course?
- I booked for a family member by mistake, how do I amend this?
- How do I contact the course leader prior to the course?
- I'm unable to attend both days of my course, do I have to complete the whole course?
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Book a course
- How do I book a course?
- How do I book on to a coaching/refereeing course?
- Why haven't I received information about my course booking?
- Why can't I add the course to my basket even though there are spaces available?
- How do I use Voucher Codes when booking a course? Course Participant User Guide
- How do I get a receipt for my course booking?
- If someone else booked the course for me, how do I transfer it to my record?
- Why is my Headcase/Safeguarding/Tacklesafe e-learning not showing on my GMS profile?
- How do I book onto an England Rugby Advanced Coaching Award / Developing Advanced Coaching Practice (previously Level 3 coaching)?
- How do I book onto a Director of Rugby course?
- Can I add other coaches at the club to my booking?
- How do I find and book the Headcase e-learning course?
- How do I find and book the Introduction to Safeguarding e-learning course?
- How do I find and book the Tackle Safe eLearning?
- How do I book onto an England Rugby Coaching Award course?
- How do I book onto a Principles of Scrummaging course?
- How do I book onto a Principles of the Lineout course?
- How do I book onto an Introduction to Refereeing course?
- How do I book onto an England Rugby Mentoring Award course?
- How do I book onto an England Rugby Tag Rugby course?
- How do I book onto an England Rugby First Contact course?
- How do I book onto an England Rugby Refereeing Award course?
- How do I book onto an England Rugby Advanced Match Official Award course?
- How do I book onto an England Rugby Performance Coaching Award course?
- How do I book onto a Play It Safe course?
- What do I do if I need specific support to participate in an RFU training course?
- How do I know if I need to do a coaching or refereeing course?
- What is the Rugby World Cup 2025 Impact Programme?
- How do I book onto an England Rugby Primary Schools Course?
- How do I book onto an England Rugby Secondary Schools Course?
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Amend a course booking
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Players & Parents
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Adult Player Registration - Player Support
- How do I register to play (Club Registration)?
- How do I create a GMS account?
- How do I renew my registration?
- How do I de-register from a club?
- How do I register to multiple clubs?
- How do I request International Clearance?
- What does “You have reached the limit on the number of times that you may register” mean?
- How do I review and approve my RFU Registration?
- How do I add attachments to my GMS account?
- How do I confirm my England Qualified Player (EQP) status?
- How do I complete Club Registration as an 'Occasional Player'?
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Playing Rugby
- How can I find my local rugby Club?
- How can my club support a local wheelchair rugby club?
- How can I find out more about starting a wheelchair rugby section at my club?
- What is Wheelchair Rugby?
- What opportunities are there for adult and junior wheelchair users in the sport?
- How can I get involved with wheelchair rugby as a coach, referee / table official, classifier, or volunteer?
- What is tackle height?
- How can I find out more about gender participation?
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Adult Player Registration - Player Support
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Team & Match Managers
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Competitions & friendlies
- Matches Against Non-English Teams Or Cross Union Matches
- Why can’t I change the status of a fixture?
- How do I access Electronic Match Cards (EMC) in the Competition Management module?
- FAQ’s Manually Entered Fixtures
- What is the Transfer Deadline date for Adult Competitions?
- How do I assign players to a team?
- How do I create and edit the status of a fixture?
- How do I add a new team?
- How do I access Electronic Match Card Data as a Club Administrator?
- How do I archive a team?
- What is the Transfer Deadline for Adult Competitions?
- What are the Law Variations in Women’s League Competitions?
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Match day requirements
- Electronic Match Card (EMC) desktop guide
- Electronic Match Card (EMC) mobile guide
- Electronic Match Card - Top tips
- Advantages of using Electronic Match Card
- Electronic Match Card - Frequently Asked Questions
- Coach/Team Manager can't edit their team
- What do I do if I can't access the Electronic Match Card?
- How to record a suspected concussion in EMC
- Who do I contact during a competition?
- Why can I not see a player in my line-up on the Electronic Match Card?
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Competitions & friendlies
- Constituent Bodies & RFU Council
FAQs for Age Grade 2024-25
Modified on Tue, 13 Aug at 3:01 PM
When will the new season 24/25 be enabled? Will coaches move up Age Bands as well?
This will be done on the 1st July with a start date for the playing season of 7th Sept 2024. All Age Grade players will move up to the appropriate Age Band based on their DOB.
Age grade players who are playing up or down will need to submit new forms as per the annual requirement. Coaches are not moved automatically as all clubs differ, so any that wish to be moved up an age band will need to be manually assigned. Please see our Community Rugby Help solutions if you need further instructions on how to do this.
What do parents need to do ahead of the new season?
We encourage all parents of players to login to GMS and ensure their details are up to date. The Personal Profile module and associated key tasks such as creating and updating an age grade registration have been designed for mobile devices to make it easier for parents.
When does renewal of registration take place?
Bulk deactivation of age grade players takes place on 1st July. You can register and renew registration of players in the system from 1st July to help get your administration processes underway early for the new season. Please see our solution pages on how parents can complete this process: ‘Age Grade Registration process for parents/ guardians’ and ‘Renew Age Grade Child Registration Process’.
What date do players get allocated to their new age groups in GMS?
On July 1st, in line with the renewal date, GMS will default to the new season. From July 1st, once players have registered or renewed their registration, they will be assigned to their new age band automatically.
When do the new regulations come into place?
From August 1st, the RFU regulations for the new season are in place. You can find all regulations on the England Rugby website.
When does the new season commence?
The 2024-2025 playing season will commence on September 7th.
When you register for GMS, is it the parent that is registering or the player?
For Age Grade players, parents need to have an account first. They will then be able to register or renew the Age Grade player attached to their profile. Please see the following guide on how to create an account and refer to the guides in question one on how you can register or renew the registration of an Age Grade player.
How can a club create an age grade profile when the parent doesn't want to get involved in the process?
Clubs cannot create new accounts for under 18-year-olds. The parent/guardian will need to action this.
How do we register players who are from care homes or have grandparents who look after them, they don’t have an email or smart phone, or when the parent doesn't want to get involved in the process?
There are good examples from clubs around the country of how they help parents and guardians or support those without online access to register Age Grade players. These models will be shared with clubs. The priority is to make this an adult-led registration process, along with all out-of-school activities and clubs, for safeguarding and data protection reasons. However, in the case where a club has a player who is still genuinely unable to be registered, they should submit a ticket with their details on the Community Rugby Help and the RFU will be able to support.
Is there a guide that will help parents navigate the system?
Community Rugby Help has a wide variety of solutions to support parents, these include videos showing how to complete the process in GMS. Clubs are advised to signpost parents to these guides. If users have specific feedback on how the content can be improved, please raise a ticket. Please use the following link to access our solutions Community Rugby Help.
Why is the registration process required each year?
Annual registration exists for several reasons but primarily it is for safeguarding purpose. As a National Governing Body, the RFU must fulfil requirements set out by GDPR, as well as the responsibility of safeguarding children and vulnerable people. Renewal of annual registration means data remains up to date and accurate to aid communication with players, access to medical information and the ability to measure participation at clubs. If the RFU has the knowledge of who is playing rugby, this means clubs and the RFU can offer the appropriate support to the Age Grade game. Providing a consistent online system to the game ensures that information is held in line with data security requirements.
What are the consequences if a player is not registered?
As per Regulation 15, it is a requirement to register players. If players are not registered, then this is a breach of the regulations. You can find all regulations on the England Rugby website.
Is the RFU still allowing Age Grade players to be registered with more than one club?
Age Grade players can register to multiple clubs.
Why can’t GMS send an email to all members asking them to renew their registration?
All Age Grade player’s parents who registered their children last season will receive communication asking them to renew registration for their child this season. We recommend all users have ensured that their contact details are up to date on their profiles to ensure they receive the latest communications.
Please can we have a button to hit to send out emails to parents that just sends a link to click on for renewal of registration please?
You can email all previously registered players by clicking ‘Age Grade yet to register under the ‘Player Management’ module. Select ‘All’ and email. We have also created a template letter to support clubs in communicating to their parents.
Can the registration process be made clearer on mobiles?
GMS has been designed for optimum use by parents. Small enhancements based on suggestions from last season to help prevent parents from registering themselves have been implemented. If you have any further suggestions to improve this process further, please submit a ticket via Community Rugby Help.
If a parent renews registration but they didn’t complete the consents correctly last season, will they be prompted to do that?
When you click on renewal, the registration form comes up to be reviewed with the option to be edited before saving and sending to the club. Clubs should always encourage parents to check and update all the information as it will help streamline re-registration moving forward.
One issue we have is that there are other pieces of information we also require as a club (i.e., which school the child attends), but no option to add in club specific questions. Can this be included as a suggestion?
The registration and renewal of registration form includes which school the player attends and can be updated if necessary. There is also a ‘Notes’ section for club specific information to be recorded.
Is there any way to automatically move coaches and managers up to the next team without having to re-select them all in team management against each team?
No, as each club operates differently, and some coaches stay with the same age group. We also believe it is important for a club to action this manually as they can reconfirm coach availability, suitability and development for the new season. For further support, see our guide on How to move Coaches onto different Age Grade Team.
“Assign Player to 'Playing Squad’” - can this be done by the coach if assigned to the team in question rather than the AG Registrar?
Yes, if the coach has GMS permission levels 1, 3 or 5. Please see our guide on Assigning Players to Teams.
Which age groups use match cards?
Electronic match cards (EMC) are not currently a requirement across Age Grade rugby. However, there are some national competitions that have regulations requiring the use of the EMC system. Some other competitions at county or regional level may also choose to do so and some clubs use match cards for their team to track player participation. For guidance on how you can use the EMC, please see the following guide: Electronic Match Card Top Tips and Advantages
Is there a way to 'declutter' club data so all the lapsed members get archived, and we only see active members?
This is a manual process for clubs. You can remove player from the club under the ‘People’ module providing they are not registered players or have an active membership. For further support, see our guide on how to de-register players.
To keep track of who is returning, will everyone show as non-reregistered, or can people remove themselves without your knowledge?
After the 1st of July, all players will be de-activated in bulk and show as renewal required with a non-active playing status. They will remain in the system to be renewed – no data is deleted or lost when central de-inactivation takes place. Club administrators can view players in either the ‘Team Management’ module or the ‘Player Management’ module. The module will show “age grade yet to register from previous season” and you can email them to renew in bulk. Currently the system does not allow individuals to remove themselves from clubs or organisations.
I can't find 'players' in my dashboard?
Ensure you have the correct GMS permissions and roles within the club to be able to view the players/ teams in question. Check that the player in question is registered to the club. If the player is registered, then check the player is not in ‘Pending Registration’ Status in the ‘Player Management’ module and has been assigned to the ‘Playing Squad’.
How can you assign a player who is playing down an age grade to the correct age group?
You can assign a player to the relevant team outside of their Age Grade band category using the ‘Add Player Function’ provided you have the relevant authorisation as per Regulation 15. Please see our guide on ‘Age grade players playing up or down’.
What happens when an Age Grade player transitions to adult rugby?
Currently, a unique email address for the transitioning player will need to be assigned via the club admin or the parent so that they can manage their own GMS account. Once this is in place, the transitioning user can request to ‘reset password’ to the assigned email address. The link can be accessed via email and once the password has been reset, the user should be able to log in. See our article on ‘How to reset your password / problem logging in’ for further support.
For 17-year-olds playing up into adult rugby, as per Regulation 15, to be eligible to play adult rugby the 17-year-old player must be assessed as capable of playing with adults. View our article 'How do I register a 17yr to play adult rugby' for further guidance.
Are photos still a requirement on GMS for age grade? Our CB still request them for festivals, but some other areas no longer require them. What is the RFU’s view?
The RFU does not require photos of players, however, it is dependent on the competition organiser, the club, and the CB if they require this. Player Cards are available under the Reporting Module in GMS.
On the email address issue, if a parent has changed or forgotten their email they used to register the first time and set themselves up again, they now have 2 profiles. Secondly, if they are set up in GMS and we cannot see them as an Age Grade registrar, is the ONLY way to find them by raising a ticket?
As an Age Grade registrar, if the parent has a duplicate account and both have been added to the club, you can merge the accounts. If one of the accounts has not been added to the club, then the only way to locate them will be by raising a ticket with the GMS Service Desk.
Is a unique email address per GMS account necessary?
A unique email is a requirement. Adults are not able to share email addresses. Please see the guide on ‘Unique email addresses in GMS’.
Is the email issue where emails end up in junk resolved?
Your email service provider may delay emails or send them to your junk or spam folder. View the following guide ‘Not receiving emails / email provider’ to see how to amend this.
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