Row HQ for Rowing Ireland-Affiliated Clubs
Row HQ is built for clubs affiliated to Rowing Ireland. Member records hold RI affiliation status, coaching qualifications, water-safety awards, and Garda vetting details - alongside the booking, crew selection, and training session tools your club uses every day.
What does "Rowing Ireland integration" mean in practice?
Rowing Ireland does not publish a public API for external software to read or write membership data automatically. What Row HQ does is give your club administrators a dedicated place to record and verify each member's Rowing Ireland affiliation status, membership number, coaching qualification level, and water-safety awards - so that information lives in the same system as boat bookings, crew lineups, and training sessions. Admins can run reports of lapsed RI members, check regatta eligibility before Irish Championships entries at Inniscarra, track Garda vetting renewals for junior coaches, and export structured reports that reduce manual re-entry into Rowing Ireland's own systems. Row HQ is also GDPR-compliant and ePrivacy-ready for the communications your club sends to members under Irish and EU law. Automated federation data sync is on the roadmap; it requires Rowing Ireland to open a partner API.
What Row HQ does now for Rowing Ireland-affiliated clubs
The following features are live and in use by Rowing Ireland-affiliated clubs today.
Rowing Ireland membership status fields
Each member record holds Rowing Ireland membership type (Club Athlete, Masters, Junior, Coach, Official), membership number, and renewal date. Admins filter the member list by status and export lapsed-member reports for the autumn renewal cycle.
Coaching qualification records
Store Rowing Ireland coaching award levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold coach award) against each coach record, with issue date and renewal requirements. Admins see at a glance which coaches hold current qualifications and which are approaching expiry before assigning coaches to squads.
Water-safety qualifications
Store Rowing Ireland Bronze, Silver, and Gold rower awards, swim-competency certification, and capsize-drill completion per member. The system flags members with lapsed qualifications before they can be added to a crew for open-water outings on the Lee, Liffey, Shannon, or Corrib.
Garda vetting status for junior coaches
Coaches and volunteers working with under-18s in Ireland must hold a current National Vetting Bureau clearance. Row HQ stores the vetting reference number and expiry date per coach, flags upcoming renewal deadlines, and surfaces any outstanding vetted-coach gaps to the welfare officer.
Regatta eligibility checks
Before submitting Irish Championships crews at Inniscarra, Erne Head entries, or any Rowing Ireland event, coaches run an eligibility check: current RI membership, water-safety award, age-group eligibility, and coxswain weight rules where applicable. Ineligible members are highlighted automatically before entries close.
Regatta and event management
Build events for the Irish Rowing Championships at Inniscarra Reservoir, the Irish University Rowing Championships, Erne Head, Skibbereen Regatta, Trinity Regatta on the Liffey, Cork Regatta, Castleconnell, Athlone, and club regattas. Manage crew sheets, payment collection in EUR, and waitlists. Crew sheets export to the format needed for official submission.
ePrivacy-compliant member communications
Club communications (renewal reminders, session notifications, event notices) are sent with ePrivacy-compliant and GDPR-aligned consent tracking. Members manage their communication preferences from their portal. Required for Irish clubs sending marketing-type communications under Irish ePrivacy Regulations 2011 and the GDPR.
Renewal reminders
Automated email and in-app reminders (ePrivacy-compliant) go out to members whose Rowing Ireland membership, coaching qualification, or water-safety award is approaching expiry. Members renew directly with Rowing Ireland; the membership secretary updates status in Row HQ.
Planned federation integrations (roadmap)
The following are on the roadmap and require Rowing Ireland to open API access. We are transparent about what is not built yet.
Rowing Ireland membership API sync
Roadmap - pending RI APIDirect read from Rowing Ireland so member affiliation status updates automatically without manual entry. Requires Rowing Ireland to publish a partner API - not available as of May 2026.
Irish Championships entry submission
Roadmap - pending entry APISubmitting entries directly from Row HQ into Rowing Ireland's online entry system for the Irish Rowing Championships at Inniscarra. Currently Row HQ helps prepare crews and check eligibility; entry submission still happens in the Rowing Ireland event portal.
Concept2 Logbook API integration
RoadmapImporting Concept2 erg results from the Logbook API to populate member performance records inside Row HQ, including erg scores logged during winter training at Irish clubs. Concept2 Logbook has a public API; integration is planned for a future release.
SEPA Direct Debit for EUR subs
RoadmapCollecting Rowing Ireland-aligned membership fees via SEPA Direct Debit for Irish club subs, with pro-rata handling for mid-year joins. Currently subs are collected via Stripe card payments or manual bank transfer.
How Row HQ compares to iCrew and LoveAdmin for Irish clubs
The main alternatives to Row HQ for Rowing Ireland-affiliated clubs are iCrew (UK and Irish-built, strong rowing-specific tooling, established Irish user base) and LoveAdmin (UK-built general-purpose club management software). A neutral comparison of all platforms is on the rowing club software comparison page.
| Feature | Row HQ | iCrew | LoveAdmin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rowing Ireland context | RI affiliation, coaching qualifications, water-safety awards, Garda vetting, and EUR billing built in | Established Irish and UK rowing club base; check current RI-specific field support | UK-built general platform; RI affiliation language not native, GBP-primary billing |
| Boat booking | Full conflict-blocking, per-hull access rules, live availability | Boat reservation system present | Not advertised on their site |
| Pricing transparency | Published: free to 20 members, then from €18/month | On request | On request; GBP pricing |
| Free tier | Free forever to 20 members | Demo only | Demo only |
Questions from Rowing Ireland-affiliated clubs
Does Row HQ directly connect to Rowing Ireland membership records?
Not yet. Rowing Ireland does not publish a public API for external software. Row HQ gives you structured fields to record and report on Rowing Ireland membership data, but sync is manual until Rowing Ireland opens API access. We will update this page when that changes.
Can I submit Irish Championships entries from Row HQ?
Not directly. Row HQ helps you build your crews, run eligibility checks (including coxswain weight for coxed events), and export crew sheets. The actual entry submission still happens through Rowing Ireland's event registration system.
How does Row HQ handle Garda vetting for junior coaches?
Each coach record holds a National Vetting Bureau reference number and expiry date. Row HQ flags coaches whose vetting is approaching renewal and surfaces any outstanding gaps to the welfare officer. This is a record-keeping tool - the actual Garda vetting process still goes through the National Vetting Bureau directly or via Rowing Ireland's club vetting facilitation.
Is Row HQ compliant with GDPR and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018?
Yes. Member data is stored and handled under the GDPR as applied in Ireland by the Data Protection Commission. Club email communications are sent with ePrivacy and GDPR-aligned consent tracking - members can manage their communication preferences from the member portal.
We have a mixed club - masters, seniors, novices, and juniors - can Row HQ handle all of them?
Yes. Multi-squad programmes with separate rosters, eligibility rules, Garda vetting requirements (juniors), and fee structures are a core use case. Each squad gets its own scheduling and coach access while the committee sees the programme-wide view.
Does Row HQ support Sport Ireland grant compatibility?
Row HQ produces membership, attendance, and financial reports that clubs can use to support Sport Ireland grant applications. Structured data export in standard formats is available on all plans.
Set up your club free
Setup in 24 hours, data migration included. Free for clubs of up to 20 active members, no card required. Rowing Ireland affiliation, Garda vetting, coaching qualifications, and GDPR-compliant communications available from day one.