Row HQ for British Rowing-Affiliated Clubs
Row HQ is built for clubs affiliated to British Rowing. Member records hold BR affiliation status, water-safety qualifications, and capsize-test dates alongside the booking and scheduling tools your club uses daily.
What does "British Rowing integration" mean in practice?
British Rowing does not publish a public API for external software to read or write affiliation data automatically. What Row HQ does is give your club administrators a dedicated place to record and verify each member's BR affiliation status, membership number, and water-safety qualifications - so that information lives in the same system as boat bookings, crew lineups, and training sessions. Your membership secretary can run a report of lapsed BR members, flag members awaiting renewal, and check regatta eligibility before entries are submitted - all inside Row HQ. Automated federation data sync is on the roadmap; it requires British Rowing to open their ClubHub API, which has not happened yet.
What Row HQ does now for BR-affiliated clubs
The following features are live and in use by BR-affiliated clubs today.
BR membership status fields
Each member record has fields for BR membership type (Rowing, Non-Rowing, Masters, Junior, Student), membership number, and renewal date. Admins can filter the member list by status and export a lapsed-members report.
Water-safety qualifications
Store swim-test date, capsize-drill completion, and any additional water-safety certificates per member. The system flags members with expired or missing qualifications before they can be added to a crew for open-water outings.
Regatta eligibility checks
Before submitting a Henley entry or head-race crew, coaches can run an eligibility check: active BR membership, current water-safety cert, and any age-group restrictions. Ineligible members are highlighted automatically.
Head-race and regatta event management
Create events for HORR, Fours Head, Schools Head, and any BR-sanctioned regattas. Manage crew sheets, payment collection, and waitlists in one place. Crew sheets export to the format required for official submission.
BR returns data preparation
When it is time to submit your club's annual BR return, export a structured member report covering membership type, age group, and qualification status. The export format aligns with the fields British Rowing collects, reducing manual re-entry.
Renewal reminders
Automated email and in-app reminders go out to members whose BR membership is approaching expiry. Admins set the notice period; members renew directly with British Rowing and update their status in the portal.
Planned federation integrations (roadmap)
The following are on the roadmap and will require British Rowing or third-party partners to open API access. We are honest about what is not built yet.
ClubHub API sync
Roadmap - pending BR APIDirect read from British Rowing's ClubHub so member affiliation status updates automatically without manual entry. Requires BR to publish a partner API - not available as of May 2026.
BROE2 entry submission
Roadmap - pending BROE2 APISubmitting regatta entries directly from Row HQ into BROE2 (British Rowing Online Entries). Currently the system helps you prepare crew sheets and check eligibility; submission itself still happens in BROE2. API access is not publicly available.
GoCardless Direct Debit
RoadmapCollecting BR-aligned membership fees via GoCardless recurring Direct Debit, with pro-rata handling for mid-year joins. Currently dues are collected via Stripe or manual bank transfer.
British Rowing fixtures calendar feed
Roadmap - pending BR fixture feedAuto-importing the British Rowing fixtures list so clubs can schedule training blocks around confirmed regatta dates. Requires a public iCal or API feed from BR.
How Row HQ compares to ROWter and iCrew for UK clubs
The main alternatives to Row HQ for BR-affiliated clubs are ROWter (UK-built, smaller feature set, lower price) and iCrew (US-built, stronger competitive-programme tooling, less BR context). A neutral comparison of all three is on the rowing club software comparison page.
| Feature | Row HQ | ROWter | iCrew |
|---|---|---|---|
| British Rowing context | Built for BR clubs from day one - terminology, qualification fields, and return formats match BR requirements | Also UK-built with BR awareness | US-built; BR fields available but secondary to USRowing workflows |
| Boat booking | Full conflict-blocking, per-hull access rules, live availability | Basic booking module | Boat reservation system present |
| Pricing transparency | Published: free to 20, then from £15/mo | On request | On request |
| Free tier | Free forever to 20 members | Demo only | Demo only |
Questions from BR-affiliated clubs
Does Row HQ directly connect to British Rowing ClubHub?
Not yet. ClubHub does not publish a public API that external software can use. Row HQ gives you structured fields to record and report on BR affiliation data, but sync is manual until BR opens API access. We will update this page when that changes.
Can I submit regatta entries from Row HQ into BROE2?
Not directly - BROE2 does not publish an entry-submission API. Row HQ helps you build your crews, run eligibility checks, and export crew sheets in a format that matches what you paste into BROE2. The actual BROE2 submission still happens in the BROE2 interface.
We pay BR membership fees centrally - can Row HQ handle that?
Row HQ tracks which members have paid BR fees (you record the status; it does not process the BR payment itself). For club membership fees collected by your club, Row HQ supports Stripe-based payments. GoCardless Direct Debit is on the roadmap.
Does Row HQ work for club-owned boats AND members' private boats?
Yes. The fleet can include club-owned hulls with booking controls and privately-owned hulls where the booking module is disabled. Mixed fleets are common in BR-affiliated clubs.
What water-safety records does Row HQ store?
Per member: swim-test date, capsize-drill date, any additional certificates (sculling qualification, first aid, coaching licences). Expiry alerts flag members due for renewal. Coaches can filter the member list to only show members with current qualifications before building a crew.
Set up your club free
Setup in 24 hours, data migration included. Free for clubs of up to 20 active members, no card required. British Rowing affiliation tools available from day one.