Squad WhatsApp groups and safeguarding

Squad WhatsApp groups are convenient, and that is why nearly every club has them. The safeguarding problem is control: the club does not own the group, cannot see what is said in it, cannot keep a record if something goes wrong, and cannot be sure who is still in it. Good club communication keeps the convenience and puts it back under the club's oversight.

This guide describes common risks and good practice. It is not legal advice. Your governing body's safeguarding policy, such as Swim England's Wavepower, and your club's own policy come first.

What goes wrong with group chats

The club does not own the group. It belongs to whoever created it. When that coach or parent leaves, the group, its history and its membership go with them.

Nobody who should see it can. The welfare officer is rarely in every squad group, and cannot read conversations they are not part of.

There is no reliable record. Messages can be deleted, edited or lost when a phone is replaced. If a concern is raised, the club may not be able to show what was said.

Membership drifts: swimmers who left two seasons ago, parents of former members, a coach from another club. Groups are rarely tidied.

Personal numbers are exposed. Every member can see every other member's phone number, including those of children if children are in the group.

Adults and children mix. When swimmers are added directly, adults can end up in direct contact with young people outside any oversight. Most governing-body guidance is cautious about exactly this.

It never switches off. Messages at 11pm become normal, for coaches and for families.

What good practice looks like

• For younger swimmers, communication goes to parents and carers, not children.

• No private one-to-one messaging between adults and under-18s. If a coach needs to contact a young swimmer, it happens in the open, with a parent or another adult included, in line with your governing body's guidance.

• The club, not an individual, owns the channel and decides who is in it.

• The welfare officer can see club communication.

• Messages are kept and cannot be quietly deleted.

• Leavers are removed when they leave, not two seasons later.

• The channel has a clear purpose: training updates and club news, not general chat.

How Olympus Swim handles it

Olympus Swim's messaging sits inside the same system as the club's member records, so who is in a squad chat follows who is in the squad. The boundaries are built in rather than relying on everyone remembering them:

• Coaches cannot exchange private messages with swimmers under 18, and swimmer logins cannot send or receive messages at all.

• Squad chats, coach-to-parent messages and club announcements all happen inside the platform.

• The welfare officer can read every thread, and that access is itself logged.

• Messages cannot be edited or deleted once sent, and threads can be exported if the club needs to evidence what was said.

• Who is in each squad chat follows the squad list, so leavers drop out when they leave.

Read more about safeguarding and compliance and coaching tools.

Moving away from WhatsApp without a revolt

Families are attached to their groups. Moving everything at once rarely works. Start with one squad, use the club channel for everything official (training changes, gala information, fees), and let the old group fall quiet. Tell families why: the club keeps a record, membership stays tidy, and the welfare officer has oversight.

Common questions

Can swimming coaches message swimmers on WhatsApp? Follow your governing body's safeguarding policy and your club's own. Private one-to-one messaging between adults and under-18s is generally discouraged; communication should be open and include parents or another adult.

Should children be in squad WhatsApp groups? For younger swimmers, most clubs keep communication with parents and carers. Adding children puts adults in direct contact with them outside any oversight.

Who should be able to see club messages? The club's welfare officer should be able to see club communication, and there should be a record that cannot be quietly deleted.

Written by Joel Knight, swimming coach and founder of Olympus Swim (about).

Checked 26 October 2026