For parents and guardians

Getting your account

Parents and guardians join free, like everyone else at the club.

1. Open Crew Wise — in your browser on any computer, Android phone, iPhone or tablet — and tap Create an account.

2. Under Which of these are you? tap I’m a parent or guardian.

3. Fill in Full name, Email and a Password, then tap Create account and confirm your email address if you are asked to.

4. Tap I have a join code and enter the club’s join code — your rower has it, or the club will send it to you.

Being linked to your rower

A club administrator sets your role to Parent / Guardian and links you to your rower under Admin→Members & roles. Ask them to do this once you have joined — it is two taps at their end.

The link matters for more than convenience: until a young member has a guardian linked, a coach cannot message them privately at all. The app shows administrators a card naming any under-18 with nobody linked, for exactly that reason.

Once linked, your profile shows Rowers you look after, and your rower’s profile shows you.

What you can see

If your club allows it, parents and guardians can also be given permission to book a boat — that is a choice each club makes under Who can book boats.

How young rowers are protected

Crew Wise is a club-management tool used under the supervision of a rowing club, and messaging is built around one rule: an adult and a member under 18 are never alone in a conversation.

• A private message between an adult and an under-18 always includes the young member’s linked parent or guardian — or a club administrator if no parent is linked yet — and a banner in the conversation says so.
• If nobody can be included, the app refuses to open the conversation at all rather than allowing a one-to-one.
• The same applies in group chats: there are never fewer than two adults where a young member is present.
• Two members under 18 messaging each other is ordinary, as it would be anywhere else.
• Any message can be reported to the club’s administrators from the thread, and anyone can be blocked from messaging privately.
• Club Chat, grade chats and squad chats are club-wide rooms with coaches in them — nothing there is private.

The protection is switched on by default. An administrator can see it under Admin→Club settings→Under-18 messaging protection, and the app explains the safeguarding guidance before letting anyone change it.

Location is treated the same way. The optional StrokeCoach shares a boat’s position only with the club, only while the boat is out, and the position is deleted the moment the boat is signed back in.

Read the privacy policy

If something worries you

1. In the conversation, tap the message and choose Report this message. Pick a reason — bullying or harassment, inappropriate for young members, spam, or something else. Only the club’s administrators see reports.

2. To stop someone messaging your account privately, use Block from the same sheet, or BLOCK in the header of a direct message.

3. Talk to the club. Club→Key Contacts lists the people who run it — the president, the secretary, the head coach, the safety officer — with a tap to call or email.

4. If it is about the app itself rather than the club, email info@hawkesbayrowing.co.nz.

Common questions