Running a competitive dance team from one app

You can run a competitive dance team from one app by giving the team its own private Group, putting every rehearsal and competition on its calendar with RSVPs, and sending call times as announcements. Team fees go through Billing, so payments sit next to everything else. Parents check one place instead of five.

Why do team seasons get so messy?

A typical team runs on a group text, a social media group, an email list, a shared folder, and a spreadsheet of who paid. Each one is fine on its own. Put together, they mean a parent misses the one update that mattered, which is usually the call time change sent at 9 p.m. the night before regionals.

More reminders won't fix it. What fixes it is one home for the team that parents trust to be current. If you're moving the team off a group app, our post on BAND alternatives for studios walks through the switch.

How should you set up the team before the season?

1. 1Create a Group for each teamJunior Company, Senior Company, and each competition team get their own Group with posts, events, and resources, visible only to team families. Groups can be private or invite-only.
2. 2Add dancers, parents, and staffA Group can include parents, adult dancers, and staff. A parent with dancers on two teams sees both Groups from one login.
3. 3Decide who can postChoose whether anyone, leaders, or admins can post. Plenty of coaches keep it to leaders so the feed stays on topic.
4. 4Put the season on the calendarAdd rehearsals and competitions as Group events. Repeating events cover weekly rehearsals, with one-off changes for holiday weeks.
5. 5Upload the filesPacking lists, costume measurements, music cuts, and hair and makeup guides go in Resources and can be attached to posts.
6. 6Set up team feesCollect team charges through Billing, so you're not tracking who paid in a spreadsheet.

What should go on the team calendar?

Anything with a date goes on the calendar. If it only lives in a post, it'll get buried by Thursday.

• Weekly rehearsals and extra cleaning rehearsals
• Competition days, with the venue and arrival time
• Costume fittings and picture day
• Travel days for away competitions
• Showcases and recitals
• Due dates for team fees and forms

Families tap Mark Attending, and you see live counts and the list of who's coming. That's how you find out on Wednesday, not Saturday morning, that two dancers in the opener will be out. Families can also save events to their phone calendar on iOS and Android, which helps the parents who live by their own calendar.

How do you send call times so parents actually see them?

Send call times as announcements, not as a comment on an old post. An announcement to the team's Group goes out as a push notification and an email, and it stays in the app's announcement history. You can schedule it for later and pin the important ones, so the competition schedule stays at the top all week.

Keep the team feed for the fun stuff: rehearsal videos, photos, and shout-outs. Keep logistics in announcements and events. For more on writing updates parents read all the way through, see our guide to parent communication.

How should team fees work?

Competition teams carry real costs: entry fees, costumes, choreography, and travel. Give families the full picture before they commit, then bill in predictable pieces. Surprises are what make team parents unhappy, not the total.

• Share a season fee schedule before auditions or commitment night
• Keep competition entry fees separate from monthly tuition so families see each one
• Set due dates well ahead of each competition's entry deadline
• Say up front what happens if a dancer leaves mid-season
• Name one person for money questions, so coaches aren't the collectors

With Dominion, team charges run through Billing and show up on each family's payment history, so you can see who's paid without asking around at rehearsal. Families pay in the app or on your website. Our guide to studio billing and autopay covers recurring charges and what to do when a payment fails.

What goes on a week-of-competition checklist?

1. Send the final schedule and call time as an announcement five to seven days out
2. Attach the packing list and hair and makeup guide to the post
3. Check RSVPs and follow up with anyone who hasn't marked attending
4. Confirm team fees are paid before entries lock
5. Send a short reminder the night before
6. After the event, post results and photos to the team feed

Should parents and dancers both be in the Group?

Usually, yes. For younger teams, parents are the ones who need the details, and children don't need their own accounts because parents manage every dancer from one login. Adult dancers can have their own account. Dancers under 18 are managed by a parent, who sees their schedule in the app. Either way, use direct messages for anything about one dancer, and keep the Group for what the whole team needs to know.

Do you have to replace your studio software?

No. Plenty of teams use Dominion for the team community, alongside the systems they already use for studio management. Start with the Group, the calendar, and announcements, and add billing when it makes sense for you.