Frequently Asked Questions
Last updated: June 29, 2026
What is TeamGuard?
TeamGuard is a messaging platform built for youth sports clubs. It lets coaches, parents, and athletes communicate in one place with full transparency — parents/guardians are automatically included on any thread involving their athlete.
How does the automatic guardian inclusion work?
Whenever a coach starts a one-on-one or group conversation with a minor athlete, TeamGuard automatically adds that athlete's linked parent or guardian to the thread. Guardians can't be removed from these threads, so there's always a visible third party on any coach-athlete communication.
What's the difference between thread types?
- Announcement — one-way updates from coaches/admins to the team.
- Monitored — coach-to-athlete conversations, with guardians automatically included.
- Direct — one-on-one or group messages between any participants.
How much does TeamGuard cost?
Every club starts with a 30-day free trial — no credit card required. After the trial, plans are:
- Starter — $29/month, up to 5 athletes
- Standard — $59/month, up to 15 athletes
- Pro — $99/month, unlimited athletes
Billing is handled securely through Stripe. See our Terms of Service for full billing details.
Who can join a club?
A club administrator invites coaches, parents, and athletes by email. Each person creates their own account and is assigned a role: Admin, Head Coach, Coach, Parent, or Athlete. Head Coaches have club-wide read/write access to all threads.
Can parents see everything their child sends?
Parents/guardians are automatically included on any monitored thread involving their athlete, so they can see coach-athlete communication. Direct messages between athletes (peer-to-peer) follow your club's own policy on whether that feature is enabled.
What are SafeSport's rules for communicating with minor athletes?
In general, electronic communication with a minor athlete (texts, DMs, social media, video calls) should be open and transparent, with another adult (a parent, another coach, or another participant) included, and one-on-one interactions should be something a third party could observe or step into at any time. Exact requirements depend on your sport's National Governing Body, so confirm the specifics with SafeSport and your NGB directly.
What is MAAPP?
MAAPP is short for the U.S. Center for SafeSport's Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies — a baseline set of rules that National Governing Body member organizations are required to adopt. It covers training requirements, one-on-one interaction rules, and electronic communication practices like the ones above.
Is Slack or WhatsApp SafeSport-compliant for a youth team?
Not on their own. General-purpose apps like Slack, WhatsApp, or regular texting don't automatically keep a parent or other adult included on coach-athlete messages, and there's no built-in way to guarantee a one-on-one conversation stays observable. That gap is usually what sends clubs looking for something purpose-built instead.
Does TeamGuard help clubs follow SafeSport's rules on coach-athlete communication?
Yes. TeamGuard builds the electronic-communication requirement above directly into the app: any thread involving a minor automatically includes their parent or guardian and it can't be removed, and coaches can't start a private one-on-one thread with a minor athlete at all.
TeamGuard isn't SafeSport-certified (certification is a training program for people, not something a messaging app can earn), and it doesn't replace your club's background checks, training, or supervision policies. It's the messaging layer that makes the electronic-communication part of your policy hold up automatically, every time.
Is my data secure?
Yes. See our Privacy Policy for details on what we collect, how it's stored, and how it's used.
Can I use TeamGuard on mobile and desktop?
Yes. TeamGuard is available as a web app (installable as a PWA) and as a native mobile app for iOS and Android.
Still have questions?
Reach out anytime at support@teamguard.app.