Skip to main content
Must know
  • The recipient picker only lists reachable guardians — a parent account or someone linked to an athlete. Contacts who aren’t linked won’t appear.
  • Web & SMS needs a phone number that’s been verified — a number on file that isn’t verified still won’t be selectable — and Web & Email needs an email address, before you can use that channel with a family. Web & SMS only appears when your plan includes SMS.
  • When a family opens the portal, their reply lands back in the same thread; opening a thread marks it as read on your side.
Chat is a private, one-to-one thread between your club and a guardian. Open Communication → Chat in the dashboard.
1

Start a conversation

Click New Conversation. Choose a channel — Web Only, Web & SMS (when your plan includes SMS), or Web & Email — then search for the guardian by name and select them. Rows that can’t be selected show the reason (for example, a missing or unverified phone number for a text channel).
2

Send your message

Type in the message box and send. On Web & SMS the family gets a text and on Web & Email they get an email; a Web Only message sends no outside notification, so the family sees it the next time they open their portal. Either way, every message is saved to the thread.
3

Keep the thread going

When the family replies from their portal, their reply lands back in the same thread and bumps its unread count. (On a Web & SMS or Web & Email thread they can also reply straight from their phone or email app — that reply is captured on the same channel.) Opening the thread marks it read for you.
When a family replies, their message appears live — the open thread and its unread badge update the moment they respond, so you don’t need to reload. If a guardian already has a thread on a different channel, Uplifter asks whether you want to switch that thread’s channel before continuing. Related: What are the chat channels, and what are their limits? · How do I post an announcement? · Start a conversation with a family (coach)