Sports club registration documents: get every file complete without chasing families

First practice of the season. Twenty-two kids on the pitch, and in the club secretary's binder, eleven complete files. A signature missing here, a form missing there, one parent has slipped in last year's medical certificate, another has sent a photo of the form taken at an angle in the car. And the regional league is waiting for the licence applications.

Most amateur clubs run on one or two people who do this in the evening, unpaid, for dozens of families. This article follows the French rules, which apply to any club affiliated with a French sports federation. Here are the documents to ask for, what the current rules on medical certificates say, and a way to organise yourself so you only chase the families who haven't finished.

What goes into a registration file?

There's no single official list: each club sets its own, often following its federation's instructions. But the same documents come up almost every time:

• The membership form, filled in and signed: the member's identity, contact details, emergency contacts.
• The licence application, if the club is affiliated with a federation.
• Parental consent for a minor: taking part in activities, travel to competitions, emergency care.
• Image rights consent, kept separate from the rest, for the club's photos and videos.
• The health document: the declaration linked to the health questionnaire, or a medical certificate, depending on age and discipline (see below).
• Proof of insurance, if your club asks for it. The licence already includes cover: with it, says the French administration's service-public.gouv.fr (opens in a new tab) (in French, our translation), "you are covered by the federation's compulsory insurance".
• Payment of the membership fee, and any proof needed for a grant or a discount.

Before reusing last year's list, go through it again: every unnecessary document is one more reminder. The GDPR puts it its own way. France's data protection authority, the CNIL, sums up the minimisation principle as limiting collection "to the data strictly necessary to achieve your purpose" (CNIL, the six main GDPR principles (opens in a new tab), in French, our translation).

Does a minor still need a medical certificate?

Usually not. Since a decree of 7 May 2021, explains the French Ministry of Sports (opens in a new tab) (in French, our translation), minors no longer need "to produce a medical certificate to obtain or renew a licence in a sports federation". A health questionnaire replaces it.

The ministry's page updated for the 2026 season (everything about the medical certificate for sport (opens in a new tab), in French, our translation) explains how it works in an affiliated club:

• the questionnaire "must be completed every year by families" for a first licence, a renewal, or a competition entry;
• "Parents must sign and provide a declaration confirming that all the answers to the health questionnaire for minors are negative";
• "If a single answer to the questionnaire is positive, a medical certificate attesting to the absence of contraindication to the sport concerned, dated less than six months ago, becomes mandatory again."

The exception: disciplines "with particular constraints". Service-public.gouv.fr (opens in a new tab) (in French) lists among them scuba diving, combat sports where a fight can end by knockout, and shooting. For a minor, these require a medical certificate dated less than a year before the licence application. For an adult, the rule depends on the federation: check with it.

And for adults?

It depends on the federation. For people over 18, writes the Ministry of Sports (opens in a new tab) (in French, our translation), "sports federations decide whether a medical certificate is required". Many have replaced it with a questionnaire, others still ask for one every year, or every three or five years: the same page mentions football and basketball (a certificate "valid for 3 consecutive seasons") and judo.

In a club that isn't affiliated with a federation, it's the club's call: according to service-public.gouv.fr (opens in a new tab) (in French), it isn't a legal obligation but a condition set by the club's rules.

So check your federation's rule every season, and write it down in your list. The French administration also offers a simulator (opens in a new tab) (in French) that tells each family whether they need a certificate.

Should the club receive the completed health questionnaire?

No, and it's the point many registration forms miss. The ministry is explicit: "Only the declaration that the questionnaire has been completed must be given to the organisation requesting it, not the questionnaire itself" (sports.gouv.fr (opens in a new tab), in French, our translation). Another ministry page insists that the questionnaire "is never handed over to the federation, the club or the competition organiser" (sports.gouv.fr, the medical certificate for sport (opens in a new tab), in French, our translation).

The answers to the questionnaire are health data, which the CNIL classes as sensitive data whose use is prohibited in principle, with limited exceptions (GDPR guide for associations (opens in a new tab), in French). So say it clearly in your request: "keep the questionnaire at home, just send us the signed declaration". If a parent sends the questionnaire anyway, don't keep it.

What should you say about image rights?

Make it a separate consent, which parents can refuse without it affecting registration. The CNIL points out that "before publishing a photo of a minor, the parents' consent is required" (CNIL (opens in a new tab), in French, our translation). And in its guide for associations (opens in a new tab) (in French), it states that people must authorise the use of their image "for specific reasons, preferably in writing".

So say where the photos will appear: the club website, social media, the local newsletter.

How do you stay organised alone with eighty families?

The job isn't asking, it's knowing, every evening, who has sent what. Four tools are enough:

1. One list, sent to everyone, with the exact name of each document and a template to download for anything that needs filling in.
2. One request per family, never in the team's group chat: the documents are personal, and a group message is addressed to no one.
3. A tracking table: one row per member, one column per document, three statuses (received, to redo, missing). Only tick "received" once you've opened the file.
4. Targeted reminders, only to incomplete families, naming the missing document.

The general method, with the table and the reminder schedule, is described in how to collect documents from multiple people.

What message should you send to parents?

A message that can be read in thirty seconds, with a date and a numbered list:

Hello [Parent's first name],

To register [Child's first name] with the club for the [season] season, we need the following by [day and date]:

1. The membership form, filled in and signed (template attached)
2. The parental consent form, signed (template attached)
3. The image rights form: yes or no, both answers are fine
4. The signed health questionnaire declaration. The questionnaire itself stays with you, please don't send it to us.
5. Payment of the membership fee ([amount], [payment methods])

A readable photo or a PDF per document is fine. If any answer on the questionnaire is "yes", a medical certificate less than six months old replaces the declaration: just let us know and we'll wait for it.

Thanks, and see you by the pitch,
[Your first name], for [club name]

How do you chase parents without annoying them?

Follow up early, and only about what's missing. A parent who has sent everything and receives "don't forget your documents" will stop reading your messages. Start with what's fine:

Hello [Parent's first name],

Thanks for [Child's first name]'s file, almost everything is in. We're only missing:
- [missing document]

Could you send it by [day]? Without it, we can't complete the registration.

Thanks,
[Your first name]

For other wordings, from the friendly nudge to the final reminder, see our six reminder email templates.

When should you clear things out?

Once the season is under way, sort through it all. According to the CNIL (opens in a new tab) (in French), data should only be kept in active use for as long as strictly necessary for its purpose. Delete the attachments left in your inbox and the photos received via messaging apps. Sports club registration documents have no business lingering on a volunteer's personal phone.

Collecting sports club registration documents goes quickly as soon as each family knows exactly what they're missing.

With Please Send It, each family gets their own link, uploads their documents from their phone without creating an account and signs the consent forms directly, while reminders go out on their own to those whose file is incomplete.