The WhatsApp Trick Every Sports Parent Needs to Know (When Organising a Coach Gift)

If you've ever ended up being the parent responsible for organising the end-of-season coach gift, you'll know the gift itself isn't the hard part. It's the group chat. 

You’re coordinating intense parents, reminding people to contribute, collecting messages, chasing up those who "forgot" and trying to keep everything a surprise...just to realise the coach is happily chatting away in the same WhatsApp group. 

Awkward.

Don’t panic – we’re sharing a game-changing WhatsApp hack that makes organising a surprise coach gift collection much easier. Pair it with a GroupTogether collection and you've got everything you need to organise the whole thing in one place – without spoiling the surprise this time.

Why Organising a Surprise Coach Gift is So Tricky

Most sports teams already have a WhatsApp group – which is great... until it's time to organise a coach gift.

You can't exactly send, "Everyone chip in $20 for Coach Dave"...when Coach Dave is reading the message.

That usually leads to one of three things:

• Someone starts a brand-new chat and accidentally leaves half the parents out.
• Someone messages everyone individually (good luck).
• Or the surprise quietly disappears because organising it is just too hard.

Thankfully, there's a little known hack that dots every ‘i’ and crosses every ‘t’.

The WhatsApp Trick: Create a Similar Group

Most people don't realise WhatsApp has a Create Similar Group feature hidden inside the group settings. Instead of building another parent chat from scratch or attempting to ambush every single parent in the car park, the app copies your existing group, making it easy to create a private organiser chat in seconds without leaving any parent out.

Step 1: Create a Similar Group

In a few steps you’ll be able to replicate your existing group: 

• Open your existing team WhatsApp chat.
• Tap the group name.
• Scroll down until you see: Create Similar Group. 
• Select it and WhatsApp will copy the participants into a brand-new group – job done! 

Step 2: Remove the Coach (And Anyone Else You're Surprising)

Before sending your first message, simply remove the coach. So much quicker and easier than searching for and adding every single parent to a brand new group, right?

If you're organising gifts for the team manager or assistant coach as well, remove them too. Now you've got a private planning space with all the parents already there. That means:

• No searching contacts.
• No rebuilding the group.
• No accidentally forgetting someone's mum.

It’s foolproof. 

Step 3: Share Your GroupTogether Link

Now for the easy part. Instead of juggling bank transfers, counting cash at training sessions and combining funds from separate card collections, you can access everything you need in the one place. By creating a GroupTogether collection and sharing the link on your chat, everything becomes smooth and automated, with parents able to:

• Contribute online
• Write their own personal message
• Upload photos
• Add an eGift Card like the AnyCard 

The result? You spend less time organising and more time actually enjoying presentation day.

Step 4: Print and Present

Once everyone has signed the card and contributed, all that’s left to do is print your Group Card or schedule it to send digitally – or both – and present the gift to your coach. 

From the team's perspective, it looks more than impressive. Only you know how ridiculously easy it really was.

Struggling with putting fingers to keys and nailing the card message? We’ve got fun Ideas to Ace Your Coach Card for every sport.

Why This WhatsApp Trick Works So Well

The combination of WhatsApp and GroupTogether solves every stress-induced organisation headache – instead of asking parents to remember bank details, send screenshots of payments, sign a paper card at Saturday's game, they can do everything from one link.

That means fewer reminders, fewer follow-up messages and a much smoother experience for everyone involved.

Pro Tips For Organising a Coach Gift

Getting your coach card right and organising a gift from the team is ridiculously easy – but there are a few musts. 

• Start early: Giving parents a week or two means more people are likely to contribute.
• Don't forget the team manager: Behind every great coach is usually a team manager making sure everyone knows where they're meant to be – they’ll be thrilled to see some appreciation.
• Select a Flexible Gift: When creating your GroupTogether collection, be sure to select the AnyCard to ensure the coach can pick a gift they’ll actually use – with a selection of 100+ retailer options, you can’t go wrong. 
• Invite everyone to add a message: The personal messages often become the most memorable part of the gift, and the more messages that fill the card, the more moving it becomes. 

Not sure what to write on the card? You’re not alone – that’s why we’ve got this handy What to Write for the Perfect Thanks Coach Card guide. Little tip? The best coach gifts aren't the priciest, they're the ones that show just how many players and families appreciated everything the coach did throughout the season.

So, try this easy WhatsApp trick and you’ll make organising the surprise hassle-free, especially when you combine it with a GroupTogether collection. Collecting money, messages and memories just became one less thing to worry about this season.