AGE AND YOUNG MEMBERS

Version 4.0.0 | Effective July 22, 2026

This page explains the one age rule Clubs HQ has, how we check it, and what a parent or guardian can ask us to do.

What changed in 4.0.0. Earlier versions applied a set of automatic restrictions to accounts belonging to 13–17 year olds — limited features, restricted settings, and a separate acknowledgment screen at signup. Those restrictions have been removed. Thirteen is the minimum age to hold an account, and that is the only age rule. A 14-year-old member and a 40-year-old member have the same account, the same features, and the same privacy controls. The protections that used to be listed here as minor-specific — no sale of personal information, no targeted advertising, no cross-context behavioral advertising, no profiling with legal effects — were never actually limited to minors. They apply to every member, and are set out in the Privacy Policy, Section 3.1.

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1. The Age Rule

Children under 13 may still attend club activities in person with a parent or guardian who signs the Participant Waiver on their behalf. They simply cannot hold a Clubs HQ account.

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2. Age Verification at Registration

2.1 Neutral age gate. Every new registration requires a date of birth, requested before we collect any other personal information and before any non-essential cookie is set. The screen presents the date-of-birth field neutrally, with no statement of the minimum age adjacent to the field and no language that would prompt a particular answer.

2.2 Under-13 outcome. A date of birth indicating an age under 13 results in an immediate, non-bypassable block. We set a session token preventing an alternate date of birth from being submitted from the same session, and we do not retain the entered date of birth beyond what is needed to enforce the block. The message states the reason — that account holders must be at least 13 under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act — and links to the regulation.

2.3 Misrepresentation. Providing a false date of birth is a material breach of the Master Terms. If we learn that an account holder is under 13, we will terminate the account and delete the associated personal information promptly. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Clubs HQ disclaims liability arising from a user's misrepresentation of their age, and a parent or guardian who becomes aware of such an account should contact us immediately so that it can be removed.

2.4 If you believe a child under 13 has an account, email info@clubshq.us (subject: Child Under 13) with any identifying detail. We act on these reports as a priority.

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3. Contracting Capacity

A contract entered into by someone under 18 is generally voidable by that person under the law of most states. Clubs HQ accepts that risk rather than restricting what a younger member can do on the platform. Two things follow:

• A member aged 13–17 accepts the Master Terms of Service and the other general legal documents in their own name, and those acceptances are recorded exactly as an adult's are.
• The Participant Waiver is the one exception. A parent or guardian signs it (Part B) before a member under 18 attends an in-person Activity. That is not a restriction on the member — a liability release signed by a minor is voidable and would not protect the club, the organizer, or anyone else, so the guardian's signature is what gives the waiver effect at all.

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4. Parent and Guardian Rights

A parent or guardian does not approve, supervise, or hold any control over a 13–17 member's account. They retain the rights the law gives them over their child's personal information. On request from a verified parent or guardian, Clubs HQ will:

• Provide a copy of the member's personal information;
• Correct or delete that personal information;
• Delete the account entirely; and
• Stop any further collection of that member's personal information.

Contact info@clubshq.us with Parent in the subject line. We verify the relationship before acting on a request that would alter or delete an account.

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5. Privacy Controls Apply to Everyone

There is no separate, stricter set of defaults for younger members, and no setting that is hidden from them. Every member — whatever their age — gets the same controls over health, fitness and location data, described in the Health, Fitness and Location Data Consent, and can change any of them at any time in Account Settings → Privacy.

The commitments in the Privacy Policy, Section 3.1 apply to every member without exception: we do not sell personal information, we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, we do not use health, fitness or location data for advertising or marketing, and we do not make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects by solely automated means.

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6. Safeguarding at In-Person Activities

Feature parity on the platform does not change how in-person activities work. For any Activity where someone under 18 is present, the requirements of the Community Code of Conduct, Section 4 apply in full: a responsible adult must be present or have authorized attendance; no adult should be alone and unobserved with an unrelated young person; no private one-to-one electronic communication between an adult and an unrelated young person; no transportation without written permission; no photographs published without guardian consent.

Coaches and organizers who work with under-18 athletes in a paid or regular capacity carry their own safeguarding obligations under the Organizer and Coach Platform Agreement, Section 6 — including any background check required of them by law, their club, their insurer, or the venue. Clubs HQ does not run, receive, or verify background checks, and does not collect certificates of insurance.

Clubs HQ does not supervise activities and does not conduct background checks on club members. Parents and guardians are responsible for deciding whether a young person should attend an activity and whether an adult should accompany them.

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7. Reporting a Safety Concern

info@clubshq.us with SAFETY in the subject line — prioritized, monitored, and escalated. If a child is in immediate danger, call 911 first. We report suspected child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and cooperate with law enforcement.

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8. State-Specific Notes

A few states impose obligations regarding the data of people under 16 or 18, or require age verification beyond what COPPA requires. Where a state's law is stricter than this page for a resident of that state, we apply the stricter standard.

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9. Changes

Material changes take effect after 30 days' notice.

All contacts: info@clubshq.us — use the subject line Parent, Privacy Request, or SAFETY so we route it correctly.