Legacy Database Migration for a Sporting Club
Microsoft Access database migrated to a modern web platform. Member management, registrations, competition scheduling and financial tracking — accessible from any device.
Community sporting club — seasonal competition and social membership
A large community sporting club in Perth with 600 members across social, junior and senior competition categories. The club ran two sporting seasons per year plus a social calendar of events.
Everything ran on a Microsoft Access database built 15 years ago by a volunteer who had long since left the club. It sat on a single desktop PC in the club office. Only one person could use it at a time. The database held 15 years of member data, competition results, financial records and registrations.
What needed to change
The Access database was a single point of failure. One PC, one file, no backups (that anyone knew of). If the hard drive failed, 15 years of club history would be lost. Committee members could only access it by physically going to the office.
Registration was painful. Members filled out paper forms at the club or emailed a PDF form. A volunteer manually entered every registration into the Access database, processed payments by bank transfer, and issued receipts by email. Season registration took 6 weeks to process.
Nobody understood the database. The original builder had created a complex system with macros, linked queries and custom reports. When something broke, the committee posted on Facebook asking if any members knew Access. Recent fixes had introduced data integrity issues.
What we built
Migrated the Access database to a modern web application — cloud-hosted, multi-user, mobile-friendly. Added online registration, automated payments, competition management and financial reporting.
Data Migration
Complete migration of 15 years of member data, competition history, financial records and registration history. Data cleaned, deduplicated and restructured into a modern database schema.
Member Management
Cloud-based member database accessible to authorised committee members from any device. Member profiles, contact details, membership history and payment records.
Online Registration
Members register online — select membership type, fill out details, pay by card. Automated receipts and confirmations. Working with Children checks and medical information captured digitally.
Competition & Financials
Season scheduling, team management, results and ladder. Financial tracking with income, expenses, invoicing to sponsors and reporting for the committee and AGM.
How it works
Migration assessment
Reverse-engineered the Access database — 47 tables, 23 queries, 15 macros and 8 reports. Mapped data relationships and identified data quality issues.
Data extraction and cleaning
Extracted all data from Access. Cleaned duplicates (127 duplicate member records), fixed data inconsistencies, and restructured into the new schema.
Platform build
Built the web application with member management, registration, competition management and financial modules. Mobile responsive for committee access from phones.
Migration and validation
Loaded cleaned data into the new system. Committee validated member records, financial history and competition results against known data points.
Season launch
Launched with the start of the new season. Members registered online for the first time. Committee managed the season through the new platform.
Measurable outcomes
For 15 years our club records lived on one computer in the office. Now any committee member can access everything from their phone. Online registration alone saved us weeks of volunteer time — and members love not filling out paper forms.
How we delivered it
Database Archaeology
2 weeksReverse-engineered the 15-year-old Access database. Documented table structures, relationships, macros and reports. Interviewed committee members about what data they actually used and what could be archived.
Migration & Platform Build
5 weeksBuilt the web platform in parallel with data migration scripts. Cleaned and migrated data incrementally — members first, then competition history, then financials.
Registration & Payment
2 weeksBuilt the online registration flow with Stripe payments. Configured membership types, pricing, family discounts and early-bird rates. Set up automated receipts and confirmations.
Validation & Launch
1 weekCommittee validated migrated data. Dry-run of the registration process with committee members. Launched at the start of the new season with email invitations to all existing members.
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