# Importing your squad — LEKKIN help

> Bring your team's players in from a spreadsheet: check every row before anyone is added, and see what happened to each one.

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# Importing your squad

Team HubTeam managers, and team management3 min read

Got your squad in a spreadsheet? Import it into your team in one go, from the Team Hub.

## Before you start

Save your spreadsheet as a **CSV file**. In Excel: **File**, **Save As**, **CSV UTF-8**. In Google Sheets: **File**, **Download**, **CSV**.

-   **One row per player**, with column headings in the first row. Up to 100 players at a time.
-   LEKKIN reads each player’s **first name** and **surname**, and if you have them their **display name**, **date of birth**, **squad number**, **email**, and their **guardian’s first name, surname, display name and email**.
-   **First name and surname go in separate columns.** A single “Name” column isn’t split for you, so split it in your spreadsheet first. A display name is only for someone known by a name other than their first and last name.
-   Dates are read **day first**, the way they’re written in the UK: _04/07/2013_ is the 4th of July.
-   **Your club’s own player fields** (a shirt size, a school) can come from the spreadsheet too: each is a column you can choose, and a column headed with the field’s name is chosen for you. A field your club keeps from team staff isn’t offered.
-   The page has a **Download a template** link if you’d rather start from ours. Its columns are _Player first name_, _Player surname_, _Player display name_, _Date of birth_, _Squad number_, _Player email_, _Guardian first name_, _Guardian surname_, _Guardian display name_ and _Guardian email_.

## Importing

The import goes in three steps, shown as tabs across the top: **The file**, **Check** and **Added**. You can go back to the file from the check; the check and the report open only as you reach them.

1.  On **People**, then **Squad**, choose **Import from a spreadsheet** from the button in the bottom corner. It imports into the team you’re looking at; switch team first if it’s the wrong one.
2.  Choose your CSV file.
3.  **Check the columns.** LEKKIN guesses what each column holds from its heading, with an example from your file under each one. Change any guess that’s wrong.
4.  Press **Check**.

## Checking the rows

Nothing has been added yet. Every row shows the player’s first name, surname and display name, and says what will happen:

-   **Will be added**, and how many invitations will be emailed. Anyone with an email address is invited to the Player Hub.
-   **Already in this team.** Skipped.
-   **Possible duplicate.** Somebody with the same name already plays at your club. Skipped, so nobody is added twice, even if the dates of birth differ. If it really is somebody else, tick **They’re somebody else: add as a new player**.
-   **A squad number that’s already taken** in your team, or given on an earlier row, is a problem with that row. It’s skipped: change the number or leave it blank, and import that row again.
-   **A problem**, like a missing first name or surname, a date that isn’t a real date, or one of the club’s player fields left empty when it’s required or holding something it can’t. Skipped: fix it in your spreadsheet and import that row again.

Press **Add players** when it looks right.

## What happened to each row

The last page lists every row: **added**, **skipped** or **not added**, with the reason. One bad row never stops the others. A player whose email already has a LEKKIN account joins when they accept the invitation.

## Good to know

-   A **team’s manager** can import into their own team only. **Team management** and **club admins** can import into any of the club’s teams, here or in the Club Hub: see [Importing players from a spreadsheet](/help/club/importing-players-from-a-spreadsheet/).

Still stuck? [Tell us what you were trying to do](/contact/).