Check before you drive
Your family home's Family card carries each person's gate status, and it is the same verdict the front desk will see. If it is green, you are fine. If it is yellow or red, the reason and the fix are written there.
The three lights
- Green — in you go.
- Yellow — something needs doing. You are not stopped. The desk will mention it, and it is usually a signature or a balance.
- Red — you will be stopped, and the desk will tell you exactly why and what fixes it.
Every colour comes with a word and an icon, never colour alone. About one man in twelve working a front gate on a Saturday has a colour-vision deficiency, and "the light was red" is not a defence when a child got into the water.
The most common reasons
| Reason | Colour | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Missing waiver | Red | Sign it — the desk can do it on a tablet |
| Waiver needs re-signing | Yellow | Sign the current version when you can |
| No membership on file | Red | Register, or buy a guest pass |
| Not covered by this membership | Red | Add the person to the membership |
| Balance past due | Yellow | Pay the balance |
| Account on hold | Red | See the front desk or the treasurer |
| Caregiver not authorised for this child | Red | A guardian adds them |
| No gate photo on file | Yellow | The desk takes one |
The full list, with what each one means and who can fix it, is in Every gate reason, explained.
Two reasons that cannot be waived at the desk
A suspended membership is a board decision and the front desk cannot undo it at 5:45am. A caregiver who is not authorised for this child is the single question that record exists to answer, and there is no version of "just this once" for it.
Everything else a desk can let through with a recorded reason — an override attached to a named person, with a limited number of uses and an expiry, so "let them in this once" is not still true in September.
When you are let in
The desk records your entry with the verdict you were let in on, frozen at that moment. If a signature was missing at 5:52 and you signed at 6:10, the record of 5:52 still says what it said — which is what lets the club answer "why was this person let in?" honestly.
Coming later
The gate tablet — photo lookup, scanning a badge or a pass on your phone — is a later phase. For now the desk looks you up.