Coach terms

Who these terms apply to

These Coach Terms apply to you if you apply for, hold, or have held a coach badge on Cheza. They are an agreement between you and cheza LLC, a Virginia limited liability company (“Cheza”, “we”, “us”).

These terms take effect when you apply for the coach badge in the app and accept them there; they are published at cheza.me/coach-terms.

They add to the Cheza Terms of Service (the “main Terms”), which include the Privacy Policy, the Assumption of Risk and Release, and the Community guidelines. The main Terms continue to apply to you in full, as a player and as a coach. If these Coach Terms and the main Terms conflict on a coaching matter, these Coach Terms win for that matter.

The coach badge and credential review

To be listed as a coach in a sport, you submit a credential for that sport (for example a certification from a recognised coaching body), with optional details such as the issuing body and certificate number. A person at Cheza reviews it before the coach badge goes live, sometimes against a public directory. We may ask you for a better photo of a document, approve it, or reject it with a note. We aim to decide within about 48 hours, but that is a target, not a promise.

Credential review is limited. It is a check that a document appears to match what you told us. It is not a background check, an identity check, an assessment of your skill or teaching, or confirmation that you are licensed or insured. The coach badge is not an endorsement by Cheza and not a guarantee of your qualifications, safety or suitability, and you must not describe it as one.

Your warranties. Each time you submit a credential, and for as long as you hold a coach badge, you promise that:

• every credential you submit is authentic, belongs to you, and has not been altered;
• it is current, and was not suspended or revoked when you submitted it;
• it is sufficient for the coaching you offer through Cheza in the place you offer it; and
• what you say about your experience, rate and the payment methods you accept is accurate.

Lapses. If a credential expires, is suspended, is revoked, or stops being sufficient for what you offer, you must tell us at support@cheza.me promptly and stop offering lessons in that sport through Cheza until it is current again.

Revocation. We can revoke a coach badge at any time, including for a lapsed or misrepresented credential, for conduct, or for a breach of these terms. A revocation is decided by a person, never automatically by feedback. When a badge is revoked you stop appearing to players looking for coaching in that sport; lessons already agreed are between you and the player.

Independent contractor

You are an independent business. You are not an employee, worker, agent, partner or joint venturer of Cheza, and nothing in these terms creates that relationship. Cheza does not set your rate, schedule, methods or content, does not supervise or train you, does not provide your equipment or venue, and does not pay you. You cannot bind Cheza or speak for it.

You are free to coach anywhere and through any other service. Cheza is not exclusive to you, and you are not exclusive to Cheza.

You and your players

A lesson is an arrangement between you and the player. Cheza is not a party to it. You agree the lesson details with the player through the session card and chat in the app. Your rate, cancellation policy, refunds, rescheduling and any dispute about a lesson are between you and the player, and you should make your terms clear before a lesson is confirmed.

Cheza collects no lesson payment. Players pay you directly, off the app. Cheza is not a payment processor and does not handle, hold or transfer money for lessons. Your profile can show your rate and the payment methods you accept as badges (for example Venmo, Cash App, Apple Pay or cash); Cheza never stores your payment handles as structured data. A player may record in the app which method they used and that a lesson is paid; that record is a convenience, not a receipt or proof of payment.

One-to-one only. You may not sell seats on a group session, or offer group clinics or any other one-to-many paid coaching, through Cheza. Group sessions on Cheza are for peer play only. You may play in group sessions as a player.

Fees to Cheza

Matching never costs players anything, and Cheza charges you nothing to apply for or hold a coach badge, to be listed, to match, or to message.

The only fee is a first-booking fee of US$20–25 (the exact amount is set out when we first invoice you), charged to you once for your first booking with each new player you meet through Cheza. Repeat lessons with that player carry no further fee. Cheza takes no percentage of your lesson fees.

The first-booking fee is waived for the first six months after Cheza launches. After that, we invoice you monthly, outside the app, and you pay by the date on the invoice.

We may later offer an optional paid plan for coaches. It would be optional, on its own terms, and would never buy placement in anyone’s deck.

Licences, permits and tax

You are responsible for complying with every law that applies to your coaching where you coach. That includes any licence, certification, registration, permit, insurance or tax obligation, and any venue permit or reservation needed for commercial coaching at public courts or parks, along with the venue’s own rules. You are responsible for reporting and paying your own taxes on what you earn. Cheza does not check whether you hold any of these.

Insurance

You must maintain your own general liability insurance of at least US$1,000,000 per occurrence covering your coaching, and professional liability insurance where your certifying body or the law requires it. Cheza’s insurance does not cover you, your lessons or your players. We may ask you for a certificate of insurance at any time, and we may withdraw your coach badge if you do not provide it within 14 days.

Safety duties

When you coach someone you met through Cheza, you agree to:

• follow the rules of the venue, and coach only at appropriate public venues;
• give lessons through Cheza only to adults: no lessons with anyone under 18, even if a parent arranges it;
• teach within your competence and your credential, and stop a lesson if continuing would be unsafe;
• report any injury, threat or other safety incident involving a player to support@cheza.me as soon as you can, and use block and report in the app where needed; and
• follow the Community guidelines.

First-booking fee. The first-booking fee applies to a player you first met through Cheza, whether or not later lessons are arranged elsewhere. We do not police that, and we rely on you to report the first booking honestly.

Conduct and content

The main Terms’ rules on content and conduct apply to you. As a coach you may discuss your own lessons in chat with a match; you may not otherwise sell in chat. We may withdraw your coach badge, suspend you or end your account for conduct that breaks the main Terms or these terms, whether it happens on Cheza or at a lesson.

Auto-accept

You can turn on auto-accept for your coach profile. While it is on, a player who likes you while looking for coaching in a sport where you hold a coach badge matches with you instantly, without you liking them back. By turning the toggle on, you consent in advance to every such match. You can turn it off at any time in the app; that stops future automatic matches but does not end existing ones. Blocks and reports still work as normal.

Player data

A player’s name, messages, photos and any contact details you receive through Cheza are for arranging and giving lessons to that player only. You must not add them to a marketing list, sell or share them, or contact the player for unrelated purposes, and you must not keep them longer than you need them for lessons with that player. You must delete them if the player asks.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless cheza LLC and its members, managers, employees and agents against claims, losses, damages, fines and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:

• your coaching, including any injury, loss or damage to a player or anyone else at or connected with a lesson;
• your credentials, including any that are inaccurate, lapsed, misrepresented or insufficient;
• your licensing, permit, insurance or tax status, including any claim that you are an employee or worker of Cheza; and
• your breach of these terms or the main Terms.

This is in addition to the indemnity in the main Terms.

Disputes

Disputes between you and Cheza under these Coach Terms are governed by the Disputes and governing law section of the main Terms, including its informal resolution step, binding individual arbitration, class action waiver and jury trial waiver. That section is incorporated here and is not repeated.

Disputes between you and a player are between you and the player.

Ending your coach badge

You can withdraw from coaching on Cheza at any time by contacting support@cheza.me or deleting your account. We can revoke your coach badge, or end these terms, at any time as described above. Fees already invoiced, your warranties, the indemnity, the player-data rules and the disputes section survive the end of these terms. Ending these terms does not end your player account unless you or we also end that under the main Terms.

Changes

We may change these Coach Terms. We will tell you in the app at least 30 days before a change takes effect, unless it is needed sooner for safety or the law. If a change materially affects you, we will ask you to accept the new version in the app to keep your coach badge.

Contact

Questions about these terms: support@cheza.me.

Acceptance

You accept these Coach Terms in the app, with a separate tap, when you apply for a coach badge. We record which version you accepted and when, and every later acceptance of a new version.