Switching coaches: what happens to data

The short version

Switching coaches in the Hub is a pointer flip. The athlete keeps all their data (races, activities, wellness, notes, equipment, metrics). Only the active coach relationship changes.

How a switch is triggered

Most switches happen when an athlete clicks a new coach's join link. The athlete sees a clear confirmation page that lists:

• Their current coach (who the switch will end with).
• The new coach (who will take over).
• The premium cascade implications.

The athlete clicks Yes, switch to confirm, or No, stay to cancel.

What ends

The athlete's active CoachAthleteRelationship with the previous coach is marked ended, with the current timestamp and a "switched_coach" status. The record stays in the database for auditing.

What is created (or reactivated)

A relationship between the athlete and the new coach is either created fresh, or, if one already existed and was ended, it is reactivated instead of duplicated. The Hub uses a unique constraint to prevent duplicate active relationships.

Premium cascade

If the previous coach was granting the athlete premium (source = coach_grant), that grant ends with the relationship. The athlete reverts to free unless:

• The new coach grants premium too, or
• The athlete paid for premium directly, or
• An admin granted premium.

Premium that was paid directly stays untouched.

Notes, assessments, and team membership

• Coach notes written by the previous coach are gated on the relationship they were written under. When that relationship ends, the new coach does not see those notes. Only the original author (the previous coach) and admins keep visibility. The athlete only ever saw notes that were explicitly flagged visible to athlete, and that does not change either.
• Assessments are athlete-level records (FTP test, CSS test, body comp, etc.) and stay attached to the athlete. The new coach sees them. The trend lines and zone history carry over.
• Activities, wellness logs, equipment, races, race recaps, performance records all stay with the athlete. They are athlete data, not coach data.
• Team membership ends. The new coach can add the athlete to one of their teams if they want.

The principle: data the athlete produced or owns travels with them; private workings of the previous coach stay private to that coach.

Switching back

The athlete can switch back any time by clicking the previous coach's join link. The Hub handles reactivation gracefully.