Our Tuesday tennis and Sunday padel sessions only work because they are organised in one place, by volunteers, for everyone. This page explains what we mean by "booking outside the system", why we ask you not to, and what happens if it keeps happening. The main reason is simple: it splits the community.
For the short version of this rule, see the Tennis rules and Padel rules. For the wider community rules, see our Event Rules.
The short version
- Sign up through the sign-up form before the deadline. Tennis and padel both work the same way.
- Booking your own courts and organising your own games is fine on other days, at other times and at other venues.
- It is not fine at times that clash with our usual Tuesday tennis or Sunday padel session.
- Don't book your own court in our slot and then try to join just for the social part.
- Missed the deadline? Message an organiser. We would much rather find you a spot than lose you.
- If you do it anyway, you can get a strike or be removed from the community.
What we mean by booking outside the system
It is when someone books a court themselves, usually through Playtomic, at a time that clashes with our usual session (Tuesday evening for tennis, Sunday for padel), and then fills it from our community. For example:
- Posting a Playtomic match link in the group asking for players to join the Tuesday or Sunday slot.
- Booking a court at the same venue and time as our session and recruiting from our members.
- Setting up a separate match for a level or group of friends who missed the sign-up.
- Booking your own court in our slot and then turning up to join just for the social part of the session, without having signed up.
This is fine on other days, at other times and at other venues. Book a court on a Saturday, organise a weekday lunchtime game, try a different club, find hitting partners in the group, play with friends privately. That is exactly what the community is for. It is also not a problem to book courts you have been assigned as the booker, or to share your own court's link with the players on it.
Why it matters
1. It splits the community. This is the main reason. Every side match takes a few people out of the main session and into a small private game. A few of those each week and the Tuesday or Sunday session gets thinner, which makes it less appealing, which thins it further. The sessions are what bring this community together, with new faces every week, mixed levels and people who would never otherwise meet. Smaller and smaller private groups are the opposite of that, and left alone a group like this can quietly cease to exist.
2. It keeps things fair. Sessions run on a first come, first served basis with places capped, so everyone gets a fair shot at a space. A side match booked directly skips that line. People who signed up on time can end up with the weaker deal, and people who didn't get a place by someone else's shortcut.
3. We can only plan what we can see. The number of sign-ups decides how many courts we book and how we group players by level. If booking your own match is easier than signing up, sign-ups drop, we can't plan, and the people who do sign up end up with courts that don't fit.
4. Levels stop meaning anything. We match players by the levels they choose when they sign up. Side matches use a different scale, such as Playtomic ratings, with nobody checking who is joining. That is how mismatched games happen, and it is the main complaint we hear from players.
5. We are accountable for what we run. Our sign-up forms carry the liability waiver, the data notice and the photo notice, and every session has an organiser and an 18+ requirement. A match organised in our groups but outside our process has none of that, and people may reasonably assume it is a Keep Calm event.
6. It protects our relationship with the venue. Courts are booked in blocks around our sign-ups. Competing bookings for the same slots, and last minute changes, make us a harder customer for the venue to work with, and good relationships with venues are how we keep getting courts.
I missed the deadline. What can I do?
Message an organiser in the group or privately, as early as you can. Where we have spare spots or a waiting list, organisers will offer them to late sign-ups. If there is no space this week, you will be first in line when something opens up, and you can sign up for the following week as soon as the form opens.
What happens if someone does it
We take this seriously, because it is the thing most likely to break the sessions for everyone else.
- The post is removed by an organiser, who messages the person privately and points them to this page.
- An organiser may record a strike. Strikes are private and are never posted in public groups.
- Repeat cases, or running a parallel group in our slot, can lead to removal from the community. This is decided by the organisers and admins together, in line with our Event Rules.
If you think we have got something wrong, contact the organisers privately and tell us your side.
Games on other days and times
You are always free to play whenever you like with whoever you like, and you are welcome to post in the group to find players for games outside our usual Tuesday and Sunday slots, or at other venues. We only ask that you keep clear of those slots.
Thank you for helping us keep the sessions fair and the community healthy. 💛