How to organise a weekly club night or social session

A club night is a regular evening when members turn up and play, often doubles, with whoever is there. At badminton, tennis and table tennis clubs it is usually called a club night or a social. Padel players often say a social or an Americano night, and pickleball players, especially in the US, say open play.

The nights that last keep a fixed slot: the same evening at the same venue every week. Book courts for the numbers you expect. Four players fill a doubles court. Five or six per court keeps the courts busy with short rests in badminton or pickleball. Where a round is a set, as in tennis and padel, keep it nearer four or five.

A thread of replies in a group chat is easy to start and hard to count. Ask each player for one clear answer, in or out, by a set time such as the evening before. Then you know how many courts you need before you pay for them.

Set a player limit from the courts you have booked. Once it is full, keep a waitlist in the order people asked, and give any place that opens to whoever has waited longest. Players who know someone is waiting have a reason to drop out early instead of not turning up.

Send a reminder a little before the deadline, not on the day. A place freed an hour before play is usually too late for the next person waiting to use. If too few players are in by the deadline, cancel then, and check whether your venue charges for a late cancellation.

Most club nights charge each player the same fee. Add the court hire and the shuttles or balls for the night, then divide by the players you expect. Round up a little so one dropout doesn't leave you short. Collect before the night or when people arrive, so nobody has to ask for money afterwards.

In FinalPoint the fee shows on the session. If the chief admin has saved a payment link in the group's settings, players who are going get a Pay button. It shows from before the session until a week after it.

Most club nights mix abilities, and that works as long as matches stay close. Some clubs split the courts by level for part of the night, with a stronger court and a social court, then mix everyone for the last hour.

Pair a newcomer with a regular for their first few matches, and explain how the night runs before their first match. People who enjoy their first evening tend to come back the next week.

On the night, the job is to keep courts full and matches close. The simple fair rule is that whoever has played the fewest matches plays next. Our guide to running a doubles rotation, listed under Keep reading at the end of this page, covers peg boards, paddle racks and padel formats such as Americano.

Whatever system you use, save the scores as you play, so the night ends with a clear winner instead of an argument.

In FinalPoint a club night is a session: a scheduled meet-up for one group, with everyone's matches recorded together. Only the group's chief admin or an admin can schedule one. Players join the group first, with its invite link, short code or QR code.

In the app, members tap I'm in or I'm out, on the session or straight from the Sessions tab. On the website, and on the group page in the app, the same choice reads Going or Not going. There is no maybe. The session shows how many are going against the limit, the waitlist and how many have not replied.

Add to calendar opens your phone's calendar with the session filled in, ready to save.

When the session is full, I'm in becomes Join the waitlist. If someone drops out or the limit goes up, whoever has waited longest moves in and gets a notification saying they're in. The limit applies to admins too.

The host is the admin who scheduled the session. The host or the chief admin can open Manage players to add or remove people. Remind all, on the same page, nudges everyone who hasn't answered.

Players answer each date of a series on its own, so tap Remind all early in the week, before your reply deadline. Players who are going also get an automatic reminder about an hour before the start.

There is no start button. At the start time the session turns Live Now on its own. Players tap Record match after each match, choosing from the players who are going. Any member can record a match they played in, and an admin can record one for others.

Live standings update as each match is recorded, ranked like a league table: most wins, then most session points, which count fewer losses and a clearer margin. Margin is points won minus points lost, or games in tennis and padel. The host or any admin can start Match Up from the same page, and the app builds each round.

When play finishes, the host or the chief admin taps End session. That sends each player a notification with their own result, and the winner one for Player of the Session. A session nobody ends still closes 24 hours after the start, but without those notifications.

Either way it becomes a Session Review, with the Final standings, a podium for the top three, highlights such as the closest match, and every match played.

Player of the Session goes to the highest-placed player in the Final standings who has played enough matches: three in badminton, table tennis and pickleball, two in padel and tennis. The Final standings page has a share icon at the top, so you can post the result in the group chat.