Internal · Documentation Hub
Everything we have from the first three seasons of our flagship league at Pad Thai Padel Club, Bangkok — how it is structured, how it is run on the ground, what went wrong, and what we changed because of it. Every document is linked below.
The Pad Thai Padel Championship is our amateur league at Pad Thai Padel Club, Bangkok. Players enter as a pair, pairs are grouped into divisions by level, and each division plays a round robin followed by knockouts. The season closes with Finals Day — semifinals, final, awards, sponsors, a DJ and more than 300 attendees.
Everything runs through The Padel Society App: fixtures, standings, score submission and the community feed. The league is also our biggest community and content engine — sponsors pay for weekly activations, every match day generates social content, and players get perks (free post-match drink, ice bath & sauna, pro-shop discounts).
A season lasts two to three months. The exact duration and the number of matches each team plays are not fixed — they scale with how many teams sign up.
This part barely changed across the three seasons. It is the repeatable core — learn this and you understand every season.
Pairs sign up. Returning teams keep the division they earned; new teams are placed by level. The number of divisions is decided once sign-ups close.
Every team plays every other team in its division once. In an eight-team division that is 7 matches each — which is how the minimum-match promise gets met.
Top four go to semifinals (1 v 4, 2 v 3), then final and third-place match. Semifinalists end the season on 9 matches.
Finals played live in front of a crowd, with awards, sponsor activations and a party. The commercial peak of the season.
Top team in each division goes up, bottom team goes down. No playoff games — that was tried in Season 1 and dropped for being too complex.
Players submit their own scores in the app. No score submitted means the match does not count. Organisers only step in for conflicts.
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Best of 3 sets, silver point at deuce, standard tiebreak |
| Third set | Super-tiebreak to 10 points (since Season 2) |
| Time | 90-minute slots, strict. If time runs out: switch to golden point; if still short, the team leading in games wins |
| Points | 2–0 win = 3 pts · 2–1 win = 2 pts, loser gets 1 pt · no-show or forfeit = 3–0 (since Season 2) |
| Lateness | 5 min late = opponent starts 1–0 in games, +1 game per further 5 min. 20+ min late (4–0) = walkover, 6-0 6-0 (Season 3 rule) |
| Arrival | Players arrive 15 minutes early. Host and league management make the call on penalties |
Each season was a revision of the one before it. Read this table left to right and you can see exactly what we learned.
| Season 1 — The launch | Season 2 — The fixes | Season 3 — The latest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When | Jun – Aug 2025 | Oct – Dec 2025 | Mar – May 2026 |
| Size | 48 teams / 96 players | ~51 teams | ~56 teams (8 per division) |
| Divisions | Men D1–D4, Female D1–D2 | Men D1–D4, Female D1–D2 | Men D1–D4, Female, Mixed D1–D2 (new) |
| Match days | Tue / Thu / Sun | Similar | Set days: Wed (MD1 + Women), Sun (MD2–4 + Mixed) |
| Reschedules | 1 per team, 7 days notice | 2 before start, none after | 2 at entry + 1 during; emergencies only after |
| Substitutes | Allowed with approval | Certified sub pool per division | No subs — reschedules and long-term replacements only |
| Finals | Playoffs plus promotion / relegation playoffs | Semis for D1 only; top up, bottom down | Semis + final + 3rd place match in every division |
48 teams and 96 players across Men's D1–D4 and Female D1–D2, with promotion and relegation decided by playoffs on Finals Day. This is the season that proved the concept — and exposed every pain point that shaped the two seasons after it. If you only read one Season 1 document, make it the Learnings.
People will commit to a full amateur league season, and Finals Day works as a commercial and community peak.
Last-minute reschedules created chaos, substitutes caused disputes, playoff promotion was too complex, and the cameras were unreliable.
The community and content playbook, the host role definition, and the sponsorship package we still sell.
Full rules: match format, scoring, timing, reschedules, substitutes, the Finals Day promotion and relegation system, perks, app guide and FAQ.
Rules Quick guideThe condensed version players actually read: match rules, score submission, subs, perks and behaviour on a single page.
Rules PlaybookThe content engine: who does what, and the pre-match, match day, post-match and weekly standings flows, plus interview formats and content ideas.
Community · Key document Role guideThe match day host role in detail: player experience, sponsor support, the content capture checklist, daily tasks, tone and timing.
Community · Key document Sales deckWhat we sell to sponsors: weekly activations, audience profile, Finals Day, the APPT add-on, and package pricing from 60.000 THB.
Sponsors RetrospectiveAn honest review of Season 1 by area — players, staff, host, referees, marketing, sponsors, organisers — and the fixes planned for Season 2.
Learnings · Key documentThe season that applied the Season 1 learnings. Hard reschedule limits (two before the season starts, none after), an official certified substitute pool per division, the 3/2/1/0 points system, super-tiebreak third sets, and simplified promotion and relegation — top team up, bottom team down, no playoffs.
Reschedules capped and locked once the season starts. This removed most of the scheduling chaos in one move.
Substitutes restricted to a certified pool per division, so a team could not field a stronger player at the last minute.
New scoring: 3 points for a 2–0 win, 2 for a 2–1 win with 1 to the loser. Rewards showing up and competing.
Updated rules: the new scoring system, sub pool rules, reschedule limits, division structures including the FD1 plate playoff format, and Finals Day.
Rules Format documentThe match maths per division: round robin phases, split groups, knockouts, and how the seven-match promise is met for every team.
Format PolicyHow teams are placed each season: returning teams keep earned spots, rules for split teams, new entries, capacity, and the fairness principle.
FormatNot recoverable — the original file was a photograph, not the manual itself. Use the Season 3 Organiser Manual as the operations reference instead.
File missingThe most recent version, and the best starting point for planning Season 4 — but it is the latest format, not a fixed one. Mixed category was tried for the first time across two divisions, every division ran at eight teams with semis, final and a third-place match, match days were fixed to Wednesday and Sunday, lateness penalties became progressive, substitutions were removed entirely, and each division got its own WhatsApp group. The key learning: the Mixed category was not worth the effort. Do not repeat it as-is in Season 4.
Fixed match days per division made scheduling dramatically cleaner, and a WhatsApp group per division kept communication in one place.
Progressive lateness penalties — a game per five minutes — proved far better than an instant walkover.
The Mixed category. Two divisions were run and neither the effort nor the interest justified it.
The latest rulebook: mixed category rules, the lateness penalty system, set match days, division allocation criteria, and the reschedule and replacement policy.
Rules · Latest Format documentSeason 3 match maths: eight-team round robins plus knockouts in every division, the workload per team, and promotion and relegation.
Format Internal SOPHow we run it: the reschedule process step by step, match protocol, score handling, roles (Host, Reception, Álvaro, David) and conflict resolution.
Operations · Key documentThe most useful section on this page. It explains why the rules look the way they do now. Full detail in the Season 1 Learnings document.
| Problem in Season 1 | Fix applied in Season 2 or 3 |
|---|---|
| Too many last-minute reschedules, causing chaos and unfairness | Hard limits: two at entry, emergency-only after the season starts |
| Substitutes caused disputes — stronger subs, brought in last minute | S.2: a certified sub pool. S.3: no subs at all, reschedules instead |
| Complex playoff promotion and relegation | Simplified to top team up, bottom team down |
| Players confused about rules and prizes | A clear handbook, a one-pager, and the prize structure from day one |
| Cameras unreliable, producing bad highlights and frustrated players | Fell back to phone-shot content by the Host until AI cameras are ready |
| Staff did not know who was playing or which sponsor was on site | Weekly staff briefings; league players treated as VIPs — water, towels, balls |
| Host did not know all the rules, so could not answer questions | A clear role guide plus a weekly sync with Marketing |
| Referees late or absent, leaving the host to referee | Referees arrive 30 minutes early; refereeing is not the host's job |
| Marketing disconnected from league communications | One unified weekly plan: schedule, scores and highlights on IG, app and community |
| Sponsors did not feel visible | A defined activation per match day with dedicated content capture |
| Scattered scheduling communication | S.3: set match days (Wed / Sun) plus a WhatsApp group per division |
| Mixed category trialled in S.3 across two divisions | Not worth it — the effort and interest did not justify it. Do not repeat as-is |
Community participation is inconsistent and needs constant pushing. This is the main job.
Score submission by players needs continuous reminders, every single match day.
Standings content was manual. App competitions feeding the community is improving it.
Rain is always a risk. Rescheduled at the club's expense, Wednesday or Sunday only.
Host and Reception work as one team: the Host talks to players on WhatsApp, Reception updates the schedule, and Álvaro is only notified once a change is final.
| Role | Person in S.3 | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Host | Nan (S.1–S.2: Som) | The face of the league. Greets players, check-in, court setup, enforces timing and walkovers, reminds players to enter scores, manages the WhatsApp groups, posts in the community, captures content |
| Reception | Pad Thai staff | Keeps the schedule spreadsheet updated, records reschedules, shares slots in the WhatsApp groups, reminds players about scores |
| Álvaro | CEO | Updates app schedules and standings, final authority on disputes, approves official changes |
| David | Operations | Plans reschedule dates and bookings, via Slack in #ptp-championship-bookings |
| Marketing | S.1: Charlotte, Jasmine | Match day visuals, Instagram posts, recap artwork, highlight videos |
Confirm the sponsor of the week, create the app event, promote on Instagram, populate the week's games.
Arrive 45–60 minutes early, check fixtures, welcome players, capture content — two short clips per match, atmosphere clips, two player interviews of about 20 seconds, sponsor clips, all vertical and well lit — then post hype and recap in the app community.
Update results and share a recap with scores and highlights in the community.
Post the standings for every division in the community. Always push players to join the app community and use #padthaipadel and #padthaipadelchampionship.
Six steps. The first one is the single best document to start with — it is the whole league in one page, including what to keep in mind for Season 4.
All thirteen source files from the three seasons. Each one is the full document converted to HTML — nothing summarised — with the original PDF attached alongside it.