1. What is the Championship?
The Pad Thai Padel Championship is our flagship amateur league at Pad Thai Padel Club (Bangkok).
- Format: teams of 2 players, grouped into divisions by level (Men's and Women's; Mixed was tried in Season 3)
- Duration: 2–3 months per season — depends on the number of teams that sign up
- Structure: round robin season → semifinals → Finals Day (awards, DJ, sponsors, +300 attendees)
- Promise to players: every team gets a guaranteed minimum of matches (7 in past seasons — the exact number scales with team count)
- Platform: everything runs through The Padel Society App — fixtures, standings, score submission, and the community
- Perks: free post-match drink, ice bath & sauna, sponsor activations, pro-shop discounts
It's not just a league. It's our biggest community and content engine: sponsors pay for weekly activations, matches generate social content, and Finals Day is one of Bangkok's best padel events.
The 3 seasons so far
| Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 + long-term replacements only |
| Finals | Playoffs + promotion/relegation playoffs | Semis for D1 only; top up / bottom down | Semis + final + 3rd place match in ALL divisions |
2. How a Season Works (Core Mechanics)
Match rules (stable across seasons)
- Best of 3 sets, silver point at deuce, standard tiebreak
- 3rd set = super-tiebreak to 10 (since S.2)
- 90-minute slots, strictly enforced. If time runs out: golden point, team leading in games/sets wins
- Points (since S.2): 2–0 win = 3 pts · 2–1 win = 2 pts (loser gets 1) · no-show = 3–0
Lateness (S.3 — the latest rule)
- 5 min late = opponent starts 1–0 in games, +1 game per extra 5 min
- 20+ min late (4–0) = walkover 6-0 6-0
- Host + league management make the call
Scores
- Players submit scores in the app themselves. No score = match doesn't count
- Organisers only step in for conflicts → escalate to Álvaro
Promotion & relegation
- Top team goes up, bottom goes down (playoffs dropped after S.1 — too complex)
- Returning teams keep their earned division; new teams placed by level
3. Who Does What
| Role | Person (S.3) | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Host | Nan (S.1–S.2: Som) | Face of the league. Greets players, check-in, court setup, enforces timing/walkovers, reminds score entry, manages WhatsApp groups, posts in community, captures content |
| Reception | Pad Thai staff | Keeps the schedule Excel updated, records reschedules, shares slots in WA groups, reminds players about scores |
| Álvaro | CEO | Updates app schedules & standings, final authority on disputes, approves official changes |
| David | Ops | Plans reschedule dates, bookings (Slack #ptp-championship-bookings) |
| Marketing | (S.1: Charlotte, Jasmine) | Match day visuals, IG posts, recap artworks, highlight videos |
Key principle: Host + Reception work as one team. Host talks to players (WhatsApp), Reception updates the Excel, and Álvaro only gets notified once changes are final.
The Community Manager's core loop
From the S.1 Community Plan and Host Playbook — the part most relevant to you:
- Pre-match (Mondays): confirm sponsor of the week, create the app event, promote on IG, populate weekly games
- Match day: arrive 45–60 min early, check fixtures, welcome players, capture content (2 short clips per match, atmosphere clips, 2 player interviews ~20s, sponsor clips — vertical, good lighting), post hype/recap in the app community
- Post-match (next day): update results, share recap with scores/highlights in the community
- Post-week (Mondays): post standings for all divisions in the community
- Always: push players to join the app community, use #padthaipadel #padthaipadelchampionship, run weekly social challenges
Content ideas that were planned: player interviews (1 min max, phone-filmed), mini match trailers, best rally of the week polls, locker room vibes, meme recaps, team introductions.
4. Sponsors
- Package: ~60,000 THB for the full season = 1 activation per week, social content, branding, content rights (+add-ons: APPT tournament access, naming rights)
- Examples: Wilson (racket showcase), FORM (recovery stations), Aperol (post-match drinks), ALO (recovery zone)
- Host's job on sponsor days: know who's active, help with setup, capture photos/video, mention the brand in community content
- Weekly briefing comes from Marketing
5. What Went Wrong & How We Fixed It
The most important section — it explains why the rules look the way they do now. Full detail in S.1 Learnings & Improvements.
| Problem (Season 1) | Fix (applied in S.2/S.3) |
|---|---|
| Too many last-minute reschedules → chaos and unfairness | Hard limits: 2 at entry, none/emergency-only after start |
| Substitutes caused disputes (stronger subs, last-minute) | S.2: certified sub pool. S.3: no subs at all, focus on reschedules |
| Complex playoff promotion/relegation | Simplified: top up, bottom down |
| Players confused about rules and prizes | Clear handbook + one-pager + prize structure from Day 1 |
| Cameras unreliable → bad highlights, frustrated players | Fell back to phone content by Host until AI cameras ready |
| Staff didn't know who was playing or which sponsor was on-site | Weekly staff briefings; treat league players as VIPs (water, towels, balls) |
| Host didn't know all rules → couldn't answer questions | Clear role guide + weekly sync with Marketing |
| Referees late or absent, host had to referee | Referees arrive 30 min early; refereeing is not host's job |
| Marketing disconnected from league comms | Unified weekly plan: schedule, scores, highlights on IG + app + community |
| Sponsors didn't feel visible | Defined activation per match day, dedicated content capture |
| Scattered scheduling communication | S.3: set match days (Wed/Sun) + WhatsApp group per division |
| Mixed category tried in S.3 (2 divisions) | Not worth it — the effort/interest didn't justify it. Don't repeat as-is for Season 4. |
Still open / watch out for
- Community participation is inconsistent — needs constant pushing (this is your main job)
- Score submission by players needs continuous reminders
- Standings content was manual (app competitions → community sharing is improving)
- Rain is always a risk: reschedule at club's expense, Wed/Sun only
6. Planning Season 4 — What to Keep in Mind
Season 3 is the best starting point, but it's just the last version — not a fixed format. When planning Season 4:
Proven — keep
- Set match days per division (Wed/Sun) — made scheduling much cleaner
- Strict reschedule limits, no per-match substitutes
- 3/2/1/0 points system, super-tiebreak 3rd set, 90-min slots
- Progressive lateness penalties (worked better than instant walkover)
- WhatsApp group per division + all official info in the app community
- Simple promotion/relegation: top up, bottom down
- Semis + final + 3rd place match in every division (everyone gets a finals experience)
Didn't work — change
- Mixed category: not worth it. Tried in S.3 with 2 divisions — the effort and interest didn't justify it. Don't repeat as-is.
Decide based on sign-ups
- Season duration (2–3 months) and matches per team — both depend on the number of teams
- Number of divisions and teams per division
- Division allocation (use the S.2 assignment rules + S.3 allocation criteria as the base)
7. Your Reading Order
- S.3 Player's Handbook — the latest rules, read first
- S.3 Organiser Manual — how we run it internally (SOP)
- S.1 Learnings & Improvements — why the rules evolved
- S.1 Community Plan — the content playbook (your core doc)
- S.1 Host Playbook — the matchday host role in detail
- Everything else as reference (formats, division rules, sponsor deck)