Club night is the app's answer to the whiteboard: a social doubles evening (courts of four) where everyone mixes in, pairings sort themselves fairly, and the standings are always up to date. Club nights are set up by organisers.
Starting a session (organisers). Go to More → Club night and tap Host a club night. Pick a format, how many courts you've got, and go:
- Popcorn — everyone shuffles every round. You play with (and against) as many different people as possible.
- Up & down the river — win and move up a court, lose and move down. King of the top court by the end.
- Fixed partners — pick your partner and keep them; you face a different pair every round.
You can start it on the spot, or schedule it for later — and tick weekly to make it repeat. A weekly session re-invites last week's players automatically each time.
How people join. Share the session's 6-character code or show the QR code on your phone (or print the poster). Members join with one tap. Friends without the app can join too — they just enter their name, no account needed. If they later sign up with the same email, their club-night history comes with them.
Spots and the waitlist. You can cap the session (say, 12 players). Once it's full, later joiners go on a waitlist and are promoted automatically — oldest first — whenever someone drops out. Promoted players get a "You're in!" notification.
Rounds. Nothing is pre-scheduled. When you're ready, tap Next round and the app pairs up everyone checked in right now — late arrivals just check in and play the next round, and anyone resting gets unchecked. Pairings are fairness-first: the app avoids repeat partners and repeat opponents, and if someone has to sit out, byes rotate so nobody sits twice before everyone has sat once.
Scores. The host — or anyone playing in the session — taps in their court's score. Any numbers work (7–5 in a timed round, first to 10, whatever your club plays). No confirmation ceremony; it's club night. When every court is in, the next-round button lights up.
Standings. The table ranks by win % of games you actually played — sitting a round out never counts against you. Ties are broken by average game difference (winning 7–2 beats winning 7–5). Standings are valid whenever the evening stops — just tap End session and they freeze where they are.
Do club-night games affect my ranking? Your ladder position — never. Club night is social. Games between members do feed your doubles rating (the skill number, not your ladder spot), so your level stays honest. Guests' games start counting once they join Tennis Ladder.
On the big screen. Every session has a 📺 TV mode — a big-type, dark scoreboard page you can cast to the clubhouse telly, showing the current round and standings live. There's also Club TV (Clubhouse → 📺 Club TV), which shows your club night and any matches being live-scored at the club, all on one screen.
Juniors. The usual safeguarding rules apply — junior names are masked on public screens, same as everywhere else in the app.
Finals Night
Once a quarter, organisers can crown the club's Pickup Doubles quarter with a Finals Night — created in one tap from the Doubles Race sheet. The quarter's top 8 players (by Drop-in wins) get a push invite with the join code; first 8 in. It runs like any club night: fair pairings, scores feed everyone's doubles rating, and the clubhouse TV mode works too.