Leagues & ladders
Competitive enough to matter. Friendly enough to lose.
Two things run alongside each other here. Six-week social leagues, sorted by ability rather than ambition, and a club ladder for anyone who wants to keep score properly.
You can do both, either, or neither. Two thirds of the club does neither and plays twice a week regardless.
Social leagues
Six weeks, five matches, one division.
You’re sorted by ability rather than ambition, so every match is winnable. Arrange your fixtures whenever suits — there’s no fixed league night to keep free.
Division C
Played a handful of times
Most people’s first league, and the one that grows every season. Half the division played their first match at First Serve.
6 spaces
Division B
Comfortable, still learning
You can rally, serve, and mostly get to the right side of the court. Points here go long and everybody complains about the lob.
2 spaces
Division A
Genuinely competitive
Tight, fast, and still followed by a drink. Promotion and relegation between divisions happens at the end of each six weeks.
Full — waiting list
How the ladder works
Three rules, and one of them is optional.
The ladder is a way of finding someone roughly your level who also fancies a game on Thursday. The rankings are a side effect.
Challenge anyone up to two rungs above you
Message them, agree a time, book a court. No fixtures secretary, no draw, no waiting for the season to start.
Win and you take their place
They drop one. Lose and nothing happens at all, which is why challenging up costs you nothing but an evening you were going to spend here anyway.
Defend within three weeks or slide
Ignore a challenge for three weeks and you drop a rung. It is the only rule with teeth, and it exists so the top of the ladder keeps moving.
Club ladder
Top ten, as of Tuesday.
Sixty-three people are on the ladder. Nobody is obliged to be — roughly two thirds of the club has never joined it and plays just as much.
| # | Player | Played | Won | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danni Okoro | 22 | 19 | No change |
| 2 | Marcus Bell | 24 | 18 | Up 2 rungs |
| 3 | Priya Raman | 9 | 8 | Down 1 rung |
| 4 | Sam Achterberg | 27 | 17 | Up 1 rung |
| 5 | Tom Whitlock | 4 | 3 | Down 2 rungs |
| 6 | Fern Adeyemi | 19 | 12 | New |
| 7 | Joe Cattell | 21 | 11 | Down 1 rung |
| 8 | Rhiannon Vaughan | 16 | 9 | No change |
| 9 | Ade Lindqvist | 25 | 11 | Down 3 rungs |
| 10 | Kit Mahoney | 7 | 4 | New |
Every player and result on this table is invented — Swan Padel Club is a concept site, not a real club.
Join a division for the next six weeks.
New leagues start on the first Monday of every other month. If you're not sure which division you belong in, put yourself one lower than you think — everybody does, and everybody's happier for it.