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Author

Daniel Byrne

Runs Clayside. Plays tennis in West Sussex.

I run clayside.app and am an amateur tennis player based in West Sussex. I love building communities and believe organised and friendly competition is the best way to get people playing and engaged at their club.

Articles by Daniel Byrne

Competitions

Tracking player stats and records at your club

Most clubs keep their results. Far fewer keep a record for each player, and that is where the stories are. Here is what to track, the rules that keep the numbers fair, and how to use them without anybody playing for their stats. · 7 min read Competitions

How to level up your tennis box league

Your box league runs. The question now is whether it grows or drifts. Here are nine upgrades that make it better to play in, bring new members to the club, and take most of the admin off the organiser. · 10 min read What's new

Suggested moves when you build next season

Building next season now lists suggested moves above the boxes. A player who won every match comfortably can go up two boxes, and a player who played nothing can sit out. Courts and coaching

Pickleball at a tennis club: sharing the courts

More and more tennis clubs are asked whether pickleball can use their courts. Done well, it fills quiet hours and brings in new members. Done badly, it starts the longest argument the committee has ever had. Here is how to share the courts, from the trial to the agreement. · 6 min read Courts and coaching

How to run a mexicano night

A mexicano is the americano's competitive cousin. Partners still change every round, but after the first one each round is dealt off the table, so the games get closer as the night goes on. Here is how it works, with a worked example, and how to run one without a spreadsheet at the side of the court. · 5 min read What's new

Tournaments that start with your own match

A player opening a tournament wants one thing: who they play next, and by when. The screen now leads with that, and an organiser's screen leads with what needs doing. What's new

Clubhouse: the club's fortnight on Home

Members no longer open every box to see what happened. Clubhouse turns the last fortnight of results into the club's own news, and it is the first thing Home shows. The committee

What to present at your club's AGM

An AGM is the one evening most members hear how the club is doing. A few numbers, each beside last year's, tell them more than a long report read aloud. Here is what each officer should bring, how to run the room and the votes, and three documents to copy. · 11 min read The committee

Handing over a committee job: a checklist

A committee job lives in one person's inbox, phone and memory until the day they stand down. Here is what to write down before the AGM, what to move in the handover meeting, and a pack to copy for each job. · 6 min read What's new

Arranged matches now chase their own score

The two jobs an organiser used to do by hand after a match was arranged, spotting a clash and chasing the score, now happen on their own. The committee

Club committee roles: what each job involves

Most people turn down a committee job because nobody can tell them what it involves. Here is each job at a racket club, what it takes and when it is busiest. There is a one-page description to copy when you ask someone to stand. · 7 min read Membership and money

How to get more members for your club

More members starts with keeping the ones you have, then being easy to find, then giving every newcomer a reason to come back the following week. An open day helps, but only as part of that. · 3 min read What's new

Find a game: post when you are free

Instead of a message in the group chat asking who is free on Thursday, a member posts the time and Clayside asks the right people. The first one to say yes has the game. Courts and coaching

Who plays next: rotation systems for club nights

Every club night runs on one question, asked a hundred times an evening, which is who plays next. Here are the rotation systems clubs use, what each suits, the rules that stop the arguments, and a notice to put by the courts. · 7 min read Competitions

How to seed and draw your club championships

The club championships are the one competition every member notices, and the draw is where most arguments about them start. Here is how to choose the seeds fairly and how many a draw takes. Then how to make the draw so nobody can question it, and what to settle before the first ball. · 4 min read Competitions

Tennis round robin formats for 4 to 16 players

A round robin is the simplest way to give everybody the same number of games. Here is how many rounds and courts your numbers need, with schedules to print for the common cases. Then how long the evening takes, and the tie-break rules to agree first. · 7 min read Courts and coaching

How to run an americano at your padel club

An americano is the easiest social evening a padel club can run. Everyone comes on their own, partners change every round, and the table settles who won. Here is how many players you need, how many points to play, a schedule to print, and what to tell the players before the first ball. · 7 min read What's new

Your club's own website, at your own address

Your club can have a website at the address your members already use. It is built from what the club already holds, and nothing is public until you publish. Competitions

How to run a squash box league

A box league keeps squash members playing every week, at their own level, between team matches. Here is how to set one up, score it by games, and keep it going round after round. · 3 min read Competitions

Box league spreadsheet template for your club

Most box leagues start on a spreadsheet, and a good one can run a league for years. Here is what a box league spreadsheet needs and how to lay it out so the table works itself out. Then the mistakes that break one, and the signs it is time to move on. · 6 min read Competitions

How to make a tournament draw with byes

An odd number of entries is the normal state of a club championship. Here is how to work out the draw size and the byes, place the seeds, and finish with a draw nobody can argue with. · 4 min read Membership and money

Membership categories and fees for racket clubs

The price list decides who joins. A club with only "adult" and "junior" loses the student home for the holidays, the family of four and the retired couple who only play in the mornings. · 4 min read Competitions

How to run a tennis box league: rules and scoring

A box league gets members who never enter the club championships playing every week. Here is how to set one up, the rules and scoring to agree first, and how to keep it going round after round. · 10 min read What's new

A renewal round with nothing to approve

A renewal is a member you already have, at a price you have already published. So there is nothing to approve, and for most members nothing to do. What's new

Run your club's teams, and hand out captains

Your club's sides in a league somebody else runs now live in the app. The fixture list, who can play, the team sheet and the result, all in one place. What's new

Lessons, asked for and agreed in the app

Members ask a coach for a lesson the way they arrange a match. The coach picks a time, and the club and the coach settle up on one figure each way. Competitions

Ladder or box league: which suits your club

Both get members playing each other through the season. They suit different players, and the choice usually comes down to whether your members want a fixture list or want to pick their own matches. · 3 min read Competitions

Ladder rules for a tennis club: how to run one

A ladder lives or dies by a page of rules. Too few and every challenge becomes a negotiation. Too many and nobody plays. Here are the ones a club tennis ladder needs, with a set to copy. · 4 min read What's new

Your AGM figures, counted for you

The numbers a committee reads out once a year now sit on one screen. Nothing to count by hand, and nothing on it names a member. What's new

New members join and pay from your club page

Your club's page used to offer a sign-in and nothing else. Now somebody new can pick a membership, set up the Direct Debit and wait for your yes. Membership and money

How to collect club subs on time, every year

Most late subs are not refusals. They are members who forgot, or who were never told clearly when the money was due. A few decisions made once fix most of it. · 4 min read What's new

Members can book a court in three taps

Courts is your club's diary. Members pick the day and the time, and the court is found for them in three taps. Courts and coaching

Court booking policy template for racket clubs

Most booking arguments come from a rule nobody wrote down. A policy that answers the seven usual questions in plain words settles them before anybody has to. There is a template to copy at the end. · 4 min read What's new

Run a social night, americano or mexicano

A club night now runs from one screen. Deal it as an americano, a mexicano or fixed pairs, and the table keeps itself as the scores go in.

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