If you have been tasked with organizing your pickleball club, you are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed right now.
You have a list of requirements, and you are having a hard time finding a single software solution that can do it all. Your requirements probably look something like this:
- Manage your membership
- Collect membership and event fees
- Organize leagues
- Organize tournaments
- Schedule events with sign ups
- Communicate with members
- Post news and announcements
- Track playing levels
- Take court reservations
Step 1 - Create a network
The first step is to create a network.
A network is your own online pickleball community. Networks are ideal for pickleball clubs, schools, communities or even your pickleball team. Networks organize all your players, leagues, tournaments, ladders, news and events, into a single location. A network is basically your own social network.
Running a network is free. There are no fees to run a network.
If you want to see a network in action, and give it a try, check out our demo network.
Step 2 - Customize your network
Now that you have a network, you may want to update your network's settings. This can be done from the Settings page.
This is where you would upload a logo, add a description, or set up your membership fees. You can even add member fields to collect any additional data you may need from your members during registration.
Step 3 - Invite your members
Now that you have a network, the next step is to invite your members to join.
Your network will come with an invitation tool that will send out links to join GPN and your network in a single step.
Once your members join, you can add them to your leagues, tournaments, events, and even send them private messages.
Step 4 - Create a ladder league
Now the fun begins! The most popular feature GPN has to offer is our ladder leagues. A ladder is like king of the mountain. You earn points for playing in ladder matches, and the team with the most points climbs to the top. A ladder league typically goes on for weeks, and players RSVP to events to confirm their attendance.
Check out our demo ladder league to see one in action, and play around with it.
To create a ladder league, just go to your Leagues page on your network and click the Create a league button. See image:
The most popular format for a ladder, is a doubles ladder with rotating partners, that meet one or more times a week. Four or more players are assigned to a court, and they rotate partners.
Below is a video showing you how to set up this ladder format:
Step 4 - Run a tournament
Tournaments are a fun way to organize quick competitions between players of similar playing levels.
To create a tournament, just go to your Tournaments page on your network and click the Create a tournament button.
Your tournament can have as many brackets as you need, and we have all the most common bracket formats:
- Single elimination
- Single elimination with 3rd place match
- Double elimination
- Round robins
- First round consolation
- Compass (waterfall)
Step 5 - Use events
Events are a powerful tool to simply determine who is coming to any activity. For example, you may have a ladder league that meets weekly, and you need to know who is coming each week.
You can easily see all your networks events by clicking the event button at the top right of any page. This takes to a calendar view of all your network's events:
Here are some of the features of events:
- Minimum attendees for the event to begin
- Maximum attendees
- Gender and playing level requirements
- Wait list for full events
- Reminder and check-in emails
- Repeating events
- Fee collection
- Event history
Step 6 - Award trophies
After your ladder league or tournament ends, you can award digital trophies to your players. We have a large library of trophies to choose from. You can even add an inscription.
These trophies can be seen on your member's profile pages. Here is what a trophy looks like:
Additional Network Features
Creating a network on GPN gives you access to some other pretty cool features, including....
Calculated Playing Levels
Your network members will receive calculated singles and doubles playing levels from the matches they play in. This will be a great help when you need to determine what players should be playing together in your leagues and tournaments.
Court Reservation System
If you need to take court reservations for your club, HOA, or just your own private courts, your network has a built in court reservation system. It is free to use, and you can even take payments.
Communication
Communication between your members couldn't be easier. GPN has a built in private messaging tool.
As a network admin, you can send mass emails. You can even send text messages to your members!
So How Much is This Going to Cost?
Running a network is completely free. There are no monthly fees, no member fees, and no hidden fees!
There are also no fees to run a tournament, or a league. In fact, most people who use GPN never pay a dime.
So how does GPN make money? Your members will have the option to get a premium membership. A premium membership unlocks certain features your members may want to have access to.
Learn more here:
https://www.globalpickleball.network/membership
