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Help & FAQ

Everything you need to know about using ClubLadders.

60 answers across 11 sections.

General

What is ClubLadders?
ClubLadders gives your club one place to manage members, record matches, run tournaments, track ratings, and plan sessions.
Which sports are supported?
You can create a club for badminton, baseball, basketball, bowling, boxing, chess, cricket, cycling, darts, fencing, football, golf, handball, hockey, padel, pickleball, ping pong, pool, racquetball, rugby, snooker, soccer, softball, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, or another sport.
Is Google Sign-In required?
Yes. ClubLadders uses Google Sign-In. You need an account to join a club, manage your profile, or use an invite link.
Is ClubLadders still in pilot?
Yes. ClubLadders is currently in Pilot, and the features available today are free to use.
Can I install it like an app?
Yes. On supported browsers, you can install ClubLadders on your device. On iPhone or iPad, open it in Safari, tap Share, then choose Add to Home Screen.

Plans and limits

What is included in the Pilot plan?
The Pilot plan includes all current ClubLadders features: Elo ratings, standings, matches, tournaments, club challenges, sessions, RSVPs, badges, match confirmation, and optional inactivity decay.
Is there a Pro plan?
Not yet. Club Pro is planned, but it is not available to buy today.
Are there player limits?
Yes. A Pilot club can have up to 75 active players. The club owner does not use a player slot, and archived or former players do not count toward the limit.
What happens when my club reaches its season match limit?
A Pilot club can record up to 750 regular matches in one season. When you reach the limit, start a new season to record more regular matches. Tournament and club-challenge results do not count toward this limit.
What happens if a club downgrades its subscription?
Paid subscriptions are not available yet, so there is nothing to downgrade today.

Clubs and invitations

How do I join a club?
Open the club's invite link and sign in with Google. You will either join straight away or send a request for the owner to approve.
How do invitations work?
Every club has an invite link. Owners can let people join immediately or require approval first. Resetting the invite code turns off all older links.
Can people find clubs without an invite link?
No. To join a club, you need an invite link from someone in that club.
What is a guest player?
A guest player is someone the owner adds by name only. Their matches and rating are tracked like everyone else's. When they create an account later, they can claim that player record and keep its history.
Can clubs have multiple admins?
Pilot and Club Pro owners can promote members to admin. Admins can manage matches, tournaments, challenges, sessions, and announcements. Free clubs have one owner; extra admins return to regular members when a Club Pro grace period ends.
What happens if I leave a club?
You can leave any club you do not own. If you have match or tournament history, the club keeps an anonymous player record so past results still make sense. Owners must transfer ownership or delete the club first.
What happens when a club is deleted?
Deleting a club archives it first. The owner has 30 days to restore it from the home screen before it is permanently removed.
Is there a limit on clubs?
You can own up to 20 active clubs. An archived club cannot be restored if you already own another active club with the same name.

Ratings and rankings

How are ratings calculated?
Everyone starts at 1200. Win and your rating goes up; lose and it goes down. Beating a stronger player is worth more than beating a lower-rated player.
What are provisional games?
Your first 5 games have larger rating changes. This helps your rating settle quickly before normal changes apply.
Do scores affect ratings?
For some sports, the score can affect how much each rating changes. This applies to point-score sports such as badminton, table tennis, ping pong, and bowling, and set-score sports such as tennis, padel, squash, and racquetball.
How is doubles scored?
Each player gets their own rating change. Your result is calculated using the ratings of both teams, so partners can gain or lose different amounts from the same match.
How are ties handled?
Chess matches can end in a draw, which gives each player a half-point result. Other regular-match sports use a winner and loser.
What's the difference between Standings and Progress?
Standings show current Elo rating. Progress shows who has gained the most Elo this season, with wins used to break a tie.
What is inactivity decay?
Owners can turn this on to gradually move inactive players above 1200 back toward 1200 after about three weeks without a match. It is off by default and never takes a player below 1200.
Can an owner set a player's rating manually?
Yes. Owners can set a player's starting rating between 100 and 4000. If that player already has matches this season, ClubLadders recalculates their current rating from those results.

Matches

Who can record matches?
In a public club, any member can record a regular match. In a private club, only the owner and admins can.
How do I record a best-of series?
For badminton, table tennis, ping pong, and bowling, you can record a single game, best of 3, or best of 5. The winner must take most games, and the series is saved as one match.
Who can edit or delete matches?
Owners and admins can edit or delete a regular match from the current season if it is one of the latest 100 matches and no tournament is in progress. You cannot change the players on an existing match.
What is match confirmation?
When this setting is on, the other signed-in player can confirm or dispute a recorded result. Ratings update straight away, and owners or admins can resolve disputes.
Why did everyone's rating change after one match was fixed?
ClubLadders recalculates this season's ratings after you edit or delete a match. That keeps every rating consistent with the corrected results.
Can I remove a player from a club?
Owners can archive a player to hide them from standings and match pickers. They can also remove a player while keeping their history, or permanently remove them when it will not disrupt an active tournament or challenge.

Seasons and retention

What happens when a season ends?
Starting a new season saves the final standings from the season that just ended, then gives every player a fresh 1200 rating and 0-0 record for the new season.
Can club owners start a new season?
Yes. Only the owner can start a new season, and they must finish or cancel any in-progress tournament first.
Do seasons affect ratings?
Yes. A new season resets current ratings and player records. Previous seasons remain available as read-only history with their final standings.
How long is match history stored?
Current-season matches stay available. For completed seasons, ClubLadders keeps the final standings and player records. On the Pilot plan, detailed match-by-match history can be removed once a season is more than one year old.
Are old seasons deleted after one year?
No. Your season and its final standings stay in ClubLadders. After one year, only the detailed list of individual matches may be removed on the Pilot plan.
Should I export old match history?
Yes, if you want to keep every individual match long term. Owners can export a CSV from Club Settings → Data. ClubLadders shows a reminder when a completed Pilot season is 11 months old.
Can cleaned-up match details be restored?
No. Once detailed match history is removed, it cannot be restored in the app. Your season summary and final standings remain, so export a CSV first if you need every match.

Tournaments and challenges

What tournament formats are available?
You can run single elimination, double elimination, round robin, Swiss, and groups-to-knockout tournaments.
Do tournament results affect club Elo?
Only if the tournament owner turns on Count towards club Elo. Otherwise, tournament results do not change player ratings.
How does groups → knockout work?
Players start in round-robin groups, then the top players advance to a knockout bracket. You need at least 6 players.
What is a club challenge?
A club challenge is a head-to-head event between two clubs. Players are paired by rating, and the club that wins more pairings wins the challenge.
Do club challenges change player Elo?
No. Challenges update each club's challenge rating, not individual player Elo ratings.
What happens if a challenge stalls?
A challenge that never starts can expire after 7 days. A started challenge with no result can be voided after 14 days.

Sessions, announcements, and Discord

What are sessions?
Sessions are club events with a date, time, and optional note. Members can RSVP Going, Maybe, or Can't. Past sessions are hidden after the event.
Who can schedule or cancel sessions?
Owners and admins can schedule or cancel sessions. Any signed-in club member can RSVP.
How do announcements work?
Owners and admins can post announcements. ClubLadders keeps the latest 5 and can send members a push alert or post to Discord when those options are on.
Can ClubLadders post to Discord?
Yes. Owners can connect a Discord channel and choose whether to post match results, tournament results, and announcements.
How do I connect Discord?

You need the Manage Webhooks permission in Discord. Then:

  1. In Discord, open the target channel settings.
  2. Go to Integrations → Webhooks → New Webhook.
  3. Copy the webhook URL.
  4. In ClubLadders, open Settings → Discord, paste the URL, and connect it.

Data, privacy, and reliability

Can I export my data?
Yes. From Profile → Data, you can export your account and your match history as JSON. Club owners can export all club matches as a CSV from Club Settings → Data.
What happens when I delete my account?
First, transfer or delete any clubs you own. Then ClubLadders removes your account details, signs you out, and deletes your push subscriptions and join requests. Past club results stay in place without your identity attached.
Is my data backed up?
ClubLadders has backup and recovery tools for operational incidents. For your own records, export club matches from Club Settings → Data or export your account from Profile → Data.
What happens if ClubLadders experiences downtime?
If ClubLadders is temporarily unavailable, you should see a maintenance or downtime page. Try again shortly. You can also export important club records from Club Settings → Data.

Notifications

Which notifications can I control?
In Profile → Notifications, choose which tournament, announcement, and badge push alerts you want. Your match setting also controls match alerts.
Can I get notifications on my phone instead of email?
Yes. Turn on push notifications in a supported browser, then choose the alerts you want in Profile → Notifications. Push settings apply to that device only.
Can club owners mute club notifications?
Yes. In Club Settings, owners can turn tournament and announcement push notifications on or off for the whole club.
How do tournament ready notifications work?
When an owner or admin selects Notify ready matches, ClubLadders alerts players whose tournament matches are ready. Each ready match is notified once.

Future features

What features are planned for the future?
Club Pro is planned for higher player and match limits, plus longer match-history retention. Pilot includes every current ClubLadders tool while the product is being tested. Match CSV export remains available on every plan.
Will existing Pilot features disappear when Pro launches?
No current Pilot features are being removed. Club Pro is not available yet, and any future plan changes will be shared before they take effect.

Still stuck? Reach out to your club organizer or the person who invited you.