How to organize a padel tournament without losing your Saturday
I've been organizing tournaments for years and I still don't get why people accept spending Friday night fitting matches into Excel. I've done it. And the worst part wasn't the spreadsheet: it was that 2 AM message saying "hey, I can't make 11, can you move me?". Here's how I got that hassle off my plate.
The real problem isn't the one you think
Everyone blames Excel, the payments or the WhatsApp group. None of those is the real hell. The actual nightmare is fitting 32 players with different schedules onto 6 courts without anyone getting upset.
You spend three hours moving cells around. The moment it finally fits, you get a message from a player who can't make 11. And the house of cards comes down again.
fitting matches by hand
human errors that are impossible to catch in time
of stress on tournament day
And if you go over 32 pairs, forget it
A 50-pair tournament? 100? By hand, impossible. Excel starts taking ages to open, schedule conflicts multiply, and balancing rest times turns into a sudoku with no solution.
With FenixPlay it doesn't matter if it's 32 or 256. The algorithm handles it in a second, with the same effort on your part: none.
The fix: let the algorithm do the fitting
Sounds like marketing fluff, but it works like this
The idea is simple: you define the courts you have at the club. Each player marks the slots that work for them when they sign up. You hit the button.
In a second you've got the whole tournament laid out, respecting as much as possible:
Holds up to 256 pairs (512 players)
When other organisers are throwing in the towel at 40 pairs, you can run big tournaments without breaking a sweat.
Each player's schedule
The algorithm respects the availability everyone marked when they signed up.
The courts you've got
It adapts to whatever you have. If the club gives you four courts from 9 to 2, it works with that.
Rest times
It tries to stop anyone playing three in a row while someone else has been cooling down on the bench for an hour.
Dead gaps
It minimises empty stretches and squeezes the most out of the courts you have.
How it works, in three steps
1. You say which courts you have
You set up the courts and the time slots available. For example: 4 courts from 9:00 to 14:00.
2. Players mark when they can play
When they sign up, each one picks their available slots. The system keeps their preferences.
3. The algorithm generates the bracket
One click and that's it: all matches distributed respecting schedules, courts and rest. Takes a second.
A real case: 128 pairs, 256 players
Before, by hand
- Impossible to do in Excel
- The spreadsheet freezes up
- Schedule conflicts go through the roof
- You can't even try
- Usually: the tournament gets cancelled
Now, with FenixPlay
- Five minutes of initial setup
- One second generating the 128 brackets
- 256 players with their schedules respected
- No conflicts, no errors
- Your club starts becoming the place people want to sign up at
Other things that help more than you'd think
Sign-ups from the phone
Players register from their phone. No Excel. No WhatsApp.
Public live tracking
Family and friends can follow the tournament from home. No need for them to register.
Automatic results
You enter the score and the rankings update on their own.
No more tournament-day questions
"When do I play?" "Which court?" The app tells each person.
Tournament formats: what fits each case
There's no single best format: there's one that fits your courts, your people and your afternoon. This is the quick comparison we use to decide.
| Format | Ideal for | Pairs | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Americana (round-robin) | Social mix, similar levels | 8-16 | 3-5h |
| Mexicano | Level-based mix, more competitive | 12-24 | 4-6h |
| Single elimination | Finding a clear champion | 8-64 | 4-10h |
| Groups + knockout | Fun-competition balance | 16-64 | 8-16h |
| Round robin | Everyone plays everyone | 4-12 | 4-12h |
Common mistakes when organizing a padel tournament
We've seen (and made) them all. Avoiding them saves you half the headache.
Underestimating admin time
Organizing by hand eats up 6-12 hours. People count it as "a quick thing" until the night before, when they're still building the bracket.
Miscalculating courts vs pairs
If you cram 32 pairs onto 2 courts, the tournament ends at 10pm. Quick rule: with groups + knockout, plan around 30 minutes of court time per match.
Drawing the bracket before sign-ups close
Every drop-out forces you to redo everything. Close sign-ups 48h ahead and generate the bracket then.
Not defining the format before opening sign-ups
Players sign up expecting one format and get another. Decide format and minimum level before lifting a finger.
No plan B for rain or drop-outs
In winter half the club has cover on only half the courts. Have a shorter format ready to cut the duration if needed.
Not sharing schedules in advance
If players don't know when they play until the day before, you'll get calls. Automatic in-app notifications solve this in five minutes.
Frequently asked questions
How many courts do you need to organize a padel tournament? +
How many players fit into a padel tournament? +
What's the best format for a padel tournament? +
How long does a padel tournament last? +
Do you have to charge an entry fee to players? +
Can you organize a padel tournament without Excel? +
How much time does it take to organize a padel tournament by hand? +
Keep reading
If you want to go deeper into one specific part:
How to draw a padel tournament bracket without losing your mind
How many matches you get with 8, 16, 32 or 64 pairs and where the trick is so the bracket doesn't fall apart.
GuidesAmericana, Mexicano or knockout: which format to pick
Quick guide so you don't pick the wrong format halfway through: when to use each one and for how many people.
FormatsHow to run a padel americana without losing your mind on rotation
The most-requested format at clubs and why fitting the rotation by hand has its tricks.
Conclusion
If you're still organising by hand, you're eating up a load of admin hours that you could be spending on getting people to come back. FenixPlay gets out of your way in a second, and what's left is just organising the padel, which is what you were here for.
"I've been organising for 15 years and FenixPlay is the best thing that's happened to me. I used to put in 12 hours per tournament; now it's 30 minutes. And players complain less because they choose when to play themselves."
— Carlos M., organiser, Madrid
Try it with your next tournament
Download FenixPlay and run a small one with it before you throw a big one at it. That's the best way to see if it fits.
Ready to Organize Your Tournament?
Organize padel tournaments and round robins with a monthly unlimited subscription or pay per tournament.