Most club padel tournaments still run on a spreadsheet and a WhatsApp group. It works for eight pairs and one category. It stops working the moment you add a second category, a pair drops out the night before, or someone asks who they play next while you are on court.
This article covers what actually breaks when you run a tournament in Excel, and how to replace each part of it: registration, pairings, results and standings.
Short answer: create the tournament in Ares Pádel Manager, share the registration link so pairs sign up and pay online, then close each round to have the next pairings generated automatically — Swiss system, knockout bracket or league. There is no spreadsheet to keep in sync and no manual bracket calculation, and players follow everything from a free app.
Create the tournament, define the categories and set the entry fee. Pairs register themselves through a shared link and pay online with Stripe, so the entry list and the money stay in one place.
Pick Swiss system, single elimination or league per category. When registration closes, the first round is generated from the registered pairs — including bye distribution when the number is not a power of two.
Each result advances the winner or updates the points table, depending on the format. Closing a round generates the next one automatically, with no repeat matchups in the Swiss system.
Players check their next match, their court and the live standings from the free Ares App instead of asking in the group. The club can also put the live view on a screen at the venue.
| Task | Spreadsheet + WhatsApp | Ares Pádel Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | ✗ Collected by hand | ✓ Self-service link |
| Entry fees | ✗ Transfers or cash on the day | ✓ Paid online at sign-up (Stripe) |
| Round pairings | ✗ Calculated manually | ✓ Generated on round close |
| Standings | Manual, easy to drift | ✓ Updated in real time |
| Player communication | ✗ Broadcast by the organizer | ✓ Free player app (iOS, Android) |
Use tournament software instead of a shared file: create the tournament, share the registration link so pairs sign up and pay online, then close each round to have the next pairings generated automatically. Ares Pádel Manager covers Swiss system, knockout and league formats, and updates the standings in real time.
Not for the tournament itself. Fixtures, courts and standings are visible to players in the free Ares App, so the group is no longer the channel for schedule changes and results.
The first tournament is free with no credit card, so a single club event is enough to compare it against the spreadsheet. After that, publishing a tournament costs €25 with no monthly subscription.
Online registration with payments, automatic pairings every round and live standings — in one panel. No credit card. No lock-in.
Create your tournament free