Who we are, and who this is for

PadeLGBT is an LGBTQ+ padel club based in Amsterdam, running since 2025. About 250 people are members of the Amsterdam chapter. We play at PadelNext, we run a tournament roughly twice a month, and we put on socials off court.

It is a queer club. That is the point of it, not a detail about it. Everybody in the community is welcome here and tournaments are not split by gender. Harassment, discrimination and aggression towards players, staff or the venue are not tolerated, and an organiser will remove somebody for it. If something happens to you, tell an organiser on the night or email hello@padelgbt.com.

Membership itself costs nothing. You pay per tournament.

You do not need to be any good

Really. The club keeps three levels: low intermediate, intermediate and high intermediate. You tell us roughly where you are when you apply, and an organiser adjusts it after they have seen you play.

The level is used for one thing, and it is not judgement. It builds the courts. Our strongest players and our newest players are never put on the same court as each other, in any round, on any night. Nobody is knocked out either, so you play the same number of rounds whether you win them or lose them.

What we do assume is that you can keep a rally going and you want to play matches. There is no coaching on the night and no beginner session yet, so if you have never picked up a racket, a tournament is a hard place to start.

What actually happens on a night

You arrive at PadelNext and you play. Most tournament nights run two sessions, an early one and a late one, and you pick one when you register. Some nights run only the early session, and the tournament page says which.

The format is an Americano. You enter on your own: you do not bring a partner and you do not pick one. You are put with partners you did not choose, and your partner and your opponents change every round. Games are played to golden point.

The draw is built so that nobody sits out more than once. Which court you are on each round, and who with, is published in the app as the order of play. Every point you win counts towards your own total, the session is ranked at the end, and those points carry onto the Amsterdam leaderboard.

You will play with six different people and against a dozen more in two hours. It is a fast way to stop knowing nobody.

What it costs, and what happens if you cannot come

You pay per tournament, by card or iDEAL through Stripe, and paying is what holds the spot. Filling in the form does not. The tournament page shows the price of the one you are booking, and it is an entry fee plus a small booking fee.

If you cancel before the deadline, your entry fee is refunded automatically to the card or account you paid with. The booking fee covers the payment charges and is not refunded. Your seat goes straight to the next person on the waitlist. The exact deadline is shown on your registration before you confirm anything.

After that deadline there is no refund and you cannot release the seat yourself. You tap "I can't make it" and the organisers are told immediately. They fill the seat by hand from the waitlist, picking somebody who plays at a similar level so the groups stay balanced, and your seat stays yours until they do.

Card refunds usually arrive within a few working days and iDEAL can take a little longer. If you are charged and do not get a seat, or a refund does not arrive, email hello@padelgbt.com and an organiser will sort it out by hand.

How to get in

Ask to join and tell us your name, email, phone and roughly what level you play. It takes a minute. Every application is read by a person, and the waitlist is checked before every tournament. When you are in, we email the address you gave us.

After that, signing in is a six digit code sent to your email. There is no password to set and nothing to download. Registration for each tournament opens on a date shown on its page, where you can also set yourself a reminder, and sessions do fill.

If a session is already full, join its waitlist. Nothing is charged and nothing is owed. If a seat opens we email you and hold it while you pay.

One thing you do not need membership for: the European Championships are open to everyone, club member or not. That one is played in teams of two, and the details are on the championship page.

Anything this page does not answer, email hello@padelgbt.com and we will answer properly.