This code of conduct is mandatory for any player at Stratford Padel Club (SPC), member and non-member. By playing at SPC, players are giving consent to adhere to it.

Not following these rules will lead to the player being banned from playing at the club, with no recourse to have the membership refunded, if they were a member.

The decision regarding whether any of these rules have been violated, as well as the appropriate measures to take, will be solely and exclusively taken by the management of the club, with reasoning being provided in writing to the player in question.

1 – Matches, socials and tournaments

1. The Open matches set up by the club are open to all players of the set levels. No player has the right to ask for the removal of one of the players who joined the match. Bullying and divisive behaviour is not tolerated, on and off the court, and will lead to immediate expulsion from SPC.
2. Players are expected to show respectful, supportive behaviour on court. Matches need to be conducted in true spirit of fairness and sportsmanship, win or lose. Complaining directly or indirectly about the match performance of another player is not tolerated and will lead to expulsion from SPC.
3. Any attempts to undermine another player will not be tolerated and will lead to immediate expulsion.
4. If players of lower level are added to certain matches by the management of the club, please respect this decision as it may be part of testing if a player should be upgraded to a higher rating. Refusing to accept management decisions on the matter will lead to expulsion.
5. It is down to the management of the club to utilise court capacity in the most efficient way to meet demand. This may mean that matches may need to be moved or cancelled if they are not complete and there’s a full booking that can take the same slot. Matches may also need to be cancelled to accommodate LTA Tournaments, depending on how large the draw is. Please be respectful and understanding of these decisions.
6. All players have equal rights on court and at the club, and this is not driven by their spend. Please be mindful of using your spend as a negotiation or bullying tactic when dealing with the staff at the club. It is down to the management of the club to offer rewards to certain players, but our staff and coaches should not be put in a difficult position, by being asked for extra favours because of your own spend with the club.
7. If you sign up to a tournament without a partner, and delegated the responsibility of choosing a partner to the club, please follow through with your decision and respect the choice made by the club for you; these decisions are made in the fairest way to ensure the most appropriate player available is allocated to you, to give you the best possible change to compete well.
8. Sexual harassment, racism, sexism, derogatory comments related to someone’s nationality, race, sexual orientation, gender, or any other inappropriate comments towards or related to any of our players will not be allowed on premises and will trigger an immediate expulsion.
9.  

2 – Levels

1. Levels are not up to negotiation between players and coaches. The coaches have the ultimate decision on them and will take the appropriate actions to ensure players have allocated ratings in a fair manner, reflective of their progress and performance.
2. Rating review can be done directly by coaches after a lesson, training or observing the player in a match. All rating changes are subject to discussions amongst the coaching team, with at least one other coach required to support a level upgrade.
3. Outside our normal player review process, if players want to have their level checked, the 30 min Player Rating Review sessions take place periodically to allow players who believe they are under-rated to be considered for an upgrade. There is no guarantee that a player’s level will be upgraded following these sessions. The coach will assess each player based on the club’s Player Rating Matrix.
4. Other players’ view of your own level is irrelevant and should not be used as an argument to coaches to ask for an upgrade.
5.  

3 – Sign up, payments, cancellations and lateness

1. It’s your responsibility to pay for membership, matches, lessons, tournaments, socials on the app/online or at the club. Putting the staff in the unpleasant position to chase players for not making payments will lead to players being banned from the club for 4 weeks as a minimum.
2. It’s your responsibility to check if you have enough balance to make payments, do not expect us to remind you.
3. Players can withdraw from matches and lessons/trainings up to 24h in advance. Once the deadline has passed, if they want to get removed from the activity they have to find a replacement by sending the link in the appropriate WhatsApp group they are part of. If no replacement was found, the player needs to turn up for the activity, or a full charge for the entire activity will apply; this means the entire match or group lesson. SPC will then refund the impacted players from the penalty payment made by the player who did not turn up for the activity. It is the responsibility of the player asking to be replaced to check in My bookings if another player took their spot in a match.
4. Players can withdraw from tournaments and get a full refund 72h in advance to avoid disruption to staff and other players: draw and order of play are sent out 48h in advance. No refunds will apply for withdrawals within less than 72h.
5. Cancelling within 24h without a substitute will trigger a full charge and a written warning. More often than not, we can find replacement, but if you cannot commit, do not sign up for events, only to cancel in the last minute, for non urgent reasons. This will trigger a 12 week ban from the club, if it happens twice within a period of 3 months, with full payment of membership for the period of the ban.
6. If you are more than 5 min late for a match, this will trigger the following penalties: paying for 50% for the full court booking for being up to 15 min late and 100% of the full court booking for being more than 15 min late. The funds will be returned to the players who were in the match, waiting for you. Unforeseen circumstances like public transport issues, accidents etc will always be taken into account when imposing the penalties.
7. If you wish to leave the club and have your balance refunded, we will accommodate your request: the additional balance given for free will be retained and cannot be refunded.
8.  

4 – Engaging with our staff

1. If you have asked one of our staff questions via WhatsApp or similar, please wait for them to answer, rather than contacting in the same time all the other staff members you have direct access to. Most of the matters are not urgent, and we do provide answers within 60min, most of the time.
2. If you have a preference for a certain coach, you need to be flexible around their rota. Being inflexible on the timing of the lesson as well as the choice of coach are simply incompatible, and the club will not be able to accommodate your preference.
3. Our coaches have clients allocated based on the level of the player and their learning style. It’s the management decision to allocate coaches to lessons being mindful of players’ preference. Please do not put the coaches in a difficult position, by contacting them directly and asking them to change their shifts to accommodate your preference.
4. The club will not tolerate players’ arguments that they do not like a certain staff member and therefore they do not want to deal with them, without providing reasoned rationale for the club management to assess whether the staff member has behaved inappropriately in any way. If a certain staff member has provided inappropriately, please complain directly to the club management at info@stratfordpadelclub.com or in person.
5. Inappropriate questions to our staff, judgements, or gossip related to the SPC team being spread around the club will lead to expulsion of all players indulging in this kind of behaviour. This is an inclusive sports club, and divisive and undermining behaviour will not be tolerated.
6. Any attempts to sexual harass our staff will lead to immediate expulsion. Attempting to trigger a personal relationship with our staff members, of a sexual nature, during their work hours and while on site, will lead to expulsion.
7. Any inappropriate comments towards our staff, related to their nationality, gender, or sexual orientation will lead to expulsion.
8. Any attempts to sow division between our staff members or between the management of the club will lead to immediate expulsion.
9.  

5 – Facilities and common areas

1. It is the players’ responsibility to throw their rubbish in the provided labelled bins (glass, mixed recycling, general waste). It is not the staff’s responsibility to pick up food leftovers, empty bottles, used overgrips etc.
2. The players are required to ensure the court is cleared from all used balls at the end of their match (grey baskets provided outside each court for old/used balls).
3. Members using the gym are required to tidy up the equipment used at the end of their training session.
4. Be respectful of other players when using toilets and changing rooms.
5. Lost property found by staff members will be kept secure and returned upon request. If not claimed, all objects will be disposed of after 1 month.
6. There is limited parking available on site and reserved for blue badges holders, we kindly suggest getting to the club by public transport or cycling. Leaving the car parked outside opening hours is strictly forbidden.
7.  

6 – Operating hours

1. 1. The club has an operating hours licence. Not respecting this will lead to the club getting fined and potentially closed down. Players are expected to understand that and should not put the management of the club in a position that triggers a liability.
   2. Please ensure you have left the club at 11.30pm Mon-Fri and at 10pm on Sundays, and no later than that. By not doing so, you are being disrespectful to the staff members who have to spend extra hours on site, outside their working hours.

Thank you,

SPC Management

Anka Mandleson and Javier Fernandez Aguirre