How to Create a Pickleball Club
Starting a pickleball club in Pikel takes about a minute, and it's the foundation for everything else — invites, recurring games, round robins, chat. A club is really just your crew with a home: a name, a place you play, and a front door you control. Here's exactly how to set one up.
Step 1 — Open the Clubs tab and tap +
Head to the Clubs tab and tap the + button in the corner (if you haven't joined any clubs yet, there's a Create Club button waiting on the empty screen too). That opens the Create Club form.
Step 2 — Name your club and make it yours
Give your club a name — this is the one field you can't skip. While you're here you can add an optional cover photo and a short description so members recognize it at a glance. None of that is required; the name is enough to get going.
Step 3 — Choose who can find and join
On iOS this is a Public / Private toggle; on Android you'll see three chips — Public, Private, or Invite Only. It controls how people find your club:
- Public — anyone can discover the club in Discover, and anyone with your invite joins instantly. Best for community groups and open drop-in crews.
- Private — the club is hidden from public browsing. Someone who finds it in Discover has to send a join request — but anyone you hand a link, QR code, or join code still joins instantly. Best for a facility or a members-only crew you invite directly.
- Invite Only (Android) — the club never surfaces in Discover; the only way in is an invite you send.
Heads up: picking Private doesn't screen the people you invite — invite joins stay instant by default. To make every join wait for your OK, flip on Require approval to join in Edit Club after you create it (it's a separate switch, off by default). You can change any of this later.
Step 4 — Set your default venue
Pick a default venue — the courts your club calls home. This one's required alongside the name, and for good reason: new games you create default to this venue, so you're not re-typing the location every week. Don't see your courts in the list? Search for them right in the picker. And if you move or add a location down the road, you can update it later.
Step 5 — Tap Create Club
Hit Create Club and you're live. You're automatically set as the club's owner with full admin control — no separate "make me the admin" step. Your new club drops straight to the top of your Clubs list.
From here, the single highest-leverage move is to invite people: every club comes with a shareable link, a QR code, and a short join code. Then create your first game so there's something on the calendar for new members to show up to.
Pro tip
Decide public vs private based on who can find you, not who you'll let in. If you want maximum growth, go public — you show up in Discover and invite joins are instant. If you run a facility or a fixed roster, go private so strangers browsing Discover have to request in — and if you want to screen everyone, including people you invite, turn on Require approval to join in Edit Club. You can flip any of it later, so start with whichever gets people playing soonest.
Get started
Pikel is live on iOS and Android — create your club, invite your crew, and get a game on the calendar.
Frequently asked questions
How do I create a pickleball club?
Open the Clubs tab and tap the + button. Give your club a name, pick a default venue for its home courts, choose whether it's public or private, and tap Create Club. Whoever creates the club is set as its owner automatically — no extra step.
What's the difference between a public and a private club?
Visibility controls how people find the club. A public club shows up in Discover and invite-holders join instantly. A private club is hidden from browsing, so a stranger who finds it must request to join — but people you invite still join instantly unless you separately turn on 'Require approval to join' in Edit Club (off by default). Android adds a third option, Invite Only. You can change visibility later.
Do I have to choose a venue to create a club?
Yes. The Create Club button stays greyed out until you've entered a name and picked a default venue — new games default to that venue, and you can change it later. Everything else on the form (cover photo, description, member-invite permissions) is optional.
Who becomes the admin when I create a club?
You do. The person who creates a club is its owner with full admin control. If you turn on 'Require approval to join' in Edit Club — or when a stranger requests to join a private club from Discover — those requests land in a queue for you to approve. You can promote trusted members to admin later so you're not running everything solo.
What do I do after creating my club?
Invite people. Every club comes with an invite you can share as a link, a QR code, or a short join code — that's the number-one thing that turns a brand-new club into a busy one. Then create your first game so there's a reason to show up.