Official League rules

• The Bear Digital Cup Series runs city by city. Every city has two leagues a year: a summer league and a winter league, and each league is a full season of its own.
• Every league has six competitive divisions — three male and three female.
• Each division has room for up to 20 clubs, split by a seeded draw into two groups, A and B, of up to 10. A club stays in the same group in all six divisions.
• Every club enters a squad in all six divisions — entry is R3,000 per division, R18,000 per club in total, for each league.
• Clubs play the regular league season against the other clubs in their group. In a full group, the regular season is nine weekly rounds.
• The top 4 clubs in each group qualify for Finals Weekend, which follows the regular season, so 8 clubs per division go through.
• Each league’s dates, from the entry deadline to Finals Weekend, are published on its city’s page on cupseries.co.za.

• Entry is R3,000 per division, R18,000 per club in total, for each league, and it’s the same in every city. Cup Series Admin sends each club an invoice, and the fee is paid by card or EFT in one payment. There are no instalments.
• The entry fee is due by the league’s club entry deadline, and squad lists by its player entry deadline. Both dates are published on the league’s city page.
• Places are first come, first served, with each division capped at 20 clubs (two groups of up to 10). A club’s place is confirmed once its payment reflects.
• The Cup Series isn’t VAT registered at the moment, so no VAT is charged.
• There are no discounts for Founder Clubs or early entry.
• The entry fee doesn’t include court fees or playing kit.

• Each club registers 2 to 4 players per division, chosen through open trials or the club’s own selection. Four is recommended, so the club has cover for injuries and players who can’t make a fixture.
• Each club manages its own squads, kit and sponsors.
• Only recognised padel clubs can enter: a club with its own venue and at least two courts for home fixtures. Two venues can’t combine to enter as one club.
• Each club enters one squad per division, so a club can’t enter two teams in the same division.
• Club affiliation with the SA Padel Association (SAPA) is encouraged but not required.
• Only the first 10 clubs to enter in each city are recognised as that city’s Founder Clubs — a title that stays with the club for good.

• Each club selects 2 to 4 players per division (four recommended) to form its official squad for the season — through open trials or its own selection.
• Squad lists for all six divisions are due by the league’s player entry deadline, published on its city page. No new players can be registered after that deadline.
• These players form the club’s official squad throughout the regular season and Finals Weekend.
• All players must be 18 or older.
• Players don’t need to be members of the club or venue, but a player can only play for one club.
• Coaches, professional players, club owners and captains can all play, as long as they’re selected and meet the division’s level rules.
• A player can be named in more than one of a club’s squads if their level allows it (see Player levels).
• Replacements: clubs may not bring in unregistered players for individual fixtures or Finals Weekend, and no replacements can be registered after the player entry deadline, including for injuries. That’s why we recommend registering four players per division.

• Divisions are banded by Playtomic level (0 to 7). Every player needs a Playtomic profile with a level before they can be registered.
• A player’s level is taken when the club registers them and stays fixed for the whole season, including Finals Weekend, even if it changes on Playtomic.
• Playing up: players may play in a higher division than their Playtomic level, but never a lower one. For example, a 3.9 can play in Men’s Premier (4.5 & up), but a 4.6 can’t play in Men’s Challenger (3.5 – 4.5).
• A player exactly on a boundary (for example, a 4.5 for the men) may play in either division.
• Cup Series Admin and the Founder Clubs check every player’s level when squads are registered (see Fair play on levels, below).

Fair play is the foundation of the Cup Series. Every match should be a fair contest between players at the right level, so we’re strict about levels.

• Every submitted player is reviewed. Cup Series Admin, with the help of the Founder Clubs, checks each player’s Playtomic level and level history when squads are registered.
• The review includes any changes a player has made to their own Playtomic level in the 6 months before the league’s first match.
• A player who has lowered their own level in that time can’t use the lower level to play in the Challenger or Social divisions. Their eligibility is judged on the level they had before lowering it. Changes from match results don’t count.
• Any player caught lowering their level to play in a lower division will be removed from the league.
• We reserve the right to decline a player’s selection, or to remove a player from the league, if we find their level has been changed to play down.

• All official Bear Digital Cup Series fixtures are organised and managed by Cup Series Admin.
• The complete season schedule is prepared in advance and published to all clubs 30 days before the season starts, with the date, start time and venue of every fixture. Clubs do not need to arrange fixtures directly with their opponents.
• The regular season is a home & away round-robin within each group — every club plays each other club in its group once, with its fixtures split as evenly as possible between its own home venue and opponents’ home courts.
• The groups are set by a seeded draw after club entries close, and the fixture list follows the draw.
• In a full group of 10, each club plays 9 fixtures, split as evenly as possible between home and away.
• In each round, a club plays the same opponent in all six divisions, with all six matches at the home club’s venue.
• Home fixtures are played at the club’s own venue, which needs at least two courts available. Cup Series Admin books the courts with the home club and its venue.
• Fixtures must be played as scheduled. Clubs can’t ask to avoid particular weekends, such as school holidays.
• The entry fee does not include court fees or kit. At every fixture, home or away, each club pays its own court fees. Each venue sets its own rates.
• Clubs are responsible for ensuring they have sufficient selected players available for scheduled fixtures.

• The home club supplies the match balls.
• Each match takes about 1 to 1.5 hours. A fixture is six matches, one per division, played across the home venue’s courts.
• Arrival times and warm-ups are up to each club, but players must be ready at the scheduled start time.
• There’s a 15-minute grace period from the scheduled start time. If a club still can’t field a pair after 15 minutes, that match is forfeited.
• Players must wear their club’s official Nordee kit in every match.
• There’s no requirement to host the away team with food or drinks. Any hospitality is up to the home club.

• Matches are played over two sets using Golden Point scoring.
• At deuce, the next point decides the game.
• A set runs to 6 games and must be won by two. At 6-6 the set is decided 7-6.
• Every match finishes with a 10-point tiebreak: first to 10 points, leading by at least two.
• If the match is tied at one set each, the tiebreak decides the winner. If one club has won both sets, the tiebreak is still played for the bonus point.

Every match ends with a 10-point tiebreak, and the club that wins it earns a bonus point, whatever happened in the sets. So a club can earn up to 4 points from a match, and a club that loses 2-0 can still take 1 point by winning the tiebreak.

Each group has its own league table, showing:

P Played   W Won   L Lost   GF Games for   GA Games against   GD Games difference   PTS Points

Games for (GF) is the total number of games a club has won in its matches, and games against (GA) is the total number of games won against it. Games difference (GD) is GF minus GA. For example, a 6-4, 6-3 win adds 12 games for and 7 games against, so +5 to games difference. Only games from the two sets count: the 10-point tiebreak earns the bonus point instead.

• Because Cup Series Admin manages the full fixture schedule, fixtures may only be moved in exceptional circumstances.
• Player unavailability alone will not normally be considered sufficient reason to postpone a fixture.
• Clubs can register up to four players per division, and we recommend four: that gives cover when players are injured or unavailable.
• Where weather, venue closure or circumstances outside either club’s reasonable control prevent a fixture from taking place, Cup Series Admin will arrange a new fixture.
• If a club hosts a SAPA event on one of its home fixture Saturdays, the fixture moves to the opponent’s venue, or Cup Series Admin reschedules it if that isn’t possible. Clubs must tell Cup Series Admin as soon as a SAPA event at their venue is confirmed.
• If weather stops a match before it starts, it’s replayed on a date set by Cup Series Admin, possibly at a different venue.
• If a match has already started and can’t be finished, the score when play stopped is entered as the result. How a level score is settled will be confirmed before the season starts.
• Cup Series Admin will do everything it can to complete the season, including moving fixtures to a neutral venue if needed.

A club that cannot fulfil a scheduled fixture must notify Cup Series Admin as soon as possible.

• The winning club gets 3 points for the win plus the bonus point.
• For games for and games against purposes, the match is recorded as 6-0, 6-0 — 12 games to the winner, 0 to the club that forfeits.
• If a club can’t field a pair within the 15-minute grace period, that match is forfeited.
• Repeated forfeits may result in additional penalties or removal from the competition, at the discretion of Cup Series Admin.

• Up to 20 clubs
• Seeded draw: Groups A & B
• Group stage
• Top 4 per group qualify
• Quarter-finals
• Semi-finals
• Final
• Division champion

• A seeded draw splits each league’s clubs into two groups, A and B, of up to 10. A club stays in the same group in all six divisions and plays only the clubs in its group during the regular season.
• The top 4 in each group qualify for Finals Weekend, so 8 clubs per division go through.
• Quarter-finals: A1 v B4, B2 v A3, B1 v A4 and A2 v B3.
• Semi-finals: the winners of A1 v B4 and B2 v A3 meet, and so do the winners of B1 v A4 and A2 v B3. The two group winners can only meet in the final.
• The winners of the semi-finals progress to the Division Final.
• Finishing higher in your group matters — a group winner plays the fourth-placed club from the other group.

• Every league ends with its own Finals Weekend, where all six divisions come together.
• Finals Weekend follows the regular season. Its date and venue are published on the city’s page.
• All quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals across the weekend.
• Music and entertainment, sponsor activations, food and drinks.
• Cup Series branding, spectator areas, trophies and prize presentations.

• Any of a club’s registered players in that division may represent the club during Finals Weekend.
• There is no minimum regular-season appearance requirement.
• Clubs may choose which of their registered players play each fixture, and change their selection from one fixture to the next.
• New players may not be added specifically for Finals Weekend.
• No new players can be registered after the player entry deadline.

The Bear Digital Cup Series is competitive, but fair play and sportsmanship are fundamental to the competition.

• Respect opponents
• Respect venues and facilities
• Respect officials
• Respect sponsors
• Respect admin
• Play at your true level

• Each club shirt carries 9 sponsor spots.
• 4 club spots — right sleeve, lower front and two on the lower back — belong to the club to sell or fill with their own sponsors, including competitors of league sponsors. The club’s own logo goes on the right chest.
• 5 league spots are reserved for Cup Series: left chest (Cup Series logo), mid front (Platinum sponsor), upper back, under the player name (Gold sponsor), back, below the Gold spot (Silver sponsor) and left sleeve (Bronze sponsor).
• Founder Clubs wear the Cup Series logo with a gold trim, and their crest carries a gold trim on cupseries.co.za.
• Nordee is the official kit sponsor of the Bear Digital Cup Series. Every club’s playing kit is designed and manufactured by Nordee.
• Players must wear their club’s official kit in every match.
• Clubs choose their own colours and design using a design deck provided by Nordee. Shirts take about four weeks to make, so order your kit at least six weeks before your first fixture. Clubs order and pay for playing kit directly with Nordee, and the kit price list is in the club registration agreement.
• Nordee also makes the official Cup Series club merchandise range: replica club kit and supporter gear (caps, visors, hoodies and quarter-zips), which members and supporters order through Cup Series on the Cup Series website. There is no cost to clubs — no stock, no upfront spend — and each club receives 70% of the profit on every sale of its merch. How and when this is paid out is being agreed with the clubs.

Every league, summer and winter, pays out a total of R180,000 in prize money across its six division champions, and it’s the same in every city.

Prize money is paid to the winning club within 24 hours of the finals, and each club decides how to share it with its players. There is no prize money for runners-up.

• Insurance and injury cover are each club’s responsibility. The Cup Series doesn’t provide insurance for players.
• The Cup Series uses club names and logos, and photos of players and matches, on its website and social media.
• Matches may be filmed and streamed. A Cup Series YouTube channel is on the way, with matches streamed from clubs that have PUSHIT cameras, plus interviews with players and club owners, and club tours.
• Cup Series Admin sets up each club’s profile and players on cupseries.co.za from the registration form.

• Is the Cup Series SAPA-sanctioned? No. It’s endorsed by the SA Padel Association (SAPA), not sanctioned.
• Do players need a SAPA player licence? No. A SAPA licence isn’t needed to play in the Cup Series.
• Do Cup Series results count towards SAPA rankings? No. Cup Series matches don’t earn SAPA ranking points.