Champs: tennis with the boring bits removed
Imagine tennis where the ball is always in play, every point matters and the whole court is cheering. That's Champs: fast, competitive, king-of-the-court live-ball play, run by a Host who keeps the energy (and the balls) flying.
Never stop moving
The Host feeds a new ball the moment a point ends. No walking to the fence, no long changeovers. Just rally after rally.
King of the court
Win points to claim the champion end, then defend it against all comers. Lose, rotate, plot your comeback.
Everyone plays everyone
Constant rotation means you play with the whole group every session. It's the fastest way we know to make tennis friends.
🎵 The soundtrack
Every Champs session runs to music: the speaker is as much part of the kit as the balls. Our Spotify playlists are coming soon, so you can take the court sound home with you.
How to play Champs
Champs needs a minimum of 5 players plus a Host: enough to hold the champion end while a queue of challengers plots to take it. Here is how the hour looks from both sides of the net.
🎾 As a player
You start in the queue at the challenger end. The Host feeds a ball in. Your job is simple: win the point. Beat the champions to charge round and claim their end, then defend it against everyone else. Lose and you jog back to the queue to plot your next attempt. Points are short, the queue moves quickly, so you are never standing still for more than a rally or two. Hold the champion end when time is called and the bragging rights are yours until next week.
🧑🏫 As a Host
You run the court from beside the net with a basket of balls. The moment a point dies the next ball goes in: no gaps, no trips to the fence, no time to overthink. You call the rotations, keep the score, read the group. Newer players get a kinder feed, confident ones get something spicier. You need at least 5 players for the rotation to work; sessions default to 7 places, the sweet spot between quick queues and a full court.
More than a session: a community
The tennis is brilliant. The people are the reason everyone comes back. Champs was built so that turning up alone on a Tuesday turns into having a crowd by the end of the month.
Arriving alone is the normal way
Most people come to their first Champs solo, slightly nervous, wondering if everyone else already knows each other. They did too, once. Constant rotation means you will have played with the whole court inside twenty minutes. Nobody stays a stranger through a deciding point.
The same faces, week after week
Weekly sessions keep one continuous crowd rather than a fresh lottery of names each time. You learn who lobs, who giggles at their own drop shots, who brings the post-match biscuits. That is how session-mates quietly become actual friends.
The crowd chat between sessions
Every session has its own chat in the app. Say hello before your first visit, relive the highlights afterwards, cheer the rained-off weeks back to life. The tennis lasts 90 minutes; the crowd carries on all week.
All of you are welcome
Beginners, returners, secret county-level ringers, people whose racket spent a decade in the loft. Points are short so levels mix naturally, everyone gets their moments and the whole court cheers the near-misses loudest.
The hour that quietly changes lives
Ask our regulars what Champs gave them and hardly anyone starts with their forehand. They talk about having a standing date in the week that they refuse to move. About people who notice when they're missing and message to ask where they were. About getting properly fit almost by accident, because nobody counts laps when they're plotting to take the champion end.
Adult life is short on places to make real friends. There's home, there's work, and for a lucky few there's a third place where a crowd becomes your crowd. Champs is that third place with a net down the middle: a social gathering first, a sporting community always, a workout smuggled inside both. People have arrived at their first session after a house move, a break-up or a decade on the sofa. They stayed for the crowd.
And it happens on courts that were sitting empty. Every Champs crowd turns a quiet public court back into what it was built to be: the centre of something. That's the whole idea, and the science of social tennis suggests it might be one of the healthiest habits you can pick up. Read how it all started, then come and see for yourself.
"I started Champs because I watched people fall in love with tennis the moment it stopped being a test and became a night out with rackets. Half our regulars arrived knowing nobody. Now they holiday together."
Why people keep coming back
Everyone arrives for a different reason. They stay for surprisingly similar ones. A few of the people you'll recognise from any Champs court in the country:
🏆 The one chasing the champion end
They'd never call themselves competitive. Then they win three points in a row, taste life at the champion end and spend the rest of the week thinking about defending it. Champs gives grown adults something gloriously simple to care about again: this point, right now, against someone grinning back at you.
🌦️ The one who needed the week to have a shape
Work bleeds into evenings, weeks blur into each other. Then Tuesday becomes Champs night and suddenly the week has a spine. Whatever else happens, for ninety minutes there is only the next ball. People tell us it's the cheapest therapy they've found that also improves their volley.
📦 The one who just moved here
New town, no faces. Joining a gym gets you a lanyard; joining a Champs crowd gets you seven people who know your name by the second week and your running gag by the fourth. Some of our regulars found their entire local social life on one court.
🎾 The one whose racket lived in the loft
Played at school, always meant to get back to it, never fancied the formality of a club. Champs is the soft landing: short points, mixed levels, nobody judging the rust. The forehand comes back quicker than they expect. The confidence comes back with it.
😄 The one who comes for the laughing
Ask them the score and they haven't a clue. They're here for the ridiculous rallies, the collective groan at a netcord, the biscuits afterwards. Every crowd has one. Honestly, every crowd needs one.
Whichever one you are (most people are two or three at once), there's a place on court with your name on it. That's the thing about Champs: you come for a reason, you stay for the people.
Champs in Monmouthshire: weekly schedule
| Day | Time | Venue | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | 9am to 10.30am | Monmouth Boys' School Courts | £12 |
| Saturday | 10.30am to 12pm | Monmouth Boys' School Courts | £12 |
| Monday (high summer only) | 6pm to 7.30pm | Monmouth Boys' School Courts | £12 |
| Tuesday | 12pm to 1pm | St Briavels Recreation Ground | £8 |
| Tuesday | 1pm to 2pm | St Briavels Recreation Ground | £8 |
| Tuesday | 2pm to 3pm | St Briavels Recreation Ground | £8 |
| Tuesday | 4pm to 5.30pm | St Briavels Recreation Ground | £12 |
Typically £12 a session (Hosts set their own prices). Elsewhere in the UK? The FunTennis app puts Host-run sessions on a map near you: first come, first served. 🎾
What the regulars say
One phrase keeps coming up when regulars describe their weekly session. We're collecting more of their stories to share here.
"It's my time to play."
Champs FAQ
What exactly is Champs?
Champs is fast-moving, king-of-the-court group tennis built on the classic live-ball format: the Host feeds a fresh ball the moment a point ends, so play never stops. Players rotate through points continuously. Win points to take (or defend) the champion end of the court. It is competitive, breathless and extremely sociable: expect big rallies, near-misses and a lot of laughing.
Do I need to be a good player? What level is it?
You need to be able to rally, but you absolutely do not need to be a club standard player. Champs naturally mixes levels because points are short and everyone rotates. Every session in the app shows its level, set by the Host: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced or Open to all. Brand new to tennis? Pick a Beginner session or one of our No Pressure sessions and you will be Champs-ready before you know it.
What should I bring?
A racket, trainers and water. That is genuinely it: the balls, the Host and the atmosphere are all provided. No whites, no dress code, no fuss. If you do not own a racket yet, tell us when you book and we will lend you one.
How does booking work?
Through the new FunTennis app: find a Champs session on the map, book your place and you are in. Places are strictly first come, first served, so if a session shows spaces, grab one. Each session has its own chat so you can say hello before you arrive. For our Monmouthshire sessions you can also just get in touch and pay as you play.
How much does it cost?
Every Host sets their own price; £12 is our suggested price and what most sessions cost.
Who books the court?
The Host arranges the court with the venue. That is part of running the session. FunTennis secures your place in the session through the app: you book, pay and chat there, then turn up knowing the court is sorted. Curious about running your own sessions? See becoming a Host.
How many players does Champs need?
A minimum of 5 players plus the Host. That is enough to hold the champion end while a queue of challengers lines up to take it. Sessions default to 7 places, so there is always a crowd without long waits.
How fit do I need to be?
Champs is a workout: you will run, lunge and (occasionally) sprint. But you rotate in and out of points, so you get breathers built in. Go at your own pace; nobody is checking your step count.
Fancy running Champs yourself? Become a Host →
Fancy a go?
Tell us where you are and we'll point you at your nearest Champs crowd, or let you know the moment sessions start near you. Come alone. You won't stay that way.