Booking rules and weekly allowances

The booking system is for the UWE Performance Sport squash programme. Sign-up is restricted to UWE staff (@uwe.ac.uk) and students (@live.uwe.ac.uk).

There are two roles: player (the default for everyone who signs up) and coach(assigned manually by the head coach). Players can’t promote themselves.

Two courts are bookable: Left and Right, both at Wallscourt Farm Gym.

The default hours for each weekday:

• Mon09:00 – 21:00
• Tue09:00 – 23:00
• Wed09:00 – 23:00
• Thu09:00 – 18:00
• Fri09:00 – 18:00
• Sat11:00 – 17:00
• Sun11:00 – 17:00

Coaches can change the hours on a given day — for holidays, tournaments, or facility closures. Always check the calendar on the booking page. If a slot is greyed out, the gym is closed at that time.

A partner is another player you’ve named on your booking so they show up alongside you on the schedule and can leave the booking themselves if they can’t make it. You can have up to three. Optionally you can also flag a booking as open to partners, which lets anyone in the squad join from /open-bookings until the three slots fill up. The rules players play by:

1. Advance notice required. Book at least 12 hours ahead for weekday slots, or 24 hours ahead for weekend slots (Saturday and Sunday). Coaches can book any slot at any time; players can’t.
2. 5 hours per week by default, Monday to Sunday in UK time. Cancellations credit the hours back instantly.
3. Up to 3 named partners per booking. Anyone you name will see the booking on their own dashboard and can leave it if they can’t make it.
4. Bookings count toward your hours and your partners’ hours. Adding two partners to a one-hour booking uses one hour from each of your three accounts.
5. Open invitations are off by default. Tick “Open to partners” in the booking modal to let other squad members join your booking from /open-bookings. The first three takers fill the partner slots; you can still add specific partners directly. If anyone joins you’ll get a notification email.
6. Cancel any time. Open /me and use the cancel button on the booking. The slot re-opens; the hours come back.

You can optionally link your SquashLevels profile from /me. Your level shows alongside your name on /open-bookings so others can find a partner roughly at their standard. It doesn’t gate anything — the booking system doesn’t use it for matchmaking yet.

If a booking would take you above your weekly limit, it doesn’t fail outright — it goes to pending approval. The coach reviews each request and approves or rejects.

Two things to know about pending bookings:

1. They don’t reserve the slot. Someone else can still book that exact court and time while your request is in the queue. If they do, your request is automatically rejected.
2. They expire after 7 days, or as soon as the slot start time passes — whichever comes first. You’ll get an email if the request expires before a decision is made.

For tournament weeks, training camps, or other one-off reasons, the coach can raise your weekly limit for a specific week. Existing pending bookings aren’t auto-approved when the limit goes up — the coach still decides each one individually.

What doesn’t count against your 5 hours: signing up for a training session, being the named player in a 1-on-1 coaching session, or being added as a partner to a coach-owned booking. Player-owned bookings you’re a partner in do count.

Coaches can put three different kinds of non-standard booking on the calendar. They look distinct on /book so you can tell at a glance.

1. Training sessions are open-attendance squad sessions a coach has set up. They have a capacity (typically 6–20) and any squad member can sign up from the calendar cell. Signing up doesn’t cost you any of your 5 hours. You’ll get a confirmation email; if you can’t make it, leave the session from the same cell and the system emails you again to confirm.
2. 1-on-1 coaching is when a coach books a session with you specifically. You’ll see it on /me under “Upcoming coaching sessions”. It doesn’t count against your 5 hours and shows on the public schedule as “Coaching session with [your name]”. The coach owns the booking, so you can’t cancel it yourself — talk to the coach if you can’t make it.
3. Tournaments are coach-owned blocks for one or both courts during an event. Players can’t join or cancel them. A tournament shows on the public schedule with the event name when the coach has marked it visible.

Coaches can also set up recurring slots for weekly squad practice. The system materialises individual bookings 14 days ahead and cancels any player booking that conflicts — affected players get an email so a clash never happens silently.

1. Book any time, no notice required. The advance-notice rule and the 5-hour weekly cap don’t apply to coaches.
2. Override player bookings when needed. The player gets an email explaining the override; the hours are credited back automatically.
3. Edit opening hours for any specific date. If the change cancels existing player bookings, affected players are notified by email and their hours are credited back.
4. Approve or reject pending bookings from players who’ve gone over their weekly cap, and raise that cap for individual weeks when needed.

1. Cancel your own bookings from /me. Your hours come back the moment the cancellation is recorded.
2. Leave a booking you’re a partner in if you can’t make it. Your hour comes back, the booking continues without you, and the booker is notified so they can find a replacement.
3. If a coach overrides your booking, you’ll get an email with the reason and the slot detail. The hours are credited back automatically.
4. If opening hours change and your booking now falls outside them, it’s cancelled and your hours are credited back. You’ll get an email.
5. If recurring squad practice conflicts with your booking, your booking is cancelled and you’ll be notified. This usually only affects bookings made before the recurring slot was set up.