Terms of service

These terms are an agreement between you and cheza LLC, a Virginia limited liability company (“Cheza”, “we”, “us”). They cover the Cheza iOS app and our website, cheza.me (together, “Cheza”). You accept them by checking the boxes when you create an account; we record which version you accepted and when. If you don’t agree, don’t use Cheza.

Cheza helps adults find people to play sports with. Our Privacy Policy and safety page form part of these terms.

Who can use Cheza

• You must be 18 or older. We ask for your date of birth before anything else, and a confirmed date of birth under 18 ends signup permanently for that phone number.
• You must live in the United States.
• You sign up with a +1 mobile number; internet (VoIP) numbers aren’t accepted.
• One account per person. Your phone number is your account. Changing it goes through support, not the app.
• You must use your own first name and photos of yourself, and you must not have been removed from Cheza before.
• You must not have been convicted of, or pleaded no contest to, a felony or indictable offence, a sex crime, or any crime involving violence or a threat of violence, and you must not be required to register as a sex offender. You must also not be barred from using Cheza by law.

Your account

You sign in with your phone number and a one-time code we text you; there is no password, email or social sign-in. Keep your phone secure: anyone holding it while signed in can act as you. Tell us at support@cheza.me if you think someone else is using your account.

You can pause your profile at any time. Pausing hides you from new matches; your chats and sessions carry on.

What Cheza costs

Finding players is free, and it stays free. We will never charge you for filters, for liking or passing on a player, for matching, for messaging a match, or for proposing or joining a session. We will never sell a way to see who liked you, never expire your matches, and never sell placement in anyone’s deck. We may set daily limits (on likes, for example) to stop abuse, and we will never sell a way around them.

We may offer paid services to coaches, clubs and other businesses under separate written agreements. Any optional paid feature for players will never touch the promises in this section.

Your content and conduct

“Your content” means what you put on Cheza: photos, your bio, messages, session proposals, venue names you type, feedback you give, reports and venue corrections.

You keep ownership of your content. You give Cheza a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, copy, process, adapt (for example, resize or strip location data from a photo), display and transmit your content, only to run, secure and improve Cheza, to screen it for safety, and to meet legal obligations. The licence ends when your content is deleted, except for copies we keep as described in the Privacy Policy (for example, a message stays visible to the person you sent it to, and evidence attached to a report). We won’t use your photos in advertising without asking you first.

You promise you have the right to post your content and that it follows these terms and the community guidelines below.

Zero tolerance. Cheza has no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users. Everything you post is screened automatically before anyone else sees it, and people review what the screen can’t decide. We remove content and accounts that break these rules, and we may do so without warning.

Prohibited conduct

You must not:

• harass, threaten, stalk, intimidate or demean anyone, or pressure anyone to meet somewhere private;
• post nudity, sexual content, hate, graphic violence, weapons or drug content, or anything sexual involving a minor (which we report to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children as the law requires);
• post photos of anyone but yourself, or impersonate anyone;
• share phone numbers, emails, handles or links in chat to move people off Cheza (our filter stops most of these, and trying to get around it is a breach);
• sell or advertise anything in chat, except a coach with a coach badge discussing their own lessons with a player who matched them for coaching;
• misstate your age, your level, or your coaching credentials;
• use Cheza for romantic, sexual or commercial solicitation;
• scrape, copy or harvest data, use bots or automation, or try to work out another person’s location;
• bypass our security, rate limits or moderation, create a second account, or return after removal;
• break any law.

Block, report and how we moderate

Block and report are in the menu of every chat and on every profile. Blocking takes effect immediately. Reporting someone also blocks them and ends any match between you, in the same step. The person you report is never told. A person reads every report, usually within 24 hours. Please report anything that worries you, and if you are in danger call 911 first.

We can take any of these actions when we believe someone has broken these terms or put someone at risk: warn you; remove a photo or other content; limit how often you are shown; reverse a level you set; end a match; suspend your account for a period; ban you, which signs you out everywhere; or remove you and your content from Cheza. Missing sessions you agreed to can also pause your access to open sessions for a week. Every moderator action is logged, with its reason, internally.

If one of your photos is rejected by our automated screen, you can appeal it once in the app and a person will look at it. If you believe we got anything else wrong, write to us; we don’t offer a formal appeals process for other decisions.

Assumption of risk and release

By creating an account, accessing, or using Cheza, you agree to this Assumption of Risk and Release.

At signup you confirm it in a box of its own, which reads: “I am 18 or older. I have read and agree to Cheza’s Assumption of Risk and Release. I understand that Cheza does not own, inspect, operate, or supervise the venues, sessions, players, or coaches, and that the release includes claims based on Cheza’s ordinary negligence to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.”

1. Adult users and voluntary participation

Cheza is intended for adults age 18 or older. You represent that you are at least 18 years old and that the information you provide to Cheza is accurate. Your use of Cheza and participation in any sport, session, lesson, group session, or other activity arranged or discovered through Cheza is voluntary.

Cheza does not own, operate, manage, control, inspect, maintain, supervise, or attend the courts, parks, community centers, private clubs, gyms, or other locations where activities occur. Cheza also does not organize, officiate, coach, referee, supervise, or provide transportation for any session or lesson.

2. Risks of sports and related activities

You understand and voluntarily assume all known and unknown risks arising from or relating to playing or practicing pickleball or tennis (the sports Cheza offers at launch; golf, running, gym and other sports may be added), or participating in any other sport or physical activity arranged or discovered through Cheza. These risks include, without limitation:

• (a) physical injury, illness, disability, or death;
• (b) muscle strains, sprains, fractures, dislocations, concussions, cardiac events, heat-related illness, dehydration, allergic reactions, and other medical conditions;
• (c) risks arising from your own actions or inexperience, the actions or inexperience of other players, coaches, hosts, guests, or spectators, and the failure of any person to follow safety instructions or applicable rules;
• (d) defective, unsuitable, improperly used, or unavailable equipment, including equipment supplied by you, another user, a coach, or a venue;
• (e) court, field, gym, or other venue conditions, including slippery, uneven, damaged, crowded, or improperly maintained surfaces; obstacles; lighting; nets; fences; walls; facilities; and other equipment or conditions;
• (f) weather, heat, cold, rain, wind, lightning, air quality, and other environmental conditions;
• (g) communicable diseases, illness, or exposure to viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens;
• (h) risks associated with traveling to or from a session or lesson, whether on foot, by bicycle, automobile, public transportation, rideshare, or any other method; and
• (i) delay or unavailability of emergency assistance or medical care.

You are responsible for determining whether you are physically and medically able to participate, whether the activity and conditions are appropriate for you, what equipment to use, and whether to begin, continue, or stop participating.

3. Risks of meeting and interacting with users and coaches

You understand that Cheza may introduce you to people whom you do not know offline, including other players, hosts, guests, and coaches. You voluntarily assume risks associated with meeting, communicating with, traveling with, playing with, receiving instruction from, or otherwise interacting with those people, including risks of unsafe, offensive, abusive, discriminatory, fraudulent, deceptive, illegal, threatening, or violent conduct; harassment; theft; property damage; privacy or security incidents; misrepresentation of identity, age, skill level, qualifications, or intentions; and personal injury or death.

You are responsible for using your own judgment and taking reasonable precautions when communicating with or meeting any person. You should meet in an appropriate public location, tell someone where you are going, arrange your own transportation, avoid sharing unnecessary personal information, and leave or seek assistance if you feel unsafe.

4. Cheza’s verification and screening limitations

You understand that Cheza may offer or conduct limited checks or features, which may include phone-number verification, review of a self-declared age, photo screening, a selfie-to-profile-photo match for the “Verified” badge (which is not identity verification; no government ID is checked), and review of credentials submitted by coaches. These measures are limited and may be incomplete, outdated, inaccurate, or unable to detect unsafe or unlawful conduct.

Cheza does not conduct criminal background checks on users or coaches unless Cheza expressly states otherwise for a particular feature. A Verified badge, credential review, profile, rating, match, or other information provided through Cheza is not a guarantee or endorsement of a person’s identity, age, character, safety, fitness, skill, qualifications, licensing, insurance, or conduct.

5. Third-party venues, coaches, and arrangements

Sessions and lessons may take place at venues that Cheza does not own, operate, control, inspect, or maintain. Venue rules, reservations, fees, equipment, safety practices, and conditions are controlled by the applicable venue.

Coaches are independent third parties. Cheza does not employ, supervise, direct, or control coaches and does not provide coaching, medical, fitness, legal, or safety advice. The coaching relationship, services, fees, cancellation terms, and other arrangements are between the coach and the player. Cheza does not guarantee a coach’s qualifications, licensing, insurance, availability, performance, or suitability.

You are responsible for reviewing and following applicable venue rules, confirming the details and suitability of any session or lesson, and making your own arrangements with coaches, venues, and other participants.

6. Release of claims

To the fullest extent permitted by the law of the state or other jurisdiction where you reside, you release and agree not to sue Cheza and its members, managers, affiliates, officers, employees, agents, contractors, service providers, insurers, successors, and assigns (collectively, the “Released Parties”) for claims, demands, causes of action, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses arising out of or relating to:

• (a) your access to or use of Cheza;
• (b) your participation in, arrangement of, or travel to or from any session, lesson, sport, activity, or event discovered or arranged through Cheza;
• (c) your interaction or communications with any user, player, host, guest, coach, venue, or other third party; or
• (d) any act, omission, statement, representation, conduct, condition, service, or failure to act by a Released Party,

including claims for personal injury, illness, death, property damage, theft, privacy loss, or economic loss, to the extent the claim is based on the ordinary negligence of a Released Party.

7. Limits of the release

Nothing in this section releases, limits, or waives any claim or liability that cannot lawfully be released, limited, or waived under applicable law. Without limiting the foregoing, this section does not release claims arising from a Released Party’s gross negligence, recklessness, willful or wanton misconduct, intentional misconduct, fraud, or any other conduct that applicable law does not permit to be released in advance.

If any part of this section is prohibited, restricted, or unenforceable under the law applicable to you, that part will be enforced only to the maximum extent permitted by that law, and the remaining parts will remain in effect.

8. Acknowledgment

By checking the Assumption of Risk and Release box and selecting “Continue,” you confirm that you have read and understood this section; that you understand Cheza connects adults for voluntary, in-person sports and related activities; that you understand Cheza does not own, inspect, operate, supervise, or attend the venues or sessions; that you understand Cheza does not conduct criminal background checks; and that you voluntarily assume the risks described above and agree to the release to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

Coaches and lessons

Some users are coaches. A coach can list a rate and the payment methods they accept (for example Venmo, Cash App, Apple Pay or cash).

• Cheza is not a party to any lesson. The lesson is an arrangement between the coach and the player. The coach is responsible for the instruction, safety, insurance, licences and taxes.
• Payment happens between you and the coach, outside the app. The coach collects any lesson payment directly from the player, off the app. Refunds and disputes are between the coach and the player. Cheza collects nothing: it is not a payment processor, doesn’t handle or hold money, and stores no payment handles.
• Credential review is not an endorsement by Cheza and is not a guarantee. Cheza may review credentials submitted by a coach, but Cheza does not guarantee that the credentials are current, complete, authentic, or sufficient for the services offered. Players are responsible for independently evaluating a coach’s qualifications, insurance, licensing, and suitability.
• A person checks each credential before the coach badge goes live, sometimes against a public directory. Credentials can lapse or be misrepresented. Coaches must keep their credentials current and tell us if one lapses; we can revoke a badge at any time.
• A coach who turns on auto-accept agrees to match instantly with any player who likes them for coaching in that sport.
• Coaches must not offer group clinics or other one-to-many paid sessions through Cheza.

Intellectual property

Cheza, its name, the C mark, the app, the website and their design and code belong to cheza LLC or our licensors. We give you a personal, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the app on Apple devices you own or control, for your own non-commercial use, under these terms and Apple’s Usage Rules. You may not copy, modify, reverse engineer or resell any part of Cheza except where the law allows.

Venue information includes data from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence, and postal data from GeoNames under CC BY 4.0.

Ending your account

You can delete your account at any time in Settings. Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone: you are signed out everywhere, your profile disappears, and your upcoming sessions and matches end. Seven days later we erase your personal data. Messages, sessions and feedback you shared with other people stay visible to them without your name. Reports, moderation records, the audit log, and anything we must keep for a legal hold or a legal obligation survive. The Privacy Policy explains this in detail.

We may suspend or end your access if you break these terms, if the law requires it, or if we stop offering Cheza. Sections that by their nature should survive (content licence for retained copies, assumption of risk and release, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, disputes) survive.

Disclaimers

Cheza helps adults discover and coordinate sports connections. It does not select or supervise the participants’ actual play, inspect or control the venue, provide transportation, or guarantee the safety, identity, conduct, qualifications, or suitability of any user or coach.

Cheza is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We don’t promise that you will find matches, that Cheza will be error-free, or that information about players, coaches, levels or venues is accurate.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows: (a) Cheza is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data or goodwill; (b) Cheza is not liable for the conduct of any user, coach or venue, on or off Cheza; and (c) Cheza’s total liability for any claim relating to Cheza is limited to the greater of US$100 or the amount you paid Cheza in the 12 months before the claim.

Some places don’t allow these limits, so they may not all apply to you. Nothing here limits our liability for gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or any liability that the law does not allow to be limited.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify cheza LLC and its members, employees and agents against claims, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your content, your conduct on or off Cheza (including at sessions you arrange through it), or your breach of these terms.

Disputes and governing law

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights, including your right to go to court.

Governing law. These terms, and any dispute between you and Cheza, are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and applicable US federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of the arbitration agreement in this section.

Talk to us first. Before either of us starts an arbitration or a small-claims case, the one with the complaint must send the other a written notice describing it and the outcome wanted. You send yours to support@cheza.me, with the phone number on your account; we send ours to you in the app or by text to that number. We then both have 60 days from the notice to try to resolve it informally. Any time limit for bringing the claim is paused during those 60 days.

Binding individual arbitration. If we can’t resolve it, you and Cheza agree that any dispute or claim arising out of or relating to these terms or Cheza will be decided by binding individual arbitration, not in court. The arbitration is run by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, before one arbitrator. The hearing takes place by video, or, if you prefer, in person in the county where you live. Cheza pays any filing, administration and arbitrator fees above what you would have paid to file the claim in court. The arbitrator can award you the same individual relief a court could, but only for you, and only to the extent needed for your individual claim.

What stays out of arbitration. Either of us may bring an individual claim in small claims court instead, as long as it stays there. Either of us may also ask a court for an injunction or other urgent relief to stop the infringement or misuse of intellectual property, or to protect anyone’s safety.

CLASS ACTION WAIVER. YOU AND CHEZA MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST EACH OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. UNLESS YOU AND CHEZA BOTH AGREE, NO ARBITRATOR OR COURT MAY COMBINE MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S CLAIMS, OR PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

JURY TRIAL WAIVER. YOU AND CHEZA BOTH GIVE UP ANY RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY. IF A CLAIM GOES TO COURT UNDER THESE TERMS, A JUDGE, NOT A JURY, DECIDES IT.

Opting out. You can opt out of arbitration by emailing support@cheza.me within 30 days of the day you first accepted these terms. Include your first name, the phone number on your account, and a clear statement that you are opting out of arbitration. Opting out doesn’t change anything else in these terms; disputes then go to the courts named below.

Mass arbitration. If 25 or more similar claims are brought against Cheza, or by Cheza, by the same or coordinated lawyers or organisations, they are handled in stages. First, each side picks up to 10 claims (20 in total) to go ahead as bellwether cases, and only those are filed with the AAA; the other claims are not treated as filed, and no fees are due on them, until their turn. After the bellwether cases are decided, both sides spend up to 60 days trying to settle the rest, with a mediator if either of us asks. Any claims still unresolved are then filed and decided in batches of up to 100, one batch after another, with fees charged batch by batch as each one is filed and, where the AAA allows, one arbitrator for each batch. Any time limit for bringing a claim is paused while it waits for its stage. A court may enforce this process if either of us asks.

If part of this section fails. If the class action waiver is found unenforceable for a claim or a form of relief, that claim or relief (and only that) goes to court instead of arbitration, and waits until any individual claims in arbitration are decided. If any other part of this section is found unenforceable, the rest of it still applies.

Courts. Any dispute that goes to court under these terms, because you opted out, because it falls outside arbitration, or because this section can’t be enforced, must be brought only in the state courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia or the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, apart from small-claims cases. You and Cheza consent to the jurisdiction of those courts.

If we change this section, the change won’t apply to a dispute either of us gave notice of before the change took effect.

Changes and contact

We may change these terms. If a change is not material, we’ll tell you in the app at least 30 days before it takes effect, unless it is needed sooner for safety or the law. If a change materially affects you, we’ll ask you to accept the new terms in the app, and you’ll need to do so to keep using Cheza; if you don’t accept, you can delete your account. At signup you agree to these terms by checking a box, and you accept the Assumption of Risk and Release separately, with its own box; we record which version of each you accepted and when.

Questions, complaints and legal notices: support@cheza.me. We are cheza LLC, a Virginia limited liability company.

Apple App Store terms

If you got the app from Apple’s App Store, these terms also apply:

• These terms are between you and cheza LLC only, not Apple. Cheza, not Apple, is solely responsible for the app and its content.
• Your licence to use the app is limited to Apple-branded devices you own or control, as allowed by the App Store Terms’ Usage Rules.
• Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app. Cheza provides support at the contact above.
• If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price (if any). To the extent the law allows, Apple has no other warranty obligation; any other claims are Cheza’s responsibility, subject to these terms.
• Cheza, not Apple, is responsible for addressing claims about the app, including product liability, failure to meet legal or regulatory requirements, and consumer-protection or privacy claims.
• If a third party claims the app or your use of it infringes their intellectual property, Cheza, not Apple, is responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement and discharge of that claim.
• You confirm you are not in a country subject to a US Government embargo or designated as a “terrorist supporting” country, and you are not on any US Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• You must comply with any third-party terms that apply when you use the app (for example, your mobile carrier’s terms).
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you.

Community guidelines

Cheza works because people show up and treat each other well. These guidelines apply everywhere on Cheza.

Be real. Use your own first name and recent photos of yourself, with your face visible. One account per person, 18 or over.

Be honest about your level. The people you play with confirm it after each session, so it will come out anyway.

Show up, or cancel in time. If plans change, cancel in the app as early as you can. Repeated no-shows pause your access to open sessions.

Keep it about the game. Cheza is for sport. No flirting, no sexual content, no pressure to meet anywhere private, and no selling in chat (coaches with a coach badge may discuss their own lessons).

Keep chat in the app. Phone numbers, emails, handles and links don’t send. That protects everyone.

Be decent. No harassment, threats, hate, or insults. Trash talk about the game is fine; abuse is not.

Keep feedback positive. Feedback here is positive only. If something went wrong, report it privately.

Meet in public. Pick a public venue, tell a friend, and share your session.

Report and block freely. Both are in every chat and profile. The person is never told who reported them.

Breaking these guidelines can mean a warning, removal of content, suspension, or removal from Cheza. Anything sexual involving a minor is removed and reported to the authorities.