Building a Portable Panna Court

I recently got the chance to help my friend Mateo with a unique project that combined woodworking with sports. Mateo trains kids in soccer – or football, depending on what you want to call it – and he needed something special for an upcoming tournament. He asked me to build a panna court, which I learned is basically a small arena for one-on-one soccer matches. After doing some research, I found out these courts come in different shapes, but Mateo specifically wanted a hexagonal design with three-foot walls and two goals.

The project seemed straightforward at first: build six panels that could be assembled into a hexagon, with goals on two sides and a door on another. The key requirement was that it needed to be portable – something that could be broken down and stored away when not in use. Each panel had to be light enough for one or two people to carry, and they all needed to lay flat for storage, except for the goals of course. I started sketching out ideas and turned to Autodesk Fusion to design the basic structure. If you’re interested in learning Fusion yourself, check out our Fusion for Makers course.

Looking back, I probably should have spent more money on materials. To keep costs down, I went with half-inch B/C grade plywood and two-by-twos instead of two-by-fours. The plywood had knots and wasn’t perfectly flat, which didn’t matter much for the basic wall panels but became an issue when cutting holes for the goals. The lighter materials also made the panels less sturdy than I’d hoped. Sometimes trying to save money ends up creating more work in the long run.

The hardware selection process took longer than expected. I spent hours browsing Amazon, looking for the right combination of hinges, latches, and connectors. I needed something that would let the panels connect at angles but also come apart easily. After some trial and error, including buying and returning several options that didn’t work, I found some great options, including some great 60-degree brackets that were perfect for the job. I used lag bolts with hex heads to connect everything, which made assembly and disassembly straightforward.

The goals were an interesting challenge. Initially, I built them with wooden crossbars, but then realized this might cause some issues with official soccer rules about the ball completely crossing the line. I modified the design to make them deeper and angled the back differently. This solved the problem without having to resort to nets, which would have been more complicated to set up and maintain.

The painting and finishing process took forever, but I wanted it to look professional for the kids. To speed up the eventual assembly, I created a 3D printed jig to make sure all the bracket holes lined up perfectly. This might seem like overkill, but when you’re working with six panels that need to fit together precisely, taking the time to make a jig is worth it. It meant we could assemble the court easily and everything would just fit perfectly each time.

The real test came during the tournament. The only modification I had to make after seeing it in action was adding an extra latch to the door – those kids were kicking the ball way harder than I expected. But watching them play and seeing how much fun they were having made all the work worth it. There’s something special about building something that brings joy to kids and helps them learn a sport they love.

The project turned out to be more complex than I initially thought, but that’s usually how these things go. I learned about a sport I knew nothing about, solved some interesting engineering challenges, and most importantly, helped create something that a bunch of kids could enjoy. Sometimes the best projects are the ones that push you to learn something new while making others happy. Thanks for being here, now go make something awesome!