Browsing: Pickleball News

The MLP Premier Level Draft took place Tuesday, April 3, beginning at 6 p.m. ET. Pickleball TV and the MLP and PPA YouTube Channels provided live coverage for the first two hours. Dynamic Bidding Selection The 12 Premier Level teams filled out their 2024 season rosters via a dynamic bidding selection process. Teams received a maximum of one million Draft Points to bid with over four draft slots. Predictably, Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters were the first players selected. However, MLP Premier Level second-ranked male JW Johnson was surprisingly only picked in 12th place (behind Johns and seven others!),…

We reported recently that James Blake, as Tournament Director of the Miami Open, said, “We are delighted to welcome both wheelchair tennis players and MLP stars to this year’s Miami Open.” However, it would appear his first love is still most definitely tennis, as he took pickleball professional Christian Alshon to task for a comment the latter made on X a few days ago. “Pickleball Requires More Skill Than Tennis” “Pickleball has made me a much better athlete than Tennis ever did. Faster reaction time and speed are needed since the ball is only coming from 10 feet away. Point…

April is National Pickleball Month, and Palm Coast, Florida, is just one of the many places that will hold special events to celebrate the occasion. USA Pickleball is also getting in on the act with some celebrations of its own. Palm Coast National Pickleball Month, established in 2018, seeks to unite aficionados of the sport while introducing it to new audiences and sharing its inclusive, enjoyable, and health-enhancing attributes. Throughout April, Palm Coast will spotlight the recently revamped Southern Recreation Center, which boasts an impressive array of 12 cutting-edge outdoor pickleball courts. As part of the festivities, the city invites…

Initially, pickleball was merely a pastime for first-year students Ellie Jamison and Grace Collins from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Under Pickleball’s Spell Despite originating from cities where pickleball wasn’t as prevalent, Jamison and Collins soon found themselves under the sport’s spell while bonding over their visits to play pickleball at the Snyder Tennis Center during the fall of 2022. “But we just started playing pickleball and fell in love with it,” Jamison said. So much so they are now the co-founders of Play Henry, a pickleball paddle company. What began as a means of exercise and…

April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month, and men and women with the condition are out and about showing their communities how they really lead their lives. Communities in Sandy Springs, Georgia, Glendale, California, and Capitol Hill Village in Washington D.C. are using the game of pickleball to spread the word that people diagnosed with Parkinson’s can still lead an active life. Carry On Undaunted Rosemary Freeman, a retired lobbyist, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease approximately two years ago, a discovery that coincided with her discovering pickleball. “I was trying to learn pickleball at the time,” she recalled. “I couldn’t play well…

A new development is poised to transform the pickleball landscape in New Jersey. Plans for a new court and arena complex at the former Robbinsville Fieldhouse in Robbinsville, New Jersey, are scheduled to commence this spring. Twenty Cutting-Edge Courts According to their press release, the ambitious project, aptly named The Robbinsville Pickle House, will contain 20 cutting-edge courts, making it the largest pickleball venue in the northeast. New Jersey is set to be spoilt for choice when it comes to huge pickleball facilities. In February, we reported on plans to open another 20-court facility 50 miles northeast in Wayne in…

When it comes to the expansion of pickleball across the globe, Africa has been “a sleeping giant”. While a handful of pickleball clubs could be found in metropolitan areas, the majority of African nations have lagged far behind due to the absence of governance, trainers and equipment. A New Milestone However, at the recent 13th African Games, the Confederation of African Pickleball (CAP) and Global Pickleball Federation (GPF) changed that dynamic, achieving a new milestone in their collective mission to grow pickleball as a competitive sport across all of Africa. Currently representing approximately 95 percent of pickleball players worldwide, the…

Carling Bassett met Robert Seguso’s introduction at the 1986 French Open. He, a young tennis talent, crossed paths with Carling, already the seasoned pro. She had turned pro three years prior at the tender age of 18 and was just starting to flex her tennis muscles by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Really Devastating Carling’s performance at Roland Garros left an impression on Seguso, who reached the third round. She reached the fourth round, even though she was grieving her father’s recent passing due to brain cancer. “She always talked about…

The Staten Island pickleball community rallied together for the Joan & Alan Bernikow JCC of Staten Island earlier this month for a good cause: to support the Lucille & Jay Chazanoff Sunrise Day Camp, Staten Island. Double Last Year’s Numbers Sponsored by Mei Chi Liquors, the second annual charity pickleball tournament fundraiser surpassed all expectations, with 72 players attending, double the previous year’s attendance. In an atmosphere full of camaraderie and friendly competition, participants of all skill levels took part in matches in recreational, intermediate, and advanced categories. Click here for more of our articles about pickleball fundraisers. Orit Lender,…

In the autumn of last year, a nationwide search was launched to scout top-tier pickleball players for the reality show “Pickleball Paddle Battle.” Sixteen contenders are poised to vie for the ultimate prize—a coveted professional sponsorship. “Trick Shot Maestro” Among the contenders is Keven Wong, hailing from Oʻahu, 13 miles northwest of Honolulu. Wong started his pickleball journey in 2017 and has since become known as the “trick shot maestro” on the local pickleball circuit. Recalling his rather serendipitous first encounter with the sport, Wong reminisces, “One day, a bunch of guys from church asked if I wanted to go…