The National Pickleball League – Australia (NPL) announced key info and dates for Season 1 of competition, with 24 teams spread across three conferences competing for a total prize pool of $100,000 beginning March 2, 2024.
A six round season will culminate in the finals weekend. All six rounds will be played within a teams home state. The rounds will be spread over month months. The finals will be held over two days as the state champions fight it out for a first place finish. Venues will be announced at a later date.
“We aim to showcase the pinnacle of pickleball in Australia via a teams format that promises to be both captivating and equitable,” said NPL chief executive officer Ron Shell. “We are looking to kick-start the true adoption of pickleball in Australia with an exciting national league. Large prize money and exposure is a must and that is the vision behind NPL Season 1.”
The announcement comes on the heels of the NPL’s National Pickleball League Championships – Gold Coast (July 29-30, 2023). Mitchell Hargreaves and Ludovica Sciaky captured gold in the Men’s and Women’s singles, with Hargreaves/ George Wall and Sciaky/Somer Dalla Bona taking home gold in Team Competition.
Click HERE for full podium results.
NPL Season I details below…
November 6, 2023 – Team Captain Announced
November 17, 2023 – NPL Season 1 Draft
Dec 22, 2023 – Final Teams Announced
March 2, 2023 – Season 1, Round 1
CONFERENCES
- NSW
6 Teams
2 FINALS SPOTS - Queensland
12 Teams
4 FINALS SPOTS - Victoria
6 Teams
2 FINALS SPOTS
TEAMS
- 6 players (3 Male, 3 Female)
- 2 Male & 2 Female play each Round
- Unique Team Names, Logos & Jerseys
DRAFT
- 24 Team Captains selected from around Australia
- Captains announced in November
- 1 Day Online draft (Date TBD)
- Draft using DUPR Ratings
- Snake draft with lowest Captain DUPR Rating = 1st Pick
- 144 players selected
- Teams made up of 3 males, 3 females
ROUNDS
- 6 rounds
- Played within your home state
- 1 day commitment
- 2 matches played each round
FORMAT
- Teams play 2 matches per round
- Each match = 4 sets + tiebreaker
- Mixed Doubles * 2
- Same Sex Doubles * 2
- Tiebreaker
- Each set is best of 3 games
FINALS
- One weekend
- All conferences/states
- One location
FINALS FORMAT
- Top 8 Teams
- 2 days
- Top 4 Teams receive double chance
- Day 1 – Qualifying, Elimination & Semi Finals
- Day 2- Preliminary & Grand Final
LADDER
- Win = 2 NPL Pts
- Bonus NPL point for clean sweep (4-0)
- Order
- NPL Points
- Sets For/Sets Against
- Games For/Games Against
- Points For/Points Against
ABOUT NPL – AUSTRALIA
The NATIONAL PICKLEBALL LEAGUE is the premier professional pickleball league in Australia. Comprising of the best 144 players in the country across 24 teams in 3 states. Teams face off across 6 rounds of competition in their state conference. The top 8 teams across the country will then fight it out for the glory of becoming the National Pickleball League Champions.
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