The National Pickleball League-Australia (NPL) and co-founder/CEO Ron Shell are preparing for their league’s debut season this coming Spring, where teams from across the country will compete for $100,000 in Season 1.
Incorporating in January 2023, the NPL recently wrapped up their first major event in July on the Gold Coast, dishing out $12,000 in prize money and have successfully facilitated a pair of 8-week social leagues in South Yarra and Thornbury. Their next event, NPL Championships-Sydney kicks off October 8 at Voyager Tennis.
Shell, who recently relocated back to his home country from the United States, witnessed the rapid growth of pickleball during his time in Denver and New York City and is drawing from that experience with his new NPL venture.
“It prompted me to look into the landscape here, what was available from leagues and tournaments, what was being done to grow, enhance and market the sport and it led to the creation of the National Pickle League earlier this year,” said Shell.
While the participation numbers in North America continue to skyrocket, Australia’s haven’t yet hit the frenzy of their Canadian and American counterparts. To adapt to this, the NPL will feature select divisions, ages and skill brackets to match the level of current participation that Shell and co. think suits the space in its current state.
“We try to keep it somewhere between 5 to 6 different events, as opposed to 20 or 30 if you break it up into too many skill levels and age groups. And that’s really to simplify things as we grow and try to attract new players to the sport,” explained Shell.
Off the courts, Shell has identified the game’s social component, and is looking to incorporate that aspect into driving awareness and interest into the NPL brand and overall promotion of the sport in Australia.
“We’ve launched ourselves as a brand and voice of pickleball in Australia where you can not only find out where to play—from lower levels up to professional levels—but digest news content and also be able to spread the word amongst companies, schools, universities, and really the grassroots aspect of the sport.
To support their current and future endeavours, the league has aligned with Treasury Wine Estates’ wine brand, Squealing Pig in a sponsorship agreement. Squealing Pig will champion the title of Major Sponsor for the NPL over the next two years. NPL’s second sponsor, Aqualove Water, will be the Official Water Sponsor of the NPL.
“That’s what changed for me in the US—that it suddenly was on social media,” said Shell. “It was on SportsCentre. People were sharing it. The courts were built to look really nice…So, we’re really investing heavily in the videography, photography, and content side of things.”
For Shell, the positive reaction from newcomers to the sport falls in line with what he has seen during his travels abroad, and is an encouraging sign for the NPL and its partners as they look to capitalize on the sport’s continued momentum.
“If we can get a million people playing the sport in Australia, that’s still only four percent of the country,” he said. “There has been an amazing reception to the sport so far, but let’s make no mistake, there’s a huge challenge ahead, and it’s not only for us. It’s for the whole space to invest more time, energy, and marketing, to get the sport where it needs to be in Australia for it to be a really viable industry.”
Things continue to ramp up for the NPL heading into the new year. Following Sydney’s Championships, the NPL heads to Melbourne, Nov. 17-19 for their second event in 5 weeks, followed by the launch of their first dedicated Pickleball super site in Melbourne (NPL has promised more details on this initiative soon).
Learn more about the NPL by visiting nplpickleball.com.au. and @nplpickleball across social to stay updated.
ABOUT NPL-AUSTRALIA
NPL is the premium pickleball organisation of Australia. The NPL brand offers Australia’s professional national league, tournaments, corporate days, school/university programs, social leagues, events & introductory Pickleball days.
NPL aims to build the total number of Pickleball players in Australia via professional league pathways, marketing, content & venue investment. The NPL aims to expand its product internationally in 2024.
ABOUT HAUS PICKLEBALL
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