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National Pickleball League – Australia announces Season 1 dates, format

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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.

NPL OFFICIAL WEBSITE

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.

Photo credit: NPL

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
Photo credit: NPL

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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