USTA New England Pickleball Advancing League
If you are interested but do not have a team or a full roster, please email Laura lhart@ridgeptc.com for assistance!
As tennis participation continues to boom in the United States, with more than 23.6 million people playing across the country, other racquet sports have also seen growth. Given these successes, the USTA is excited to pilot advancing team-based pickleball leagues in select cities throughout the country in 2023. Teams will have the opportunity to advance to a national invitational event to compete against other winning teams from across the country. USTA New England will utilize their experience in running tennis events both locally and nationally to provide an exceptional experience in these pilot programs. To help ensure this, these leagues will utilize the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating DUPR , pickleball’s top rating system, to facilitate play. These pilots will allow the USTA and the USTA Sections to explore potential ways to help facilitate new opportunities for tennis and pickleball providers and facilities. As part of this USTA pilot program, locally, USTA New England will be hosting the following leagues:
Divisions
- Co-Ed 19 & Over 7.5 combined DUPR
- Co-Ed 19 & Over 9.0 combined DUPR
- Each pair of players competing can not exceed the league division’s level “cap.” Because this is a pilot league and many players have new DUPR ratings, we are allowing up to a .3 margin for error with doubles pairings. In other words, up to a 7.8 and 9.3 combined rating will be allowed in this pilot season.
- Partners can not have more than a 1 point DUPR differential when playing in a match For example: if player A’s DUPR is a 3.4, their partner for any match must be within a 2.4 and 4.4 DUPR to be an eligible pairing for our team.
Format & Scoring
- Each division will play a full round robin, playing each of the other teams in their division The winner of the division will be determined by record. If needed, head to head result will be used as a tiebreaker.
- Each match within the round robin will include:
- Round 1 One women’s doubles, one men’s doubles played simultaneously
- Round 2 Two mixed doubles positions played simultaneously
- Round 3 If necessary, a third round mixed doubles tiebreaker will be played
- For rounds 1 & 2, teams will play best two out of three games to 11, win by 2
- If necessary, the third round tiebreaker will be one game to 11, win by 2, switching sides at 6
- Each team is allowed to sub 1 man and 1 woman in the tiebreaker only. Once a player is subbed out, they can not come back into the tiebreaker.
- Teams may choose to have the same players play in all 3 rounds or have different players in each or any of the rounds.
Team Size
- Teams should have a minimum of 6 players, 3 men and 3 women, on their roster
- A minimum of two men and two women are required for each match
- Teams need to submit lineups prior to each round. Captains will not need to submit full lineups prior to the start of the match.
- Subbing is only allowed in the tiebreaker round unless there is a severe injury or a medical In that case, a sub that is on the team’s roster will be allowed to enter that round.
- Any player advancing to the national event must play at least 1 match during the local season to qualify
Dates & Facilities
- Local league events will run at the following locations:
- Ridge Club, Acton, MA
- 5 division: 6 teams playing a round robin over two dates, Sunday, July 30th from 8 30am to 2 30pm (three matches) and Sunday, August 13th from 9 00am to 1 00pm (two matches). Rain date is Saturday, August 19th.
- Kingsbury Club, Medfield, MA
- 5 division: 6 teams playing a round robin over two dates, Saturday August 26th from 8 00am to 2 00pm and Sunday, August 27th from 9 00am to 1 00pm
- 9.0 division: 4 teams playing a round robin over one date, Saturday, September 9th from 8 00am to 2 00pm
- The National Invitational will be held October 27th to 29th at The Plaza in Las Vegas. Teams will either play Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday depending on division. That final schedule will be announced soon.
Registration
- First, an interested team captain must complete a Captain Interest Form here .
- All players must have a free USTA account (no USTA membership required) which can be created here and a free DUPR account and rating which can be created here. A team number will be issued to the team captain and all team members can use that number to register for their league on the USTA New England website through TennisLink.
- Players will be charged an individual league fee:
- Ridge Club 7.5 division two day event: $50 per player for Ridge Club members; $65 per player for non-Ridge Club members.
- Kingsbury Club Medfield 7.5 division two day event: $75 for Kingsbury Club full members, $85 for Kingsbury Club pickleball only members, $100 for non-members
- Kingsbury Club Medfield 9.0 division one day event: $60 for Kingsbury Club full members, $65 for Kingsbury Club pickleball only members, $80 for non-members
Additional Information:
- DUPR Ratings: A player’s DUPR rating will freeze on the day the player registers for the league and will remain frozen throughout the duration of the league. All match results during the season will be uploaded to DUPR.
- League Advancement: Local league play winners will advance to a National Invitational and compete against other teams across the country. In local divisions with 4 teams, 1 team will advance to the National Invitational. In local divisions with at least 5 teams, 2 teams will advance to the National Invitational. As stated above, players must participate in at least 1 local match in order to qualify for the National Invitational. Additional wildcards may be awarded for the National Invitational.
- Officials: Officials will not be present at local league play, but will be present for the National
- Balls: USTA New England will provide the balls for these leagues.
- Coaching: Coaching is allowed between games as it does not interfere with continuous play.
- With any questions, please contact Jeanne Ackerley, ackerley@newengland.usta.com.