Pickleball Podcast with Gordy: Minor League Pickleball

 

Pickleball's Rising Wave Heads Down Under AUCKLAND, New Zealand - The pickleball craze that has swept across the United States is now rapidly crossing the Pacific, with a new professional minor league tour being rolled out in Australia in 2024. At the vanguard of this international expansion is Mike Newell, a seasoned American pickleball coach, commentator and player who is overseeing the launch of Minor League Pickleball in the Land Down Under. In a recent podcast interview with Australian pickleball enthusiast Gordon Watson, Newell laid out the ambitious plans for bringing the fast-paced, addictive sport to recreational players across the country through a series of regional qualifying tournaments culminating in national championship event. "Minor league pickleball is for everyone else - it's going to be for all recreational players throughout all of Australia," Newell explained to Watson. "We're going to be running the team event in the exact same format as they do in the major leagues." The unique format Newell references is modeled after the professional Major League Pickleball (MLP) circuit that has soared in popularity in North America over the past few years. Teams of four players - two men and two women - compete in a compressed tournament schedule lasting 4-6 hours. Each team plays a round-robin of gender and mixed doubles matches, with a playoff rounds following. A minimum of eight games to 21 points are guaranteed for every squad. If matches are tied after regulation, an innovative "dreambreaker" tie-break is played, with individual players engaging in singles pickleball to determine the winner. "In those dreambreakers, you can get the male-female combos...you just don't know what will happen. There's a whole act and react piece to the puzzle when you get to the dreambreaker," described Newell. "It's a lot of fun." While the MLP features the world's elite pro pickleball athletes, Minor League Pickleball will feature club and recreational players organized into teams by their combined rating on the Dupr pickleball ranking system. Five divisional brackets ranging from 14.0 to 22.0 combined ratings will be offered. "It's skill-based, meaning you take your four players' combined Dupr ratings," said Newell. "If two of us are 5.0 players and we have two 4.0 female players, our combined rating is 18.0, so we'd likely play in the 18.0 divisional bracket." Powered by Dupr and its tournament partner Swish Tournaments, players' results from Minor League Pickleball events will directly update their official ratings after each tournament, providing incentive to compete frequently. The first of four regional qualifying tournaments will be held April 13-14 in Melbourne. "If you win in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or up in Yeppon, you automatically qualify for the nationals," Newell stated. "If you get to the nationals and win, you qualify for the USA Minor League Pickleball National Championships in St. Louis in December, which is incredible." In addition to qualifying through regional wins, players can accumulate points based on their performances at Minor League Pickleball events. The top point-getters in each divisional bracket will earn spots in the Australian national championships as well. While the tournaments offer opportunities to gain glory and prestige, Newell stressed that the main purpose is growing pickleball's popularity through an entertaining product tailored for amateur participants of all skill levels. "We're really interested in getting the recreational players to get out there and play in this really unique, fun team format and get some bragging rights," he said. "There'll be music, a lively atmosphere - it's not going to be a stodgy, traditional tournament experience." The sponsorship of pickleball equipment company Hussl, combined with live streaming and onsite vendors and activities, are intended to cultivate an appealing environment akin to the successful Slam Jam tournament series in Australia. With major networks like ABC, CBS, and ESPN now broadcasting pro pickleball events in America, the global growth of the sport seems imminent. But Newell's pioneering work with Minor League Pickleball may prove to be grassroots fuel that allows the pickleball wildfire to spread rapidly through Australia and perhaps other countries very soon. "This is just the start - pickleball is about to take Australia by storm," Newell proclaimed. "We're really excited to get more people out playing, competing, and most importantly, having a great time with this sport that continues amazing so many people around the world."