NTPL was created to provide the opportunity for recreational pickleball players to compete in a TEAM format. Our creative format allows for a great combination of individual match play with a team scoring format that creates great excitement for the entire match. We look forward to offering players the opportunity to compete in a social and competitive environment with a chance to advance to a National Championship together with their friends.

In 2024, 16 Communities (Local or State Based) will run qualifying leagues or tournaments to select the team to represent their state at the National Championships. Each of these 16 teams will come together to compete in the National Championship tournament to crown the NTPL 2024 CHAMPION! There will be two different venues for the NTPL Championship events. The first event will be held at Hilton Head, SC from September 11-15. The championship event will be held in Las Vegas from October 2-6. Please see the website home page to see which divisions are being hosted at each championship event!

Sixteen states will have leagues or qualifying tournaments for the year 2024. Check out the website for a location near you to see the contact information for your area provider. If you do not see your state listed, contact info@ntpl.org to find out how to become a Preferred Provider for the 2024 competition season.

Players with NO rating in any ratings system will be assigned a rating for their inaugural year. Players in the 3.0 divisions will be rated 3.2 Players in the 3.5 divisions will be rated 3.7 Players in the 4.0 divisions will be rated 4.2 Players in the 4.5 divisions will be rated 4.7

While we have the support of DUPR as our primary rating system, players with multiple ratings will use the average of their ratings to determine where they will play for the 2024 year. Players with no DUPR rating, but with a rating in another ratings system will use the average of their ratings in the other systems.

Your rating will LOCK on the day you register for your local league. Local Area Coordinators will provide to the National Tournament Director the rating of each player that qualifies for Nationals as of the day they registered for local league play. Players will not be disqualified if their rating increased over time between initial registration and Local play/National Championship.

We have 18 divisions of play for 2024: *includes Women/Men/Mixed

A team match will have 3 pairs of players competing against the other team’s 3 pairs of players. There will be 3 rounds of play so that each pair of players will play 2 games to 11 against EACH of the other player’s 3 pairs of players. Thus – each pair of players will compete in a total of 6 games total for a team match. For scoring and how to determine a TEAM WIN, please see the Rules section of the NTPL website.

Each team match in Combo Doubles requires 2 courts for 2 hours. Women and Men doubles will be played simultaneously on two adjacent courts for the first round of play, followed by two rounds of Mixed Doubles. Round = Two games to 11 (win by 2) against the same opponent. Switch sides after the first game. For scoring and how to determine a TEAM WIN, please see the rules on the NTPL website.

Teams are allowed to have as many players as they choose on their roster. Since the Gender based divisions need 6 players PER MATCH, we highly recommend having AT LEAST 8-10 players on your team to allow for substitutions (in between matches) and player scheduling issues. Since the Combo Event needs 2 women and 2 men in EACH match, we recommend having AT LEAST 4 women and 4 men on your team.

For the Men’s and Women’s Divisions: Once the 6 players have been established and partnered during a match, there can be no substitutions or swapping of partners. If there is an injury, please refer to the rules for injury substitutions. For the Combo Divisions: The players who compete in the Women’s and Men’s Doubles matches may be different than the players who compete in the Mixed Doubles matches. However, the pairing of players for Round 1 of the Mixed and Round 2 of the Mixed must be the same players in the same pairings. If there is an injury, please refer to the rules for injury substitutions.

Any player who wants to compete in the National Championship MUST have played in at least TWO matches during local area competition. See "adding new players" below.

Teams are allowed to add ONE new player to their roster for the Combo Doubles event, or TWO new players for the single gender event at the National Championships. This player did not have to compete in the local competition and their rating will lock on the day they register for the National Championship. Requirements: must be rostered 4 weeks before the National event their rating compliant with the division they are competing in they CANNOT be a self-rated player

Each division will have up to 16 teams competing for the NTPL Championship title. Teams will be guaranteed AT LEAST 3 team matches over 2 days of play. Teams will be randomly divided into pool play followed by a playoff format in order to determine the Championship team. All teams at National will compete in round robin pool play on Day 1 and 2. Not all teams will advance out of the pool play into the playoff championships that take place on Day 2 of competition

Teams in round robin division 4-team championship groups will be randomly selected. When possible, wild card teams won't be placed in a division group with a team from their qualifying league. Championship brackets will be seeded based on round robin group performance.

Hotel options may be found under NTPL Championships menu or click on buttons below for direct link.

If you play on 2 teams that qualified, for example one for the 18+ and one for the 50+, then you can play in both events. We do not take into account that players could be on multiple teams when we schedule so that would be up to your team to organize players that might be double-booked on match times.

We will be running the tournament based on pools of 4 teams. Each team will have a round-robin in their pool and where the winning team will advance to the playoffs. Day 1 will have 2 team matches Day 2 will have the 3rd match in the pool plus semifinals and finals (playoff for 3rd/4th). So, every team is guaranteed 3 team matches with the possibility of up to 5 team matches.

If your team has already won the qualifying event in your local area, go ahead and register for the National Championships. We will confirm all teams entered with the local league coordinator.