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The first major league sport to be formed in Austin was announced today as Major League Pickleball Tuesday morning in Dreamland Dripping Springs.
The league will feature the world’s 32 best players in eight mixed teams and begin on November 5th in Dreamland, 2770 US-290, in a tournament called the Pritchard Cup (named after Pickleball founder Joel Pritchard). 8. The grand prize is $ 150,000, almost the highest prize pool in Pickleball history.
For professional pickleball player Jesse Irvine, the new league is a chance to get back on a court after keeping injuries off professional tennis.
“When I started playing pickleball, I was a bit skeptical at first, but when I started playing I was immediately hooked,” Irvine told Austonia when the major league sport was announced. “I appreciate the sport because it gave me this second chance and I think there are a lot of players out there who are similar … it’s good for your soul, it’s just a great sport.”
Jesse Irvine discovered his love for pickleball as an adult after playing tennis at a young age. (Claire Partain / Austria)
Behind the league are some prominent Austin figures, including founder Steve Kuhns, owner of Dreamland and the bottled water company Richard’s Rainwater; and President Mellie Price, a renowned entrepreneur and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, who founded Front Gate Tickets before it was bought by C3 Entertainment and C3 Events.
“The launch of Major League Pickleball is a proud moment for everyone in the pickleball community,” said Kuhn. “I fell in love with pickleball six years ago and have been dreaming of building an elite-level pickleball league since the game began … It is just as important to me that MLP will bring new people into our sport. Pickleball inspires joy, passion and a true love of the game in anyone who picks up a paddle, and MLP will bring the sport to a new audience and help build a long, healthy and sustainable future for our sport. “
Other famous people involved in the leadership process include ex-US tennis player Jenny Klitch, who will serve as the team’s commissioner and pickleball professional and marketer Dave Fleming as brand ambassador. Austin City Limits co-founders Charles Attal and Charlie Walker; Podcaster and researcher Brené Brown; former No. 4 world ranking men’s tennis player James Blake; and Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry will also be part of the eight-member Team Owner group.
If you’re late for the pickleball scene, the sport is a mix of table tennis, badminton, and tennis played on an indoor or outdoor badminton court with a slightly modified tennis net. The paddles are pickleball-specific but are similar to ping pong paddling, and a pickleball that is similar to a wiffleball is used to play the game.
While pickleball has become a prominent sport for the elderly looking to get active, today it is embraced by people of all ages who agree on one thing: once you’ve started, you can’t stop.
Professional pickleball player Irina Tereschenko has a couple of factors: easy to learn, easy on the joints and easy to make friends on and off the field.
“You can not have a background in racquet sports or have no athletic background, run on the court and play within 20 minutes,” said Tereschenko. “And that’s exhilarating. People say they get addicted after playing for the first time, and that’s a fact.”
Austin has an appetite for pickleball with sites like Dreamland, which hosts three professional pickleballers, the Austin Pickle Ranch, the world’s largest pickleball fields due to open in late 2021, and popular hangouts like Bouldin Acres, which feature the fast-growing sport. Now the city will play a key role in making “the fastest growing sport in the world” a household name, according to The Economist.
Director of Operations Brooks Wiley, who has taken himself to the pickleball court more than a few times since hearing about the sport from Kuhns himself a few years ago, said the pickleball community in Austin is already well established.
“Austin is a very outdoor lifestyle community,” said Wiley. “Whether you’re going out on the lake, paddle boarding or running … and just the community. I have friends who I made through Pickleball who were business partners and are now my real friends who I go on vacation with. “
After the official start on Tuesday, the first draft of the leagues will be streamed live on Friday, October 1st from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in Rockwall, northeast of Dallas. Four players will be selected to take part in the opening tournament November 5-8. to take part women and men singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
Read more about pickleball:
Where and How to Play Pickleball in Austin (US Pickleball / Twitter)
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