The TPL

In 2021, billionaire and pickleball enthusiast Steve Kuhn launched a new league; Major League Pickleball. Major League Pickleball (MLP) would promise to be an event unlike any other in the pickleball world, utilizing a four person team format rather than the standard "pick your partner" method that PB regulars were accustomed to. With this team format, he promised new rules (rally scoring), more compelling games, and higher energy. The tagline for MLP is "There's nothing else like it!" And after watching their first few events unfold, I couldn't agree more.

So naturally, being a pickleball enthusiast myself, and knowing we have what is the greatest pickleball community in the country right here in St. Cloud Minnesota, I knew we needed to give an event of our own a try.

In the summer of 2022 we sent out a few texts trying to get an event together, and quickly realized it was impossible to coordinate everyone's schedules, and so we gave up. But then the 2023 season of MLP happened, and the matches became more compelling, the energy rose, and my obsession reached new heights (even flying out to California to watch an event in person). 

It was back to the drawing board this spring, and somewhere amongst the unending side conversations in one of our pickleball group texts, we decided upon a date, June 24th. Through the keen recruitment skills of our crew (special shoutout to Nicole!) we ended up with 8 males and 8 females, eager to see what this team pickleball format had to offer. Also somewhere deep down in the thousands of texts that flow through said group text string, the name that started as "St. Cloud Major League Pickleball" was changed, and the TPL (Thomas Pickleball League) was born. If my memory serves me correctly, we have either Jason or Kyle to thank for that name change, but we may never know.

Captains were named, and in late May we met up at The Redneck Wonderland to sample some Hazy IPA's and decide the teams. What occurred over the next month leading up to the big day was simply a thing of beauty. Teams were strategizing, meeting up to practice, coordinating outfits, coming up with team names, and even creating team logos! Seeing the pride everyone took in their squads almost pushed me to tears. I could not have been more proud of this group's dedication.

But enough on the background of the league, let's talk about the big day.

TPL Season 1

The expert meteorologists, who are never wrong, called for a full day of rain on the day of our scheduled contest. I had been asked a few times if we had a backup plan, but my response was simple, "The pickleball Gods shall provide." And luckily for us, they did.

The vibe was electric as the teams gathered at South Jr. High. Mitchell had the music pumping, pink shorts were revealed, and per tradition, Adam was the last to show up. We had a clipboard (until it broke out of excitement) and a scorekeeper who flew in from California. Jitters of excitement were seen on the competitors faces, but once the first serves happened, the gang was right into doing what they do best; pickleballing.

Behold the Inaugural TPL Participants

EJ & The Dinks came out hot, both with their flashy pink shorts and their play on the court, as they rolled through pool play with a 3-0 record, winning each match 3 games to 1. The EJ portion of that team (Emily and Jen) would end the day with the overall best team record, going 4-1 in their gendered doubles. Rumor has it that they also logged the most practice hours, as team captain Darrin Price ran a tight ship on his squad, making sure they took care of themselves not only on the court, but off the court as well with a strict eating and fluoride free water regimen. 

Emily, Jen, Darrin, and Mitchell; well done. You set the bar high for how a team should strive to look and perform on the courts in upcoming TPL events.

EJ and their "Dinks"

E&J after their 4-1 record on the day

NAJJ Mahal was said to be the team in royal blue, although not much royal blue was seen on the courts. However, while their matching outfits seemed to lack, their play did not. Team cornerstone Nicole Idalski went 6-2 on the day in her doubles matches, and lead NAJJ to the brink of a championship appearance, as they lost a heartbreaking semifinal match in the dreambreaker. A well fought dreambreaker by all, but especially Alissa as she had to play the role of "sacrificial lamb" and go against singles specialist Christopher Mavetz (a well thought out dreambreaker strategy by team captain Jason Krueger). She did exactly what NAJJ needed her to do each time, getting 1 point off Chris both times she came up in the lineup. 

Alissa, Nicole, Jay, and Jay's son (Jason?). Thank you for providing the TPL with multiple dreambreakers, the day wouldn't have been the same without it.

NAJJ and their matching blue shirts

While it was a close call after seeing the pink shorts of EJ & The Dinks, the best dressed team goes to Rebel Bat Fuzz. Not only did they perfectly match their green shirts, but they were the only team to have a team logo, and a sticker of said logo on their shirts! While it wasn't their day on the courts, they certainly looked the best, and each match they played in was a very tight contest. We were slim margins away from them taking the mighty pink shorts to a dreambreaker in the semifinals, in what would have been an action packed dreambreaker as each team is loaded with singles specialists. At the time of this writing, team captain Adam Couzens has hopped a ship somewhere near the US/Canadian waters, in search of the real Rebel Bat Fuzz, as it is known to possess powers currently not known to mortals. We wish him well on his quest. 

Thanks to Dee, Gloria, Adam, and Matt for bringing the energy all day long. And the trail-mix and salt water taffy!!

RBF showing why they won "Best Dressed"

And then there's the Krispy Dogfish. While we started the day off slow, and I got the worst sleep of my life the night before (rumor has it this was a coop from team NAJJ trying to throw me off my game), we ended strong. With our backs against the wall in the semifinal dreambreaker, Beth Trout came up big and rallied off three straight points to send us to the championship game. 

The championship matchup was looking eerily similar to MLP's "Super Final" that had occurred just 5 days before our event. In that match, the two time champion Seattle Pioneers were looking unstoppable as they were undefeated coming into the championship, taking on the LA Mad Drops. In the upset of the century, the Mad Drops won the crown 3 games to 0.

With a Mad Drops sweatband on my wrist, the Krispy Dogfish looked to channel our inner Mad Drops to pull off the upset over the pink shorts people. We were fortunately able to do just that. 

The good luck Mad Drops sweatband

Keeping the momentum going from her dreambreaker, Trout and Kris Portz handed EJ their first women's loss of the day in an intense 22-20 battle. Since the near capacity crowd enjoyed that game so much, the men decided to have their own 22-20 game, with Chris taking over and saving us after my many failed attempts to end the game, as we avenged our loss from earlier in the day to Mitch and Darrin. With a 2-0 match lead heading into game 3, it was nearly impossible to slow down the growing tidal wave of Mavetz and Trout, who took game 3, giving the Krispy Dogfish the title of TPL Season 1 Champions.

To Beth, Kris, and Chris, I'm very proud of you. 

"Bark like a dog, swim like a fish." -Chris Mavetz

Other numbers to note:

Participants- 16

Fans- 9

Minutes of rain- 6

Prize money- $4,250 (Special thank you to Darrin for providing all of the prizes!!)

Another special thank you to Kelli for being our scorekeeper/photographer/videographer for the entire event!

Pickleball, a true family game

In the end, the inaugural event was a blast. Everyone I've talked with said they had a great time, the pickleball was fantastic, and the camaraderie was off the charts. Thank you to everyone who participated. The TPL is forever grateful for you and your contributions. And as awesome as this event was, I have a feeling it's only going to get bigger and better from here! And so, the planning for the next installment of the TPL begins. Until then, we'll see you on the courts.

-Commissioner Tom