My sweet, sweet, beautiful people of The TPL. WE ARE SO BACK! The TPL is a mere 11 days away. The coolers are being stocked, the catering has been ordered, and the toilets are being prepared for Genna's puking.
Speaking of Genna, she played a key role in us having 8 teams for Season 7 of The TPL. Not because she lobbied for it, but rather, because I forgot about her. Genna, the quietest participant in The TPL, slipped through the cracks, and when we were only days away from the draft happening, it was noticed that she wasn't on the list, even though she told me she was all in for season 7. And so, the scrambling began. We found 3 TPL first timers in Jasmine, Jay K, and Zach, and away we went with an all female captain draft for the first time since season 3.
The draft was reported to be nerve wracking, disorienting, and caused multiple participants to lose sleep. But in the end, the gals delivered 8 star studded teams, and set up what should be one of the finest displays of TPL pickleball we've ever witnessed.
Let's meet the season 7 participants.
Eat a Bag of Dinks. Captained by Jennifer Johnson
Jennifer Johnson, Missy Rosenthal, Yang Lo, Adam Couzens
New name, same team, same dream. Ahead of season 6, it was announced that for the first time in TPL history the winning team would get to keep their team intact for the next season. Formerly known as Resting Grinch Face, the squad of Missy, Jenny, Yang, and Adam, are back to defend their title now under the guise of "Eat a Bag of Dinks." As the season 6 champions, they come into season 7 with a glaring target on their backs, but this team is ready to defend their title. Can they go on another historic run and be the first ever back to back champions in TPL history? Or will they be left eating a bag themselves?
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| They certainly didn't win the best dressed award for season 6 |
Where's Julius? Captained by Lake Johnson
Emily Schadow, Lake Johnson, John Michaud, Julius Mejia
It's the age old question; where indeed is Julius? While we don't always know, I have a pretty good feeling I know where he'll be on June 7th. Where's Julius, captained by TPL megastar Lake Johnson, comes in as a squad with deep TPL experience. Lake, John, and Julius all have their names inscribed upon The TPL Cup, while Schadow has finished 2nd three times in her career. Lake and Emily were slotted to share the court together in season 6, but Schadow had to pull out of season 6 due to injury. Will the second try be the ticket? How many beers will John drink throughout the competition? These are the questions that keep Where's Julius fans up at night.
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| In case you were wondering, we found him |
Hook Line & Dinker. Captained by Kitri Boser
Lexi Portz, Kitri Boser, Jay Portz, Jay Kedrowski
After taking 2nd place in her first two TPL appearances, Kitri Boser makes her captain debut for season 7. She has assembled a squad full of power, length, and height. And Kitri's captainship isn't the only debut this team is featuring this season. After being asked multiple times throughout the seasons, Jay Kedrowski finally makes his TPL debut as a player. How will the mixed line ups look for this squad? Will we get to see a Portz pickle party, and the basketball squad of Kedrowski and Boser? Or will the Tech Tiger's Tennis sensations Lexi and Kedrowski bring back that high school magic?
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| Captain Kitri at the TPL media day |
Rainbow Sprinkles Reboot. Captained by Volly Johnson
Jen Markling, Volly Johnson, Dan Forsythe, Tom Spaniol
Another star making her first TPL captain appearance this season is Volly Johnson. Volly is coming off a great spring of pickleball, having gotten to play on center court at The US Open, winning some pro qualifying matches, and having a great run at the CT mixed open division last weekend. But those were all just warm up matches for the main event, as Volly looks to get her name on The TPL Cup for the second time. Spaniol also remains in the hunt to get his name back upon the TPL Cup for the first time since season 1, while Dan and Jen are both seeking their first titles. This team promises to bring lots of fire and athleticism to the court, and should be looking great with their coordinated uniforms.
Interesting tidbit- The Sprinkles had a full team practice lined up, until Eat a Bag of Dinks captain Jennifer Johnson left her daughter, our captain, at home. The move is currently under investigation from the league office, and it remains to be seen if there will be any punishment handed out ahead of season 7. What we do know is Volly now has her drivers license, so there will be no funny business to be had on June 7th.
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| Pickleball Dan is fired up for the Rainbow Sprinkles Reboot |
Red Hot Chili Dinkers. Captained by Nicole Idalski
Emily Gerads, Nicole Idalski, Manny Obregon, Jason Krueger
Familiarity and consistency is what Nicole Idalski was looking for when she crafted the Red Hot Chili Dinkers. Last season, Manny and Emily were on the same team, as were Jason and Nicole. Season 7 marks the 3rd time in only 7 seasons that Jason has been on the same team as Emily G. Couple that with the fact that Emily/Nicole play together pretty much every day, you'll see why this team is feeling confident and comfortable with each other heading into the big day.
But have we seen this script before? Will the over confidence come to be what sends them to the afterparty buffet early? Word on the street is Manny has been running his mouth talking shit to anyone and everyone who will listen. Will he continue his loud-mouthing on June 7th?
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| Once bitter rivals, this will be the first time Jason and Manny share a TPL court |
Puckin Picklers. Captained by Jasmine Lindberg
Jasmine Lindberg, Kris Portz, Zach Driscoll, Mark Elliott
Not only did we have a first time captain in Jasmine Lindberg, we had a first time captain who didn't even know she was a captain. After the aforementioned confusion and scramble to get our 8th team together, we thrusted Jazzy J into the spotlight by making her a captain in her TPL debut. Fortunately for her, we didn't make her draft a team, as elite TPL mind and general manager extraordinaire Alissa Spaniol drafted a team on Jasmine's behalf. And draft a team she did indeed. This team pairs newcomers alongside veterans, and youth with wisdom. Zach Driscoll is also making his TPL debut alongside mens partner and veteran Mark Elliott. And while Jazzy J will take the courts for the first time, she'll do so alongside Kris Portz, who has never missed a TPL event in her storied history.
Even though they may have the most spread out team in the league, this squad snuck a team practice in, and they're feeling fired up and ready to go.
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| The pride of NW Wisconsin, Mark Elliott |
Team Jamie. Captained by Jamie Voelker
Jamie Voelker, Genna Porter, Justing Dering, Kyle Jordre
Also making both her TPL and captainship debut, Jamie's draft strategy was simple, "We're going to draft for one thing and one thing only; height." With all four of their team members standing 6 foot + (League registration information has Genna self proclaimed at 6'2), this will be one tough team to lob. It's going to be one tough team to get anything past, really. Kyle comes in as this teams lone name on The TPL Cup, while the other 3 are loving their chances with Team Tall. It's quite likely that they won't be getting any team practices in, and we aren't even sure that they have each others phone numbers, but that won't stop this squad from looking down upon us all.
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| Jacked. Tall. Fierce. What more can you ask for! |
Ass Clowns. Captained by Jen Sheedy
Jen Sheedy, Nicki Pomeroy, Christopher Mavetz, Matt Otto
Speaking of not having each others phone numbers, I know for a fact this team didn't. It's also quite possible Sheedy was just texting random people details about The TPL. Whoever was getting those texts, it wasn't 3 time TPL Champion Christopher Mavetz, as he was iced out by his captain after the draft. What started out rough has now smoothed over, and this team could be finding their stride right as we head into the day of competition. We know Matt/Chris are going to bring the firepower, and Nicki/Sheedy have played many a tournament together in the past. This team has multiple mixed lineup options, and are ready to make a deep run after the Mavetz/Nicki combo took a heartbreaking first round exit during season 6. Matt has been there before, but can Sheedy/Nicki get on The TPL Cup for the first time? Can Chris pull even farther ahead in the championship race, or will another two time winner join him in the 3 Chip Club? All eyes on the 🍑🤡's as we find out.
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| Fire & Verde are back. C'mon now! |
And with that, we wait. Anxiously, nervously, excitedly, we wait for June 7th. Somehow the world will expect us to go about our daily lives for the next 11 days. But our minds will be drifting off to one spot, holding one image in mind; drinking from The TPL Cup.
