After drafting eight talent packed teams for season 7, the women decided one draft a year was enough for them as they handed the season 8 draft back to the fellas to see what they could mix up.
Not being the brightest bulbs, the dudes met up at the then A/C-less Shed on June 22nd, one of the hottest days of 2025, with humidity levels reaching 100%, to not only draft the season 8 squads, but to first play to determine the draft order.
After each participant going through multiple shirts, the Franklin balls turning to mush, and nearly losing a few gentlemen due to heat exhaustion, the guys proved to still have a bit of their brains left as they compiled a very, very competitive lineup of squads for season 8 of The TPL. Each team with one goal in mind; take down The Talls and get their names forever engrained upon The TPL Cup.
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| How beautiful is it to see the TPL family gathering (and dominating) at other tournaments! |
Let's meet the squads:
4 Talls No Smalls. Captained by Jamie Voelker
Jamie Voelker, Genna Porter, Kyle Jordre, Justin Dering
The season 7 champions are back to defend their title, and look to be the first team to do so after The Grinches could not repeat in season 7. They are sticking with their pre event training schedule that they devised for season 7, which includes never practicing together as a full squad. But this team is still playing plenty of pickleball. It's tough to see a tournament go by this summer without at least one of The Tall people playing in it. But none of those tournaments carry the same weight as The TPL. Will The Talls be able to perform under pressure in season 8 with a target on their backs? Can they go down in history as the first team to ever repeat at The TPL? Rumor has it, Genna has gotten even taller during the off season, and many are pointing to this development as a potential dealbreaker for the rest of the field. Bring out your measuring sticks, as we see how high this team can fly on the 27th.
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| Just two tall gals ready to defend their title |
September Reign. Captained by Adam Couzens
Kitri Boser, Jen Markling, John Michaud, Adam Couzens
September Reign comes in with plenty of familiarity amongst teammates as Michaud/Markling competed together in season 2, and Adam/Kitri have partnered up in numerous non TPL tournaments. Shed brethren John/Adam have played thousands of pickleball games together throughout their careers, but it will be a first for Kitri/Jen on the women's side. How will this first time partnership fare against the gauntlet of TPL opponents? Is Kitri's achilles insertional tendinitis 100% healed? The latest injury report from September Reign had her listed as "highly probable" for season 8. All eyes will be on Millstream park this Saturday to see how she's moving on the courts. In other stats, the last two times Adam has been a captain (season's 5 and 6) he won the title. Can he make it 3 for 3 with a title in season 8, adding to John's tattoo?
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| Big J always brings his best on TPL day |
The Buckthorns. Captained by Tom Spaniol
Kris Portz, Jennifer Johnson, Jay Kedrowski, Tom Spaniol
"Buckthorn trees are one of the most destructive invasive species in North America, often described as cruel to the ecosystems they invade. They choke the life out of surrounding trees and plants by forming dense thickets that block sunlight, stealing water and nutrients from the soil, and altering the natural habitat. Their roots spread aggressively, making it nearly impossible for native plants to compete. To make matters worse, buckthorn is notoriously hard to kill—cutting it down usually isn’t enough, as it quickly resprouts from the stump or spreads by seed."
And so this team shall be. Destructive, invasive, cruel to those around it. Stealing water and nutrients, making it impossible for others around us to compete. Notoriously hard to kill. I (Tom speaking) drafted this team with these exact qualities in mind, and appropriately named us to reflect that. Also because I have a lot of buckthorn in my backyard. But mainly because this squad is ready to be destructive and not give a buck about whose day we're ruining. This squad brings both fire and familiarity, with Kedrowski/Portz going way back to the Tech tennis days, and Johnson/Spaniol having shared the court during season 3 as the runner ups that year. The last time Portz/Spaniol were on the same team, they left with their names on The TPL Cup. And Kedrowski has been getting better by the minute, leaving a wake of depleted opponents in his path. Could this be the squad that gives JJ her 3rd championship, tying her with Mavetz for most all time? It's hard to say right now, but what we do know is this team won't be going down easily.
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| Kris is always pushing the boundaries, and will be on September 27th |
Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch. Captained by Zach Driscoll
Jen Sheedy, Nicki Pomeroy, Mark Elliott, Zach Driscoll
Quite the fun team name. Quite the fun team. Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch are ready to play and party in season 8, running back two different gendered squads from season 7. Sheedy/Pomeroy were on the same team last season, as were Elliott/Driscoll. Did Zach realize this as he was drafting, or was he just picking names off the sheet due to his heat exhaustion? We'll never know for sure, but in his captainship debut Zach was able to assemble a heck of a squad worthy of a championship run. And if they don't win, you can still count on them to be living it up at the after party. Well, at least the female portion of their team we can count on, as Zach/Mark are flight risks for an early exit from The Shed.
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| Marky Mark himself |
Volley Lamas. Captained by Christopher Mavetz
Missy Rosenthal, Lake Johnson, Corbin Bentz, Christopher Mavetz
Watch out folks, Chris/Lake have finally found themselves back on the same squad for the first time since Lake's TPL debut back in season 2. A season which ended in a championship for the two of them. Paired up with the dynamic duo is Missy/Corbin, who found great success sharing the court together back in season 5. This is a team the TPL beat writers have had high on their list since draft day, but questions do still remain. Mavetz hasn't played pickleball since the draft back on June 22nd, how sharp will he be? Will Missy/Corbin be able to retain the magic they found together on Abraham Dinkin? After his hot start taking 3 out of the first 4 TPL titles, Mavetz hasn't found himself past the first round of the playoffs. Could this be the squad that takes him back to the promise land? Boy am I sure excited to find out.
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| Chris is ready to eat in Season 8 |
Volly and The Picklecats. Captained by Manny Obregon
Volly Johnson, Emily Schadow, Jay Portz, Manny Obregon
Two teams with Volly in their names this season!? High praise for the young buck, as Volly finds herself on a squad that had all played together back in season 5 (minus her), and played well suffering a narrow dreambreaker loss in the playoffs. This will be the 3rd time Jay/Manny have teamed up in The TPL, looking to turn that familiarity into some wins for their squad. Things will look a bit different this season as Volly, usually seen on the right showcasing her patented cross court roll dink, will (likely) be playing the left alongside lefty teammate Emily Schadow. And what TPL preview article would be complete without mentioning that Schadow has now played in 4 championship matches, and gotten second 4 times, tying the Minnesota Vikings on that feat. Will this be the season she hoists The TPL Cup? The pride of Wilmar High Manny Obregon sure thinks so.
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| Jay is also trying to find TPL inspiration in Norway |
Dink Floyd. Captained by Julius Mejia
Emily Gerads, Lexi Portz, Jason Krueger, Julius Mejia
Well well well, look what we have here once again. It's Emily Gerads and Jason Krueger on the same TPL team. A tale as old as time, occurring now for the 4th time. Another tale as old as time, Emily Gerads and Jason Krueger appearing on the same TPL team, and having a team name consisting of a pickleball/musical artist crossover. First it was Dink 182, then The Red Hot Chili Dinkers, and now here we are with Dink Floyd. Our investigative team has uncovered that this squad was able to get some full team practicing in, showing quite a bit of dedication to do so. Lexi traveled to the area on a Wednesday afternoon, with Mr. Krueger calling in "sick" to work. Let's see how his fellow Minnesotans feel about their tax dollars going towards his "sick" days practicing for The TPL. Other questions loom large for this team as well. Will Julius Mejia, in his debut as a captain, return to the championship match for the 4th straight time? Or will this squad be left with Sorrow, and Lost for Words at the after party, trying to drown themselves in IPAs to be Comfortably Numb?
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| Emily recently found herself atop the podium. Will she in season 8 as well? |
The Avengers. Captained by Dan Forsythe
Nicole Idalski, Jasmine Lindberg, Yang Lo, Dan Forsythe
This team is appropriately named, as Dan the man Forsythe is not playing like a human right now. He is a superhero on a mission after his team (I was on it) got swept in the playoffs of season 7, Dan not even getting a chance to go out for mixed. He balled out at the draft selection day, and got the exact squad he wanted. Both Lo and Idalski (x2) have their names engraved on the cup, as The Avengers will look toward their experience to guide Dan and TPL sophomore Lindberg to the title. This squad is set up to trot out any mixed lineup and be competitive, and has the potential to come out as the best dressed, depending on how far they push this Avengers theme.
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| Avenger Dan ready to rock |
Side note-
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| Will Mavets and Spaniol's time with Lord Stanley help or hurt their chances in hoisting The TPL Cup? |
There we have it folks. 8 ridiculously talented teams set to square off and battle for an eternity on The TPL Cup. The anticipation is officially starting to rise as we inch closer to the 27th. Food has been ordered, libations secured. The shed is looking as beautiful as ever, and it can't wait to host you all again. Many dreams will be shattered, while only a few come true. But fun will most certainly be had by all.
Can't wait to see you. Love and hugs.
-Tom Spaniol
A few other notes:
1. We will be allowing the option for mixed doubles to take place in the dreambreaker. Here's how it will work- If the match goes to a dreambreaker, the home team will decide if they want the dreambreaker to be gendered doubles or mixed doubles. If they select gendered doubles, nothing is different than previous seasons, and the away team chooses who goes first, the men or the women. If they select mixed doubles, the home team then has to say who is playing together on their team, and the away team gets to choose who they want to play against, and choose which half of the dreambreaker each pair will play.
For example- Manny's team is home and he selects for the dreambreaker to be mixed. He then declares Jay/Emily S will be playing together, and Manny/Volly will be playing together. My team, as the away team, gets to look at that and decide who we want to play against and when. We can say Jay K/Jenny will play against Manny/Volly first, and Tom/Kris will play against Jay P/Emily S in the second half.
If you are confused by this, text me and we can discuss. Only one person on your team really needs to understand it, hopefully your captain 😂.
2. The season 8 fee will be $50 again. Cash or venmo to me works. Water/gatorade a few snacks will be provided throughout the day, as well as the after party catered by House of Pizza (don't worry, I ordered more wings this time!)
3. Pool play will be played at Apollo again, followed by playoffs at The Shed. Pool play will start at 9am, with nets up by 8:15am.
We will follow the same format as last time, with 1 wild card pool play match, and 3 pool play matches against the rest of your pool.
The one change is the first quarterfinal matches will start right away after pool play has finished, rather than taking a long break before we start them. Those who play in the first QF matches will automatically have a break after their match (either they are eliminated, or they have a break while the second QF matches take place), so this will be a good way to keep the day moving.
4. If you need a place to stay Saturday night, please let me know, or coordinate directly with your host family if you have someone in mind 😂
5. For those that love planning ahead, season 9 of The TPL will be December 27th and 28th, a two day event, all at The Shed. We did this last December, and it was awesome. I fully understand if it doesn't work for everyone due to holiday plans, but wanted to throw it out there early to get it on your radar. I do not need RSVP's yet, just wanted you to know.
