How to get started in creating a local Tournament?
Contact the Tournaments Director for additional information:
Send an e-mail inquiry
For USAPA-Sanctioned Tournaments, the USAPA has adopted the rules for IFP-Sanctioned tournaments as defined in the Official Tournament Rulebook of the International Federation of Pickleball.
These sanctioning rules are designed to be used only for the conduct of USAPA-sanctioned tournaments. A USAPA-sanctioned tournament allows players to be ranked on a national basis. Non-sanctioned tournaments may also use these sections as guidelines. Tournament directors for non-sanctioned tournaments may be flexible in the use of these guidelines to better fit the skills, ages, and diversity of their players. The USAPA enthusiastically encourages these non-sanctioned tournaments to promote knowledge, growth of the game, skill development, and having fun while playing pickleball. Tournaments may be sanctioned for the ranked events that they include even though a tournament director may also choose to include recreational or unranked events.
Liability and Participant Accident Insurance
The USAPA has purchased insurance that will provide the required liability coverage for all USAPA-sanctioned tournaments in the U.S. and Canada, so long as the tournament director receives advance sanctioning approval from the USAPA and follows USAPA rules.
In addition, all U.S. and Canadian USAPA members will receive secondary accident insurance up to $25,000 for medical expenses ,with a $1,000 deductible,for injuries incurred while playing in a sanctioned tournament.
To help defray the significant cost of this insurance, the USAPA has instituted a tournament sanctioning fee based on the following schedule:
Tier 4 - $50
Tier 3 - $75
Tier 2 - $100
Tier 1 - $125
For most tournaments, the fee will amount to less than $1 per player. The fee will apply to all tournaments that are sanctioned from July 1, 2010 forward. Tournaments that have already been sanctioned will not be subject to the fee but may still receive the benefits of this insurance coverage. The fee must be paid prior to receiving sanctioning.
Certificate of Insurance Request Form (PDF) Use this form if the venue owner requires a certificate of insurance for your sanctioned tournament.
Should be modified for your tournament.
This form should be used for reporting results for all tournaments except when using USAPA tournament software or other approved software. If using approved software, report the results in the tournament brackets.
Round-Robin Scoresheet
The links below are for a spreadsheet for recording the results of round-robin matches. The spreadsheet is laid out for 8 players, but there can be fewer players. List the players as indicated in green. All the players going across the top play the players listed on the left. Post the scores or the number of games won under the names of the players. Then they can be added up at the bottom.
If the winner is determined by the number of matches won, the matches should 2 of 3 games to 11, or one game to 15 or 21 with all games being won by at least 2 points. If the winner is determined by the number of points won, the games should be to 15 or 21 with a win by one point. In the event of a tie in matches or points, the head-to-head match can be the tiebreaker.
If there is a tie among three or more players/teams, another form of tiebreaker must be used. A short round-robin among the leaders is recommended.
Microsoft Excel Format (xls) Open Document Format (ods)
We strongly encourage tournament directors to use the USAPA tournament software. It assists in creating brackets. Results can be filled in online so that results and the filled in brackets are published instantly. Tournament directors of larger tournaments, those with 100 or more entries, may wish to use
PickleballTournaments.com tournament software. This software is approved for all tournaments.
