SOUTHERN OREGON PICKLEBALL ASSOCIATION

Southern Oregon (Grants Pass to Klamath Falls) has been invited to participate in the Oregon Team Pickleball League (OTPL). Here's is my synopsis of what this organization offers and how teams in S.O. can participate in their competitive league format.

The OTPL is a venue-based, team-focused league that organizes two season of play. Men's and Women's leagues play Spring through early Summer and Mixed leagues play Mid Summer through Fall (this varies by region). They currently have leagues already competing in Central Oregon and in the Willamette Valley Region.

To form a team, a captain must establish a home court venue and recruit players who will comprise the team. Once a region has a pool of teams at various venues, which could include multiple different teams at a venue, OTPL would schedule team competition. The "home team" would host the visiting team at their venue and a "match" would consist of three doubles teams playing a round robin. The view the full match process, refer to the FAQ here. At the end of the match, points are divided based on wins and even score differential.

At the end of the league cycle, the top two teams from a region play in the State Championships against the other regional leaders and the winners there have the opportunity to go to a National playoff.

A venue can form teams of various skill levels to compete. A team needs to field at least 6 players for each match (three doubles teams), but may recruit more players to their roster to ensure they have enough people available for each home and away match. Typical teams size is between 10-12 players, but could be much smaller. There are specific rules on how and when a player can be added to a roster, but usually that is established before the start of the season.

SOPA's involvement: We are only acting as the initial contact from the OTPL to our region. George Morgan is available to meet to discuss this opportunity, but we are not sponsoring or leading the establishment of any teams. We can also work with captains on gaining permission to use public venues as a home court location (i.e., Fichtner-Mainwaring, Holmes, or the new Lithia Driveway Pickleball Park when available).

The OTPL has an up-to-date website with all pertinent information needed to begin creating teams to compete. In particular, the FAQ page is very helpful.