Brittany Pickleball League

1.  There are two different leagues this year.  There is the Competitive League with 6 teams (Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico).  There is the Standard Division with 18 teams in the league that will be divided into two 9 team divisions.  There will be a South American division with the following 9 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.  The other division will be Europe with the following 9 countries: Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Sweden.

2.  There will be 6 players on each Competitive League Team and 7 or 8 players on each Standard League team. 

3.  Each team will be evenly divided up upon each player’s skill level.  We will be using rally scoring for all games.  The games will be played to 17 points and the third game tie breaker will be played to 11 points.  In rally scoring the leading team will freeze at 16 points and the trailing team will freeze at 14 points.  Once your score freezes, you will only be able to score when serving.  During the tie breaker game, the leading team will freeze at 10 points and the trailing team will freeze when they reach 8 points.  You must win games by 2 points. (An overview of Rally Scoring is below)

4.  There will be an 8-week regular season and each team will play 10 games.  The Competitive League will play everyone in your league twice.  The Standard League will play everyone in their division once and 2 cross division games.

5.  Matches will be played on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  There will be up to 6 matches played on each night.  We will be using all 4 pickleball courts.  The first match will start at 6:15, the second match will begin at 7:30 and the final match will begin at 8:45.  Each match will last approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. 

6.  Rainout nights will be either fit into our open time slots on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday night starting 6:15 for match 1, 7:30 for match 2, and 8:45 for match 3.  If we have additional rain outs to be made up on Sunday nights if needed.

7.  Standard Bracket: Each match will consist of one men's doubles, one women's doubles, one mixed doubles and an open match. Each match will consist of two games to 17 points and a third game tiebreaker to 11 points if both teams won a game.  Each match is worth 1 point.  The team with the most points at the end of all matches is the winner (4 total points). Round 1 will be the men’s doubles and the women’s doubles games.  The Round 2 games will be mixed doubles and open.  The same men’s doubles team or women’s double’s team cannot play in Round 1 and Round 2. If you don’t have a minimum of four players at a match and a substitute player is unavailable, you will lose the games for which you don’t have enough players.  Please note that you don’t forfeit the entire match, just those games. Every player on a team must play one match if they are present at the match. (There are no substitute players during the playoffs)

8.  Competitive Bracket: Each match will consist of 4 different doubles matches (unless one team only has 3 players, then there will be 2 singles matches and 2 doubles matches).  Each match will consist of two games to 17 points and a third game tiebreaker to 11 points if both teams won a game. Each match is worth 1 point.  The team with the most points at the end of all matches is the winner (4 total points).  The same doubles team or single player cannot play in Round 1 and Round 2. Teams will have the ability to request a substitute player if they only have 2 that can play. If only 2 players show up, it is a forfeit. If both teams don’t have enough players, then both teams will get a loss. Every player on a team must play one match if they are present at the match. (There are no substitute players during the playoffs)

9.  Standings will be kept for each division / league showing the number of games won, lost or tied during the regular season.  If there is a tie score at the end of the match there is no tiebreaker during the regular season. 

10.  At the end of the 10-game season the top 6 teams from each division of the Standard League will advance to the winner’s bracket playoffs.  The bottom 3 teams in each division will advance to the Best of the Rest playoffs.  If there is a tie between teams at the end of the season, the first tiebreaker would be the head to head winner (Tiebreaker 1 only applies if there is a two way tie. If more than two teams tied then the second tiebreaker will come into effect). The second tiebreaker will be your in division record. The third tie breaker will be total games won in all 10 matches. If there is still a tie, then the final tiebreaker would be a coin flip. (All 6 teams will make the playoffs in the Competitive Division.)

11.  Regular Season Standings points: Each final match win is worth 2 points and each tie is worth 1 point.

12.  Teams will flip a coin to decide who will be the serving team for the first game of each round. The winner of game 1 will be the serving team of the 2nd game.  The winner of game 2 will be the serving team of game 3 if necessary.

13.  Each team will be assigned a captain.  The captain will be responsible for filling out their entire lineup prior to the beginning of the match.  In addition, each captain will trade lineup cards with the opposing captain prior to the start of the match.  Each captain will then be in charge of keeping score of each game played.  At the conclusion of the match, the captains will then compare score cards and verify the total scores. The captain of the winning team will then be responsible for reporting the final score to the BPL.  To report the final score, you can email: Brittanypickleball@gmail.com, or you can text a picture of the scoreboard to Susan Wirz 404.867.0661. The report should contain the winning team name and the final score. 

14.  The Standard League playoffs will consist of the top 6 teams from each division, The Competitive League playoffs will consist of all 6 teams.  The top 2 teams in each division will receive a first round bye.  The initial round of the playoffs you consist of the 4th place finisher in the opposite division will play the 5th place winner in the other division.  The 3rd place finisher will play the 6th place finisher in opposite divisions. (Same format for the Competitive League) The quarterfinals will then rank each team 1 thru 8 based on place in standings, then total points scored, then games won.  If they scored the same number of points and games, then it would be decided by a coin flip. The higher ranked team will begin serving for each round.  The Best of the Rest tournament for the Standard League will consist of the 5t h , 6th  and 7th  place finisher in each division.  The 5thplace finisher will receive a bye and the 7th place finisher will play the 6th place finisher from the other division.  The four remaining teams will be seeded 1 – 4 based on overall record and the tie breakers listed above. The 5th placed teams will be seeded either 1 or 2. Team 1 will play team 4, and team 2 will play team 3. The winners will then play for the Best of the Rest Championship.

15.  The playoffs will be the same format as the regular season with the exception of a tie score at the end of the match.   If there is a tie at the end of the match then, the there will be a one game tiebreaker to 7 points.  You must win by 2 points.  Rally scoring will be used and the team ahead will freeze at 6 points and the trailing team will freeze at 4 points. The match will be a doubles match of any two players that haven’t played together in the previous 4 matches.  The team that won the last match in Round 2 will be the serving team.

16.  The entry fee for the BPL will be $50 per person for the Standard League and $75 per person for the Competitive League which should be paid prior to the start of the third week of the season.  100% of the entry fees will be donated through BWL Charities to children’s charities.  Each of the 24 teams will select a charity at the beginning of the year that they will be playing for.  We will be dividing up the proceeds from everyone’s generous donation to the BPL to the winners of the tournaments.  In addition, we have had various players donate their time, equipment, and additional money to help pay for the cost of the league. 

17.  Exciting news regarding the donations: the anonymous donor who matched what we raised last year for children's charities will also match what we raise this year, up to $10,000!! Please share this with your teams so they know that the more they donate, the more will be matched.   

18.   Along with our anonymous donor, we have been fortunate to receive some company match funds as well.  Through everyone’s generosity, we should raise over $15,000.  Thank you to everyone who has participated.  We will donate 100% of the total donated proceeds to the charities of choice for the winning teams of each league.  The teams that will get to donate to their children’s charities of choice will be the 1st and 2nd place winners, plus the Best of the Rest tournament winner. 

19.  To streamline the collection of  the $50 (Standard bracket) or $75 (Competitive bracket) minimum donation from each player, we are asking that the captains collect the fee from each member on your team.  We would like to have all the money collected before the start of the third week of play.  Once you have collected the money from your team, you can Venmo (@bwlcharities), or give a check made out to BWL Charities to Tim Kalbas, Susan Wirtz or Dan Wirtz.  Please note that BWL Charities is a 509 C corporation and will provide receipts for any one who needs one.

20.  The BWL Charities guideline in selecting a charity is that the donation is used to help children.  To learn more about the BWL Charities please go to www.BWLcharities.org . 

21.  All BPL standings, schedules and rules will be on the BWL Charities website:  www.bwlcharities.org/bpl  and you can email with questions at brittanypickleball@gmail.com .

22.  The most important rule and referred to as “Rule 22”: The BPL is set up to have fun, spend time with old neighbors, meet new neighbors, and support worthy children’s charities.  Please use that as your guide.

Rally Scoring Overview

In rally scoring, a point is scored on every single rally—regardless of who serves the pickleball.

The reason for switching to rally scoring in pickleball: (1) faster games; (2) more predictable game times; (3) simpler or easier for a beginner or newbie to the sport to understand; (4) more accurate ratings of players because every point counts; and (5) better format for gambling, which some believe is important to continue to grow the sport.

Below will describe the format for rally scoring we will be using for the BPL.

·  Determine which team will serve, receive, pick the end of the court, or defer using any fair method (e.g., pick a 1 or 2, coin flip, rock-paper-scissors, etc.).

·  Each partner on a team determines which side of the pickleball court (the left side or the right side) to start on. Then, each partner remains on those respective sides throughout the entire game. (However, a team may switch sides of the pickleball court between Game 1, 2 and 3)

·  The team that serves first will start the game. The player on the right-hand side of the court will serve first (serving crosscourt).

·  If the serving team wins the rally, then they will win a point and continue to serve. However, the partner on the left-hand side of the court will serve (but, remember, the players will stay on their respective sides of the court). The serve alternates between the players on the left- and right-hand side of the court (without the players changing positions) until they lose a rally.

·  If the serving team loses the rally, then the receiving team will win a point and the receiving team will win the serve. To note, there is no second server (so the score will only be two numbers—the serving team score and the receiving team score—and there will be no third number for the server number).

·  Which player will serve on a team is determined by the score of the serving team. If the score is even, then the player on the right-hand side of the court will serve. If the score is odd, then the player on the left-hand side of the court will serve. So, for example, if the score is 0-0, and the receiving team wins the rally, then the receiving team will win a point and the right to serve. The score will now be 1-0, so the player on the left-side of the receiving team will serve next.

·  The first team to 17 points wins (win by 2 points). However, points after the 16th point may only be scored on the serve. Further, if one team is at 16 points, the other team's points will "freeze" at 14 points, and such other team may only score points when serving.

·  Again, players will remain on their respective sides for the entire game. A point is scored on every rally, regardless of who has served (except the final point, which the final point may only be won when serving). Whichever team wins the rally, wins a point. If the serving team wins the point, then the players alternate serves until they lose a rally/point. Then, the serve goes to the receiving team, and the player that serves will be based on the serving team’s score. The final point (or points after the 16th point (or 14th point for the opposing team)) may only be scored on the serve. First team to 17 points wins (win by 2 points).