League Divisions
Organized by skill level and age group for competitive balance
How We Determine Divisions
Divisions are defined by the combined DUPR rating and the age of a team's players.
In our inaugural season, there will be 3 divisions: DUPR 12 Open, DUPR 12 50+, and DUPR 14 Open.
DUPR stands for Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating. The team's combined DUPR rating is calculated by adding together the four individual DUPR ratings of the four players that play for a team in a match.
Open divisions have no age restriction. For 50+ divisions, the youngest player on the team must be at least 50 years old by the end of the calendar year.
For each division, there is a minimum combined DUPR rating and a maximum combined DUPR rating. There is no minimum individual rating, but there is a maximum individual rating.
A DUPR 12 division team's combined DUPR rating must be at least 10 and cannot be more than 12.3. No individual player can have a DUPR rating higher than 3.6 to play in DUPR 12. A DUPR 14 team's combined DUPR score must be at least 12 and cannot be more than 14.3.No individual player can have a DUPR score higher than 4.1 to play in DUPR 14.
Only Open and 50+ divisions are planned for the inaugural season. As the number of players in these two age-related divisions increases, more limited age-related divisions may be added in the future.
Current Divisions
🥉 DUPR 12 Open
Skill Description: Team's combined DUPR must be at least 10 and no more than 12.3
Number of Teams:5
Format: Each team plays every other team once. Each team has a bye week. A playoff/Championship tournament will be held in the sixth week in which all teams will participate.
No age restriction.
🥈 DUPR 12 50+
Skill Description:Team's combined DUPR must be at least 10 and no more than 12.3.
Number of Teams:5
Format: Each team plays every other team once. Each team has a bye week. A playoff/Championship tournament will be held in the sixth week in which all teams will participate.
Players must be age 50 or older as of December 31, 2026. No individual player can have a DUPR higher than 3.6 to play in DUPR 12. A team may have up to 8 players on its roster. The combined DUPR restriction applies to the four players who play in a match.
🥉 DUPR 14 Open
Skill Description:Team's combined DUPR must be at least 12 and no more than 14.3.
Number of Teams:8
Format: Two balanced brackets. In each bracket, 4 teams play every other team twice during the 6-week regular season. A Playoff/championship tournament may be held in the first two weeks of May. Details TBD.
Players may be of any age. No individual player can have a DUPR higher than 4.1 to play in DUPR 14. A team may have up to 8 players on its roster. The combined DUPR restriction applies to the four players who play in a match.
Division Placement & Movement
Once a team signs up to participate in a division of the League, current ratings of players with reliable ratings are "locked" for the season and increases or decreases in their ratings will not impact the team's combined rating or division placement for the season. Changes up or down must be re-evaluated prior to the next season and may impact the player's eligibility for the same team and/or division for the following season.
Unrated players may be included on a team roster, but cannot play until an intial rating is received.
Players with an unreliable rating will be assigned either the division average rating or their unreliable rating, whichever is greater, for purposes of calculating team aggregate ratings. Once a player achieves a reliable rating, that rating will replace the assigned rating in calculating team ratings for the remainder of the season.
For age-restricted divisions, a player's age is determined by their age on December 31 of the season year. For a 50+ division, for example, a player must be 50 by December 31 of the season year, meaning a player may be 49 for part of the season year and be eligible to play in a 50+ division as long as they turn 50 before the end of the year.
Future Divisions?
The plan for the above four divisions for the inaugural season is of course subject to change based on the number of teams that register, and the number of players who express interest in playing team pickleball but who do not fit in any of these divisions. For example, if four teams of players at higher skill levels wish to participate, a DUPR 16 could be added. If more than 8 teams want to register for an existing skill-level division, the division could be subdivided into Under 30 and 30+ divisions. If and when sufficient interest is expressed, new divisions could be created for players 18 and under, or high school or college divisions could be created.
The defining characteristic of these divisions is the 4 player team comprised of 2 men and 2 women. Should there be enough interest in a different format, then that would require the creation of new divisions or a new league.