INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PICKLEBALL
The Inaugural Intercontinental Pickleball Cup:
Team Competition
ON A GLOBAL STAGE
The inaugural IFP Intercontinental Pickleball Cup will be the first event of its kind— an intercontinental pickleball team competition with players from around the world coming together to compete for the prestigious Intercontinental Cup trophy.
FORMAT
The Intercontinental Cup will feature two teams: North America and Europe, while a third team, a“ Rest of the World” team, is also expected to participate. Players from over 15 countries around the world are expected to participate.
Matches will be played in a Round Robin format with pools consisting of players of similar age and skill level. All participants will play multiple matches throughout the day in Men’ s, Women’ s and Mixed Doubles. The Cup will be awarded to the team that earns the most points throughout the event. That team will then defend its title in 2018. The Cup will follow official IFP rules.
“ The Intercontinental Cup is a team competition, thus individuals don’ t play for medals,” explained IFP President Mike Hess.“ Participants will join with other players from their continent to form a team and to compete for a team award, the Intercontinental Cup trophy.”
TEAM MEMBERS AND TEAM CAPTAINS
“ The philosophy of the Cup is consistent with the philosophy of pickleball – to include everyone who wants to participate, from the elite to the amateur level players,” says Hess. In addition, the Cup is an official Super Senior Circuit event( www. ssipa-pb. org) which means it plans to include age groups ranging from 19 + to 80 +.
Three Team Captains have been selected for each continent to help organize and motivate their team members. Team North America Captains are Marcin Rozpedski, Alice Tym, and Chris Thomas, and Team Europe Captains are Leonardo González, Gema García, and Ian Medhurst.
WORLD-CLASS PICKLEBALL CLINICS
On September 13 & 14, 2017, free pickleball clinics will be offered by North American Team Captain Marcin Rozpedski, the world’ s reigning pickleball singles champion, along with several other world-class players including Simone Jardim, Jennifer Lucore, Robert and Jodi Elliott, Alice Tym and Steve Wong to name a few.
DATES: TWO EVENTS OVER THREE DAYS OF COMPETITION – SEPTEMBER 15, 16 & 17, 2017
The Cup will be held on Friday, September 15, 2017, on outdoor courts in Madrid, Spain. Immediately following the Cup, at the same location, will be the 3rd Annual International Pickleball Tournament hosted by the Spanish Pickleball Association, held on September 16 and 17, thereby providing three full days of competition.
REGISTRATION AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Tournament registration is already open at PickleballTournaments. com. For more information you can also visit the IFP webpage at www. ipickleball. org. •
TEAM NORTH AMERICA
“ Growing up and playing Davis Cup tennis for Poland, my heart is often with Europe, but my loyalty is now with the North American Team. I invite players to join me to go over and bring this Cup home where it belongs.”- Marcin Rozpedski( former Davis Cup tennis player for Poland, now a U. S. citizen)
“ I’ m really looking forward to the chance to be a Global Ambassador for the sport and to be a member of the first winning Cup Team!”- Simone Jardim
“ I’ m super excited to participate in the first Cup and to go back to Spain … this will be my third pickleball adventure there!”- Jennifer Lucore
TEAM EUROPE
“ We’ re indebted to the Americans for inventing this great sport, but my role is to defend the Cup on my home turf in Spain so I’ m afraid we’ re planning on keeping the Cup in Europe.”- Leonardo González
“ This is a fantastic idea for the growth of the sport. Pickleball is catching fire over here, so bring on the competition.”- Ian Medhurst
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017 | MAGAZINE 13