By Justin Maloof
USA PICKLEBALL COO
USA Pickleball to Offer Two Pathways to Its National Championships New Diamond Amateur Championship Set to Begin in 2022
With two pro tours now providing play opportunities and prize money for pro players , this year USA Pickleball restructured its pathway to the organization ’ s premiere event , the Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships in Indian Wells , California . The restructure is designed to create two pathways — one for pro players and one for amateurs .
The pro path is designed to not compete with either pro tour , while providing pre-registration ( Golden Ticket ) opportunities for pro players . The USAP Regional Championships will now place an almost exclusive emphasis on amateur players . With this restructure , the 12 USAP Regional Championships will now culminate in the first-ever USA Pickleball Diamond Amateur Championship in December . Gold medalists from the Diamond Amateur Championship will earn pre-registration ( Golden Tickets ) to the 2023 National Championships in Indian Wells .
With the restructure plan in place , USA Pickleball recently announced the dates and locations for all 2022 USA Pickleball tournaments as well as an overview of the qualifying process for the 2022 and 2023 USA Pickleball National Championships .
With this announcement , here are the important changes being implemented in 2022 :
• The 12 USAP Regional Championships will culminate in the first-ever Diamond Amateur Championship taking place December 12-15 at Pictona in Holly Hills , Florida . Gold medalists from the Diamond Amateur Championship will earn pre-registration ( Golden Tickets ) to the 2023 National Championships in Indian Wells .
• Gold and silver medalists from the 12 Regional tournaments will earn pre-registration for the Diamond Amateur Championship at Pictona .
All other participants from the Regional tournaments will be eligible for the lottery into the Diamond Amateur Championship event .
• Gold , silver and bronze medalists from Regional tournaments will also be entered into the lottery for the 2022 National Championships in Indian Wells .
• With the new amateur pathway through the Diamond Championship , there will be no pre-registration ( Golden Tickets ) directly from the 2022 Regional tournaments to the 2022 National Championships in Indian Wells .
• The USAP National Championship Series ( NCS ) will expand from four events this year to six events in 2022 . Like this year , the NCS events will offer livestreaming and a national broadcast as well as pre-registration ( Golden Tickets ) to the 2022 National Championships in Indian Wells .
• As USAP transitions to this format , a few non-NCS events had / have Golden Ticket opportunities for Indian Wells . These include the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Regional , the 2021 West Regional and the 2022 USAP National Indoor Championship .
For the complete list of tournaments that had our will have pre-registration opportunities ( Golden Tickets ) to the 2022 National Championships in Indian Wells , see the full list on page 61 .
As the sport continues to evolve , we are seeing a new level of professionalism and national media exposure for the sport ’ s top players – this is fantastic ! It ’ s therefore critical for USAP to remain focused on the “ non-pros ” and provide new events and opportunities for amateurs and the next crop of young , upcoming pickleball players . The creation of the new Diamond Amateur Championship is the first of several new events designed with these players in mind . •
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 | MAGAZINE 11