Pickleball Zone Challenge 2024

Description

All doubles, all Round Robin brackets with SE playoff to determine final winners in all brackets. Indoor tournament for players of 3.0 and higher skill levels. Senior events in all skill levels. Includes cash purse in OPEN events. Medals will be awarded for all skill levels in combined brackets. (Medal classes will be determined based on number of teams registered and bracket format.) All RR and pre-medal matches are 1-15 win-by-2. Medal matches 2/3-11, win-by-two. All USAP rules apply.

OPEN events qualification: Players with a 4.5 from a recognized rating authority (WPR, UTPR) will have priority for OPEN events. At least one player must have 4.5 rating. Teams with a cumulative rating of less than 4.5 may be moved to a waitlist to accommodate higher rated teams.

IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION:

RATINGS: Players must register at or above the higher of their UTPR, WPR, PBR, or self rating.

About your rating: Over the years we have noticed many instances where players/teams that are significantly stronger than their self-rating or actual skill rating are dominating their skill groups in tournament play, most notably at 3.0 and 3.5 levels. Many times these teams medal in one of the lower skill events and then play up at the next skill level where they are also very competitive. Needless to say, this has a negative effect on the interest of players who are new to tournaments and expecting to compete fairly against players of similar skills.
Players are expected to assess their individual skills objectively and register in events that reflect the skill of the stronger player regardless of their actual rating. Tournament Director reserves the right to disqualify any team from playing in an event where that team could reasonably be expected to have a significant skill advantage over other teams in the bracket.

PARTNERS: You have 3 days from registration for your partner to register and get added to the event with you. After 3 days, you may be wait listed and may not get back into the event unless/until there is an opening. It is your responsibility to notify your partner.

Wait List Priorities (in order):
1) Space available in skill/age group
2) Tournament Sponsors
3) Players with partners
4) Registration/s complete and paid
5) Earliest paid registration

PLAY FORMAT:
Round Robin.
Each team will play a single round robin, 1-15, win-by-2.
An event with 8 or 9 teams may play RR matches as 1-11 win-by-two at the discretion of the TD.
Brackets with 10 or more teams will be split into pool brackets. 15 or more teams will be split into 3 pools.
All brackets will have a final playoff round to determine bracket winners.
All players will play a minimum of 5 matches.

PLAYOFF ROUNDS:
Events with 9 or fewer teams will be a single bracket and have a one-round SE 2/3-11 win-by-two playoff:
-First and Second place teams play for Gold and Silver.
-Third and Fourth place teams play for Bronze.
Events with 5 or fewer teams will play a single or double round robin to seed a SE or DE playoff.
Events with 3 or fewer teams may be combined with other events or cancelled.

Pool brackets will have a multi-round SE playoff, with the number of rounds determined by the number of pools in the event.

Pre-Medal rounds, 1-15 win-by-two. With two pools:
Pool 1 First place vs Pool 2 Second place;
Pool 2 First place vs Pool 1 Second place.

Round 2, 2/3-11 win-by-two:
Round 1 winners for Gold/Silver.
Round 1 Losers for Bronze.

With more than two pools there will be one or more pre-medal elimination rounds to determine the Medal Round playoffs with top team seeding determined by round robin rules in USA Pickleball Rulebook 12.C.4. et seq.

Round Robin Bracket Winners (to determine playoff teams):

Round Robin winners will be determined by USA Pickleball Rulebook 12.C.4 et seq:
The winner is determined based on number of matches won.
If two or more teams are tied:
First tie-breaker: head-to-head matches won.
Second tie-breaker: point differential of all games played.
Third tie-breaker: head-to-head point differential.
Fourth tie-breaker: point differential against next-highest team.
See USA Pickleball Rules 12.C.4 for further explanation of tie-breaker rules.

All events will be played in accordance with USA Pickleball rules and regulations in effect at the time of the tournament. Only equipment approved by USA Pickleball is permitted. Players with unapproved or modified equipment are subject to disqualification. See USA Pickleball website for further information.

Bracket formats (splits, pools, seeding, etc.) are determined at the discretion of the Tournament Director (TD). TD reserves the right modify brackets, including adding teams to any bracket at any time up to the start of the bracket and at the sole discretion of the TD.

Additional Information

A special tournament shirt is included with your registration. Size selection is not guaranteed for registrations made after April 12, 2024. There is no discount if you do not take a shirt.

Tentative Schedule:
Wednesday: Women's 3.0/3.5, Women's 3.0/3.5 Senior, Men's 3.0/3.5, Men's 3.0/3.5 Senior
Thursday: Mixed 3.0/3.5, Mixed 3.0/3.5 Senior, , Women's Senior 4.0, Mixed 4.5
Friday: Men's 4.0, Men's 4.0 Senior, Women's 4.5, Men's 4.5
Saturday: Women's 4.0, Women's Open, Men's Open
Sunday: Mixed 4.0, Mixed 4.0 Senior, Mixed Open

Players replacing a partner:
Any registered player replacing a partner for any reason must replace that partner with a partner qualified to play in the same skill/age group scheduled to play. New partners can play down in age and up in skill. Bracket changes may be allowed depending on space in a new bracket and whether the schedule has been posted. No bracket changes will be allowed within 14 days of the tournament start date. Replacements need to be known and communicated to kirk@pzbend.com by 6pm the day before the bracket is scheduled to play. Replacements can be found on the Players Needing Partners list.
Any replacement must be registered for the tournament with fees paid.

Prize Money

Cash Purse for each OPEN event: (Team) $500/Gold, $300/Silver,$200/Bronze (with minimum 8 team entries per event.) Payout subject to adjustment for brackets with fewer than 8 teams. Total cash prizes for tournament is $6000. Cash prizes

Refund Policy

Withdrawals before May 1, 2024 will receive a full refund minus a $25 cancellation fee and non-refundable service fee of $5 per event, maximum of $10.

If you registered and paid the registration fee and were put on the wait list; you will not be charged the event fee until you are actually moved into the event. If you do not move off the wait list; a full refund will be issued at the end of the tournament. The cancellation fee will not apply.

PickleballBrackets service fees (usually $5 or $10) are NOT refundable.

Refunds will be issued 7- 10 days after the completion of the tournament.

In the event we are forced to cancel due to circumstances beyond our control, refunded transactions will not include transaction fees unless our payment processor refunds them.

Venue Information

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