Austin Pickleball Update - Volume 27

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Austin Pickleball Update
November 21, 2024

DHello, and welcome to Austin Pickleball Update - Volume 27!

In this issue of APU:

  • 2024 Austin Pickleball Update Award Nominations are Open

  • Texas Ranchers Roundup, 2024 MLP Playoffs - Beat the Best to Be the Best

  • Community News - Capital City Pickleball Expands, Austin Local Wins Gold at Worlds, ESPC Turns 1, ORSC Open Play

  • Tournaments, Leagues, Open Play, Clinics, and Community Events

  • Austin Pickleball Update Social Groups

If you’re looking for places to play pickleball in Austin, check out our Austin Pickleball Courts and Clubs page here. 

Let’s dink on in!

2024 Austin Pickleball Update Award Nominations are Open!

Nominations are open for the 2024 Austin Pickleball Update Awards!

The 2024 Austin Pickleball Update Awards highlight and recognize the very best of pickleball in Austin, including clubs, courts, coaches, communities, events, and more. 

These awards are for the Austin pickleball community, and nominations and voting are completely community driven.

Nominations are open during the month of November 2024, and you can submit your nominations here.

The top nominees in each category will move into a run-off competition in December to decide the 2024 winner for each category.

Winners will be announced in our last volume of the year, APU Volume 30, on December 30th. 

Thank you for submitting your nominations, and for helping us recognize the best of pickleball in Austin!

Save on Pickleball Gear for Black Friday!

Save 10% with code "APU"

Save 10% on pickleball gear purchased from CRBN and Six Zero by using code “APU”.

Looking to save with other pickleball brands?

Our friends at Pickleball Effect have you covered with their Pickleball Black Friday deals guide.

Tournaments of the Week

Liveball Winter Tournament

Register for the Liveball Winter Tournament, taking place December 6-8 at Lost Pines Pickleball Club in Bastrop. Tournament events includes singles, mixed doubles, and men's and women's doubles, with divisions based on combined DUPR ratings. There is even a possibility to win your money back or more based upon the amount of people in your division.

Use code “APU5” for a $5 discount code. Prices go up on Tuesday, November 26. Learn more and register here.

Pickle With Purpose Fundraiser

The East Communities YMCA is hosting a Pickle With Purpose fundraiser this Saturday, November 23 at Other Racquet Social Club.

Join for a day of spirited competition and community impact while raising funds for the Eastside Austin YMCA branch. All proceeds go directly to expanding programs, maintaining facilities, and enhancing resources for individuals and families in the East Austin community.

Tournament features 3.5 and 4.0 brackets, 5+ games per team, and games to 15. Registration runs $55 per person, and ends tomorrow, Friday 11/22. Learn more and register here.

Texas Ranchers Roundup, 2024 MLP Playoffs - Beat the Best to Be the Best

The 2024 MLP Playoffs continue this weekend in Orlando, where the #5 seed Texas Ranchers take on the #1 seed New Jersey 5s in the semifinal round.

As the #1 seed, the New Jersey 5s had the opportunity to select their opponent in the semifinal round, and chose the Ranchers over Dallas Flash Pickleball.

The Texas Ranchers have played the 5s twice this year, losing 2-3 in a Dreambreaker final at MLP Salt Lake in July and losing again 1-3 at MLP Las Vegas in October.

The Ranchers will need to bring their A-Game to overcome the #1 seeded MLP team the New Jersey 5s, which also includes the #1 ranked female player in the world, Anna Leigh Waters. The 5s are rounded out by a star studded roster, including Will Howells, Mariana Humberg, and Austin local and friend of APU, Zane Navratil.

Put simply, the Texas Ranchers will have to beat the best to be the best.

Semifinal match 1 will be on Friday 11/22 (tomorrow) at 3pm Central, semifinal match 2 will be on Saturday 11/23 at 12pm Central, and semifinal match 3 (if necessary) will be on Saturday 11/23 around 4-6pm Central.

That said, we believe the Texas Ranchers will prove victorious in the semifinal round and will #RideTall on their way to the finals!

The Current 2024 MLP Playoff Picture

If you want to dive into the semifinal 2024 MLP Playoff matchups, check out this great video from our friend and local Austin pickleball content creator Matty Pickles.

In the finals, the Ranchers will take on the winner of the second semifinal match between the STL Shock and Dallas Flash Pickleball.

This year, the Ranchers are 1-1 (4-4 game score) against the STL Shock and 0-2 (1-7 game score) against Dallas Flash Pickleball.

While it seems like the Ranchers would have an easier time against the STL Shock, we would love to see the Ranchers face off in an all-Texas MLP final and finally best their inter-state rivals Dallas Flash Pickleball once and for all!

Match 1 of the 2024 MLP Finals will take place Sunday, 11/24 at 9am Central, with match 2 and the potential match 3 to follow in the afternoon.

Good luck to Quang, Etta, Tina, Christian, and the entire Texas Ranchers organization this weekend!

We’ll have an championship update in our next issue, APU Volume 28, and will hopefully be celebrating the Texas Ranchers as the newly crowned 2024 MLP Champions!

Let’s go Ranchers! #RideTall

Stay tuned to Austin Pickleball Update for the latest news and information about Austin’s professional pickleball team, the Texas Ranchers!

Become a Dink Master with The Dink Master

Did you know that 15 minutes of wall drilling is roughly equivalent to the amount of touches you would get in 2-3 hours of doubles play?

The Dink Master is the #1 training aid in pickleball, designed to help you practice your dinks, volleys, and shot accuracy. With the Dink Master, you can control what types of shots you work on while getting in thousands more reps when compared to a normal game. The Dink Master helps you improve your coordination, muscle memory, and overall gameplay on your own time. Use code “APU” when ordering your Dink Master today for 30% off and free shipping. 

Community News

Capital City Pickleball Expands to Waterloo

Capital City Pickleball, one of Austin’s most prolific pickleball communities, has expanded to Waterloo Pickleball and taken over pickleball operations for the site.

Run by Kyle Riedl and Mohammad Khan, Capital City Pickleball will be building out their pickleball community offerings even further, including skill nights, socials & mixers, leagues, tournaments, clinics, parties and more all at Waterloo.

Austin Local Wins Gold at 2024 World Championships

Evan and Jeff, 2024 Men’s 4.0 Gold Medalists & World Champions

Congratulations to Austin local Evan Gremont, who won Gold along with his partner Jeff Orkin at the 2024 Lapiplasty Pickleball World Championships in Dallas.

The two competitors placed first in the Men’s 35-49 4.0 Division, and finished with a stellar 8 wins and 2 losses on their way to claiming gold, including a dominant 2-0 sweep in the final round.

Eastside Paddle Club Celebrates 1 Year

Eastside Paddle Club is celebrating the club’s one year anniversary this Saturday, November 23. The event will feature free open play from 9am-2pm, paddle & pickleball giveaways, and a moneyball charity event (linked below) from 5-10pm.

All ESPC members can receive an extra guest pass for December by using the code “ONEYEAR” at the front desk.

Congratulations to the team at Eastside Paddle Club on their 1-year anniversary!

Other Racquet Social Club Returns Open Play

Other Racquet Social Club has brought back their weekly open play, taking place weekly on Thursday from 6:30-9:30pm. Open play is available on a first come first serve basis with no reservation needed, with a 4 on 4 off rotation (no kings court).

Tournaments, Leagues, Open Play, Clinics, and Community Events

Pickleball Communities with Weekly Events

Club Open Play & Events

Local Coach Clinics

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Leagues

Upcoming Tournaments

November

December

January

February

March

Austin Pickleball Update Social Groups

Follow Austin Pickleball Update on Instagram for pickleball content and local news and follow our Facebook group to learn about upcoming events.

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Share Austin Pickleball Update

Share this newsletter with your Austin pickleball friends so that they stay up to date around everything pickleball in Austin! 

If you’re looking for places to play pickleball in Austin, check out our Austin Pickleball Courts and Clubs page here. 

Previous volumes of Austin Pickleball Update:

If you have any Austin pickleball news, tips, or topics that we should cover or may have missed, reach out and let us know! We're always grateful to hear from our readers.

Look out for Austin Pickleball Update - Volume 28 on Thursday, December 5, 2024!

See you on the courts!✌️