USAPA Sanctioned Tournaments

1. Sanctioned tournaments may advertise that they are sanctioned by the USAPA only after their sanctioning request has been approved by the USAPA tournament chairman.

2. The USAPA Tournament Chair must approve all sanctions.

• Previous tournament experience will be taken into account in deciding whether to sanction a tournament.

• If the Tournament Chair assigns a tournament tier level to your tournament, then winning USAPA players will be guaranteed at least the number of points for that tier level regardless of the level of participation.

• After a tournament is completed, the tier level of a tournament may be raised if warranted by the results, but it may never be lowered.

Tip: Persevere in applying for sanctioning. If your tournament is not sanctioned this year, it may well be sanctioned next year if you send in the results and follow all of the USAPA rules.

3. Having a sanctioned tournament will allow winners to receive ranking points for that tournament if they are USAPA members.

4. A sanctioned tournament must meet the following requirements:

• The Tournament Director or sponsoring club must request sanctioning at least 90 days prior to the scheduled tournament, although earlier notification is recommended.

  • Note: The USAPA will advertise the tournament on its website and will add the words "Sanctioned by the USAPA" or "Not Sanctioned" after the approval process is complete.

• A Sanctioned Tournament should have approximately 40 or more players to be eligible for continued sanctioning the following year, although other factors will be looked at, such as expected growth for next year’s tournament and the number of players per event.

• The tournament should be open to all players who meet the general requirements of any tournament, such as age or ability level requirements.

• Entries may be limited by geographical locations, such as city, county, regional, or state residence.

• Draw sizes in events may also be limited because of court availability but must take entrants in the order they are received. No preference can be given to any player or group of players in any tournament.

• Restrictions on tournament entries will be judged on a case-by-case basis and could result in your tournament either being ineligible for ranking points or being placed in a lower point tier.

• No ranking points will be given for club tournaments, housing area tournaments, or similar tournaments that are open only to a relatively small group of people.

• The tournament director must follow the USAPA rules for Pickleball.

• The tournament director must have available USAPA member signup forms and agree to sign up players who wish to join the USAPA or renew their memberships.

• New signups and renewals along with their checks should be sent to USAPA. (Addresses available on the membership application or on the USAPA website.)

• The tournament director must send in complete tournament results to the USAPA tournament chairman within one week after the tournament ends.

• Draw sheets showing those who were first, second and third, complete names, USAPA member number for members, and resident addresses, including e-mail addresses and phone numbers if received with the application, should be included with the results.

• Birthdates are required for players playing in senior, junior, or age-related divisions.

5. Sanctioning is not to be construed that the USAPA is providing any insurance covering injuries or damages of any kind during the tournament. The USAPA assumes no liability for any action in the tournament. Tournament directors are strongly encouraged to require that all participants sign a release or waiver holding all parties, including the USAPA, harmless as a result of their participation in the tournament.

6. See the guidelines in the Ranking Points section of the USAPA Rankings Document to identify the different categories of tournaments, indicating how many points will be awarded to winners of the events.