Pickleball is Growing in the Garden State!
We all know that pickleball is getting more and more popular in NJ. But it’s also getting more competitive, there are more tournaments to play in, and there are more courts to play on! Let’s take a look…
1. The players are getting better
According to DUPR (pickleball’s leading rating system), there are at least ten New Jersey players with a DUPR rating of 5.5+ in either singles or doubles. Currently, the top 8 doubles players are:
• Alex Szczepkowski – 6.23 (Montclair Pickleball Director)
• Richard Livornese Jr. – 6.16 (Montclair Pickleball Coach)
• Frank Anthony Davis – 6.08
• Jesse Novalis – 5.85
• Max Filippov – 5.80 (The Atlantic Club Coach)
• Matt Slowinski – 5.69 (Montclair Pickleball Co-Founder)
• Aaron Reznik – 5.57 (Montclair Pickleball Co-Founder)
• Tanner Tomassi – 5.56 (Montclair Pickleball Coach)
2. More Tournaments
From big tournaments with professional brackets like the APP Sunmed NJ Open, to tons of mid-sized and smaller competitions, there are more and more tournaments popping up. If you wanted to, you could probably play in a New Jersey pickleball tournament every weekend of the year!
In the next ten days alone, for example, there are four tournaments happening around the state -- the biggest one being the Northeast Winter Open with 500+ players participating!
3. More and more courts
In addition to the growing number of municipal courts popping up in parks around the state, there are also many private courts being built. The biggest of the projects is a proposed launch of 20 state-of-the-art indoor pickleball clubs by Pickleball Kingdom, the leading pickleball franchisor in America.
Ace Rodrigues, CEO and founder of Pickleball Kingdom, believes the venture will “redefine pickleball facilities and elevate the playing experience.”
With increasing pickleball skill levels and access to courts and tournaments, it’s more important than ever that you work on your game and train with high-level coaches -- so you don’t get left behind in the kitchen. 😊
