New Jersey Has a Pro Pickleball Team!

The Jets, Giants, Devils and Red Bulls all call New Jersey home. But did you know that the Garden State is also home to a professional pickleball team? Yup, the team is called the “New Jersey 5s,” and it’s one of 24 teams in Major League Pickleball (MLP).

Many MLP teams are owned by various celebrities in different walks of life, and the 5s are no exception. Who is the owner of the New Jersey 5s, you might ask? None other than New Jersey native and one of its favorite sons, Gary Vee! Yes, the serial entrepreneur, motivational speaker and internet personality, Gary Vaynerchuk (commonly known as Gary Vee) owns the team and is extremely proud of it. “One of the great experiences of my life,” said Vaynerchuk. “You know I've always wanted to be a team owner. That started as a 10-year-old.”

Gary Vee not only owns the team, but he named it as well – his favorite number is 5. “5 means the world to me in the context of sports as it was the first jersey number I received and wore when I came to the U.S.,” said Vaynerchuk. “My mom knitted that jersey for me, and the number 5 has always been my favorite ever since.” In addition to the team name, the logo includes “Competitive Clown,” a character in VeeFriends, Gary Vee’s NFT collection.

Like all MLP teams, the New Jersey 5s consist of four players, two men and two women. The team used to have the undisputed #1 female player in the world, 16-year-old Anna Leigh Waters. While Anna Leigh is no longer on the team, at least they have the next best thing – her mom, Leigh Waters! A pro pickleball player herself, Leigh taught the sport to Anna Leigh and is about as qualified a pickleball coach as you’ll ever find.

Currently, the roster is made up of Alli Phillips, Shelby Bates, John Cincola, and Stefan Auvergne. And the team’s co-owner and General Manager is Ryan Harwood, a business partner of Vaynerchuck’s and a former tennis player at the University of Pennsylvania.

The future for the New Jersey 5s and MLP appears to be very bright. “When you can see the energy of something that you know is going to be far greater, I get very futuristic about it,” said Vaynerchuck at a recent tournament. “I can't imagine in 10 years thinking back to these days when there's 10, 20, 50 x the amount of people at the events.”