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Telling Pickleball’s greatest stories through the lens of data.
With pickleball's rising popularity, there's a growing demand for local tournaments catering to amateurs.
The Dink Minor League Pickleball (formerly known as Minor League Pickleball) gives players an exciting way to compete, emphasizing teamwork, strategy, and camaraderie.
Following Major League Pickleball’s innovative format involving teams of four players (two women and two men), teams compete against other teams in four events: women’s doubles, men’s doubles, and two mixed doubles matches. A singles-based tiebreaker format, called a dreambreaker, is used when teams are tied 2-2.
The Dink Minor League Pickleball’s National Pathway allows teams to compete locally to pursue a spot at the national championship. A national leaderboard is utilized to display ranked players, allowing you to easily view their standings.
Its first official season was in 2023, and its director, Caroline Luelf, is tasked with growing the organization.
Luelf's journey with the league began as a participant, along with her husband, in a one-day event in Kansas City. The convenience of these short events appealed to the couple, balancing their passion for pickleball with family commitments.
As Luelf says, “When you have four kids, planning the logistics, getting all the kids to where they need to be and us being gone three or four days for a tournament, that's not easy.”
After participating in several Minor League Pickleball events and experiencing firsthand the thrill of competition and community, Luelf was inspired to bring the experience to her hometown in Oklahoma. Her first event sold out and received rave reviews. Luelf shares, “This one team posted on Facebook that it was their favorite tournament ever. They didn't even win a match!”
People were hungry for more events, and Luelf decided to reach out directly to the league saying, “I love everything about Minor League Pickleball, and I have all these ideas on how to grow it.” A few weeks later, they offered her a job.
What sets the league apart is its emphasis on the team concept.
Unlike traditional tournaments, where players compete individually, The Dink Minor League Pickleball encourages collaboration and support among teammates. With rally scoring and opportunities for coaching between points, players are fully engaged both on and off the court, creating an electrifying atmosphere for participants and spectators alike.
"The Dink Minor League Pickleball is for everyone,” Luelf notes. It’s for any player — from amateurs to non-contracted pros, regardless of age. Events have seen players as young as 12 and as old as 70. The family-friendly nature is obvious, with Caroline herself cherishing the opportunity to play alongside her husband and 18-year-old son and create lasting memories on the court.
Looking ahead, The Dink MiLP's goal is “to be in all 50 states” (they are currently in 29 states) and “continue to expand globally,” according to Luelf. With events planned across the United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and beyond, it’s poised to become the premier destination for amateur pickleball enthusiasts worldwide.
Whether you're a seasoned player or new to the game, The Dink Minor League Pickleball welcomes you to find a team, join the fun, forge new friendships, and experience the thrill of pickleball like never before.
Written by Alana Jackler
In a heartfelt Instagram post, Anna Leigh Waters recently honored her mother's remarkable legacy in pickleball.
"Growing up I always looked up to her, not only as a person but also as an amazing athlete who was once was ranked #1 in the world in pickleball in 2019! She doesn’t get enough credit for her pickleball skills! She changed the way pickleball was played. Truly a pioneer of the sport!"
This Mother’s Day, DUPR joins Anna Leigh in honoring the mother of modern pickleball, Leigh Waters.
Traditionally characterized by a gentle finesse, pickleball experienced a transformative shift with Leigh Waters’ entry into professional play. Along with her then twelve-year-old daughter, Anna Leigh, the Waters burst onto the professional pickleball scene and changed it forever.
Leigh and Anna Leigh’s pickleball journey began amidst the upheaval of Hurricane Irma in 2017. While seeking refuge with Leigh's father in Pennsylvania, he introduced them to pickleball, igniting a passion that led them to enter their first tournament shortly after returning to Florida.
As a former tennis player on a full scholarship at the University of South Carolina, Leigh’s background brought out a fierce, unapologetic style to the pickleball court.
Recalling their early days, Leigh reminisces, "Everyone was still just playing the soft game, and here I am with Anna Leigh, ripping balls, driving, crashing the next ball—we took a lot of people off guard."
Anna Leigh adds, "People would tell my mom to ease up, but she stood her ground, saying, ‘No, this is working; I'm beating you. Why would I change?’ If asked to slow down, she just hit the ball even harder."
By 2022, Team Waters had become the #1 team in women's doubles in the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA). However, in November Leigh suffered an ACL injury at Nationals, temporarily halting her competitive pursuits.
Initially disheartened, Leigh found solace in coaching during her recovery, nurturing Anna Leigh's talent and watching her thrive.
“I started realizing that this is the best thing for her. This felt like it was her journey. Being there for her and being able to take it all in as a parent rather than a teammate. And I actually found that I loved coaching and didn't really miss the competition. I missed the rec play and all that, like playing with your friends and training, but I didn't really miss the grind of the tournament schedule.”
Reflecting on her mother's pivotal influence, Anna Leigh shares, “I definitely don't think I would be the player I am today without my mom's coaching and strategy. I mean, she's really good at coaching, but she's amazing at strategy. She can look at a player and give you their weaknesses and strengths by watching them for five minutes. It's crazy.”
Their reunion at the US Open this year marked a triumphant return for Team Waters. However, they have no plans to resume a full tournament schedule together.
Anna Leigh expresses, "She's not just an athlete; she's a mother, coach, wife, and daughter. She does so many things for our family, and she still somehow has time for herself and everybody else. I'm just so proud of her."
This Mother's Day, let's celebrate Leigh Waters—a trailblazing athlete, devoted coach, and loving mother—whose resilience, passion, and unwavering support continue to inspire us all.
By Alana Jackler
How is DUPR planning to integrate with other platforms? Will matches be entered retroactively or only for matches going forward?
Answer: Many platforms, events, and leagues integrate with DUPR to make it simple for all your results to count toward your rating. In most cases, matches recorded on third-party platforms, events, or leagues on or after integrating with DUPR will count towards players’ ratings. Some systems will also submit match results that occurred before the integration with DUPR to count towards players’ ratings. For more details, we recommend speaking directly with your event/league organizer or contacting our support team.
Note - DUPR’s rating system places more weight on your most recent results, and as time passes, your past results have less of an impact on your rating. To read more about this, please visit our Rating FAQ page here.
Are DUPR ratings affected by playing different game types like doubles and mixed doubles, or self-reported matches vs. tournament matches?
Answer: The weight of any match is determined by the method of score submission: self-reported scores will have a lower weight on your DUPR-rating than a score submitted by a tournament organizer/club. The game type (same-gender doubles, mixed doubles, singles, etc.) does not affect the weight of the match. DUPR provides both your singles and doubles rating, and matches played in those formats against players of all genders and ages are factored into the rating. What makes DUPR unique is that it provides a unifying language and standard for pickleball players across age and gender to evaluate their skill level on the same scale. Every match affects your rating, regardless of who you are playing with and against.
How does DUPR compare to other rating systems, and what changes are being made to improve its effectiveness?
Answer: DUPR is the most accurate and reliable global pickleball rating system, trusted by leagues, clubs, tournaments and players around the world. As the pickleball community grows larger and more results are entered into our system, our dedicated team of data scientists are hard at work making improvements and updates to the system to ensure that DUPR is providing the most accurate and reliable assessment of level. Here are the key things to know about the rating:
Here’s what the rating evaluates:
For more on the rating, please visit our rating FAQs or read this deepdive from Scott Mendelssohn, DUPR’s Head of Analytics.
How is DUPR preventing players from manipulating their ratings?
Answer: DUPR enforces our (Community Guidelines) for all players, which states that players may not manipulate ratings, results, or data in any manner. Players who violate these guidelines are restricted or suspended from the platform accordingly.
Based on our analysis, the vast majority of the DUPR community operates with integrity, and this personal integrity is what connects all players, keeping our rating accurate and valuable to everyone. Of course, as in life, there are instances where players have tried to game the system, and our team works hard behind the scenes to identify and prevent these bad actors from impacting our system. We are constantly improving our methodologies and performing checks on our data to identify behavior that violates our Community Guidelines.
You can report any violations by emailing support@mydupr.com.
What measures are being taken to address the concerns about sandbagging?
Answer: Sandbagging, or deliberately playing below one’s actual ability, is unfortunately a problem that exists across many sports, including pickleball. Sandbagging in pickleball will occur when a player purposefully plays below their true level so they have a chance to play in a future event against players they believe they can beat. Sandbagging has no place in DUPR’s community, and our rating system actively works to identify and flag sandbagging to event organizers and tournament directors.
Sandbagging occurs more frequently in events where organizers are not checking players’ DUPR ratings and are instead relying on self-ratings. We encourage players to join DUPR clubs and play in level-based tournaments that are organized using DUPR which makes it much more difficult for sandbagging to occur.
Why do recreational matches count towards my DUPR? Aren’t they less accurate and easily rigged?
Answer: In order to provide a full view of your skill level, DUPR looks at results across all types of play, including self-posted scores. There are many players who do not compete in competitive leagues or tournaments, and by accepting self-posted scores, we are able to make the community more inclusive and accessible for pickleball players everywhere to have a DUPR rating. Whether it’s a recreational match or a tournament match, all scores provide valuable data points to accurately assess a player’s skill level.
For players who also participate in club or tournament events, scores from self-posted matches carry less weight than those from the club or tournament events. We are constantly monitoring our data to make sure that it maintains the quality dictated by our Community Guidelines.
Still curious on more FAQS and how the algo plays with your rating? Visit our latest Algo FAQS Here.