Pickle Hub Squad

Pickle Hub Squad

Pickle Hub players can self-nominate to become part of the Pickle Hub squad, for any players who wish to participate in the upcoming tournaments.

Pickle Hub shirts will be available for purchase, to wear at the tournaments.

We will attend as a group to support each other at the tournaments.

Pickle Hub Coaches Andrew and Sharon will be passing along their knowledge and experience from their tournament experience, to help you become better prepared for tournaments. Tournaments require mental and physical stamina and fortitude, unlike regular round-robins or weekly gameplay. Andrew and Sharon will help you to navigate the logistics of tournaments, together with strategies to use on-court.

Training

To help you train and become better physically and mentally prepared for tournaments join us for Squad training sessions at Yeronga.

Any Pickle Hub players who will be entering (or consider entering) tournaments are welcome to join the training.

We encourage you to train together with your partners if possible.

View the upcoming training sessions below and book your spots through Open Sports.

Partner Practice

It’s preferable to practice playing with your tournament partner as much as you can.

Pickle Hub offer two different types of sessions that allow you to stay with your partner for the entire session.

The first is the Partner Round robin which is on Tuesdays and Saturdays. 

The second is the competitive FyreStorm format which is on Wednesdays and Sundays. 

FyreStorm attracts the top Pickle Hub players so has a very competitive level of play.

Upcoming Squad Training Sessions

Upcoming Squad Tournaments 

The following are the open sports events for the upcoming tournaments that Squad members will be attending. Make sure you register for these open sports events if you want to come as a spectator, are looking for a partner or are registered to attend the tournament. We use the event chat feature in open sports to easily communicate with everyone who is attending (regardless of if they are playing or just going along to support). 

Note: Scroll down the page to register for the actual tournament itself. 

How to register for tournaments

Registration for most tournaments in Australia occurs through the Pickleball Brackets website.

• Click the Register button above for the tournament you wish to enter.
• You can view the age and skill levels available by clicking on ‘events’.
• When you register, you will need to enter your PAA number, that is your club membership number.
• KNOW YOUR PARTNER: If you know who your partner will be, you select ‘have a partner’. Then enter your partner’s name. Both partners need to register and select each other or confirm each other.
• NO PARTNER YET: If you don’t yet have a partner, select ‘need a partner’.
• You must be fully registered and paid before the closing date.

Club Membership

To enter most tournaments in Australia you need to be a current financial member of a Pickleball club.

This will give you a PAA number (Pickleball Association of Australia) which is needed to enter tournaments.

Pickle Hub do not have memberships, so you will need to join either the Pickleball Assoc. of Queensland (PAQ) OR join a local club (for example the Brisbane Pickleball Club).

You don’t need to attend any events at that club to become a member.

Pickleball Assoc. Qld (PAQ) Membership is $62/yr (or $49.25/yr for 65+ years).

Other Pickleball clubs are $85/yr (or $70/yr for 65+ years).

To join PAQ use the link below for your age, then select Pickleball Assoc. of Queensland from the list

• for 18-64 year olds
• for 65+ year olds
• for juniors 17 & under

Click here to see a list of Pickleball Clubs with links to gain membership.

Benefits of becoming a member of PAQ Pickleball Association Queensland:

• Sports Personal Accident Insurance - covers you for injury when you play (see the terms here)
• Ability to play in sanctioned tournaments including the QLD Pickleball Tour (QPT), QLD Pickleball Championship (QPC), and Australian Pickleball Championships (APC)
• Automatic membership to the Pickleball Association of Australia (PAA)

Are Tournaments for You?

• Does the idea of entering a tournament sound a bit scary?
• Not sure if you’re up to the task?
• Don’t want to embarrass yourself?
• Don’t want to let your partner down?
• Not sure if your skills are up to it?

Yep, we get it. They are all natural feelings to have about entering a tournament.

Whilst there may be some nerves around entering, once we work through that together, there are a heap of benefits you’ll gain by entering. Whatever the outcome of the tournament, the tournament experience is a great experience for a pickleball player to have. You’ll be amazed at how much you learn about pickleball and yourself by participating.

The great thing about the upcoming tournaments, is that there are skill level divisions, so if you’re around the 3 DUPR mark, you shouldn’t be coming up against advanced players like Andrew.

And if you’re thinking you’re too old to enter a tournament, my mum had never competed in a sports tournament until she was 72, when she entered a pickleball tournament. With lots of age divisions avaialble, age is not a barrier to entry.

Plus, you have the advantage that you have a whole squad of Pickle Hub players there to support you. So you’re not alone. We’re all there to support each other.

I remember the first time Andrew and I (Sharon) entered a pickleball tournament. We were only 6 weeks into our pickleball journey and we entered because we wanted to gain from the experience of being in a tournament. We didn’t know many players back then, so we were navigating the waters alone. We were in an open division with all skill levels, so our mindset was not that we had to win, we knew that we’d most likely loose all of our games. Our aim was simply to earn a few points in each game. It turned out that we were in the toughest pool, with teams that won Silver and Bronze in that tournament. We gained so much from that mindset of jumping in regardless of the outcome. If we hadn’t had that all-in approach, I don’t think we’d be where we are today.

After that, we asked around for where we could train, or where we could find a squad. We’d trained in squads in other sports before, including with Olympics Coaches. So we were seeking that type of environment. But to our dismay, trainings and squads were’nt available.

That’s why we have now created the Pickle Hub Squad.

So where to next…

The first step is gathering the courage to enter a tournament.

Some people have entered tournaments in other sports before. For those people, the transition into a pickleball tournament is a relatively smooth transition. Though for others who haven’t competed in sports tournaments before, you can rest assured that you’ll be in good hands with the Pickle Hub Squad. We can help you to navigate the process and to prepare you both mentally and physically.

After making the decision to enter, there’s the physical, skill, strategy and mindset aspects. The Pickle Hub Squad can help you will each of those.

If you’re still not sure if you’re the right fit for a tournament, come and speak with Andrew and Sharon for their advice.