GENERAL. The following rules apply to all pickleball leagues in the USTA NV organization unless otherwise specified. All USTA NV pickleball leagues will follow current International Federation of Pickleball (IFP) Pickleball rules, other than those noted in the USTA NV pickleball Rules.
PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS. All participants in USTA NV pickleball are bound by the USTA NV pickleball rules, as well as those of the IFP. Not all possible incidents and ramifications may be covered in the following rules. Participants in unusual or undocumented situations will have to abide by the decision of the USTA NV Pickleball Director. If there is a conflict in an interpretation of any rule, USTA NV Pickleball Rules shall supersede. The USTA NV Pickleball Rules as provided herein shall apply to all USTA NV Pickleball players unless such rules are revised, amended, or otherwise changed by the USTA NV Pickleball Board of Directors and/or the Rules Committee.
All leagues are open to men and women players. Players must be 18 years of age or older.
ROSTER REQUIREMENTS
MEMBERSHIP FEE. All players must have paid the player registration fee prior to participating in the league each season.
PLAYER SKILL LEVEL RATINGS. Team rosters must consist of players with skills that are consistent with the flight skill level in which their team is playing. Captains oversee maintaining the “skill integrity” of their team. For this league every player will need a DUPR rating in order to play any matches.
Dreamland Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR) https://mydupr.com
UTPR RATING CHANGES. If a player’s rating changes upward during the USTA NV Pickleball season the player will finish the season on the currently rostered team. If a player’s UTPR rating changed downward since the previous USTA NV Pickleball season and the player played in the associated skill group that season, the player will be “grandfathered” and allowed to continue to play in the higher skill group.
TEAM MEMBERS. A player who registers for a team may not switch teams within the same skill group once the season has started unless approved by the LC.
TEAM NAMES. Captains will submit an initial team name to the League during team registration. First come first served in case 2 submittals are identical.
ROSTER SIZE. Minimum of 6 players on the team roster is required; however, it is highly suggested that teams have at least 8 players to avoid forfeits.
TEAM REGISTRATION
DEADLINES. All players must be registered by the deadline date listed. No late entries will be accepted.
Rosters. Team Captains will email a complete team roster to the Pickleball League Coordinator prior to the start of the league.
CAPTAINS. All teams must have a designated captain
Captains shall monitor their rosters as players begin to register for correctness and adherence to league rules.
COURTS AND BALLS
COURTS AND FACILITIES. Each team is required to guarantee the use of 3 pickleball courts for match play at an approved facility.
1. Courts must be available simultaneously for a minimum of 2 hours.
2. The team listed as the home team supplies the balls.
3. It is recommended that at least 6 balls be available at each match.
SCHEDULE AND LOCATIONS
MATCH LOCATIONS. Match locations will be published in the schedule. Teams will typically play half of their matches as the ‘home team’ and half of their matches as the ‘visitor team’. In a season with 8 matches (4 - home, 4 - away). This may change depending on the size of the flight.
SCHEDULE CHANGES. Changes to the published schedule must be reported to the LC.
SHORT LINE-UPS. If a captain (from Team “A”) cannot field 3 doubles teams from their roster, and rescheduling the match is not feasible, then that captain shall bring 2 doubles teams to play (line 1 and line 2 on the scoresheet) and default all line 3 doubles team games. The opposing team (Team “B”) shall still bring all 6 of its players as each of its team pairs will play against the opponent’s line 1 team and line 2 team. The scoresheet will reflect a score of 11 - 0 for each defaulted game in each round. Scoring of the games played will be the same as found in the “Match Process” section. If a captain can only field 1 doubles team pair the match will be defaulted.
MATCH PLAY
All team matches will be three (3) rounds of three (3) lines, two (2) games each.
1. Round Robin (as follows)
a) Round 1:
Round 1
Home 1 vs Visitor 1
Home 2 vs Visitor 2
Home 3 vs Visitor 3
(1) Home team line 1 plays Visiting line 1
(2) Home team line 2 plays Visiting line 2
(3) Home team line 3 plays Visiting line 3
b) Round 2:
Round 2
Home 1 vs Visitor 2
Home 2 vs Visitor 3
Home 3 vs Visitor 1
(1) Home team line 1 plays Visiting line 2
(2) Home team line 2 plays Visiting line 3
(3) Home team line 3 plays Visiting line 1
c) Round 3:
Round 3
Home 1 vs Visitor 3
Home 2 vs Visitor 1
Home 3 vs Visitor 2
(1) Home team line 1 plays Visiting line 3
(2) Home team line 2 plays Visiting line 1
(3) Home team line 3 plays Visiting line 2
Home teams stay on courts each round. Visiting teams switch courts after each round.
MATCH DAY TEAMS: On match day the captain will bring 6 players to play on 3 doubles teams. Line-ups identifying the doubles teams on the scoresheet will be exchanged prior to the start of the match after which they may not be changed. The 3 doubles team partners will stay together for that day’s match. Captains or their designees are required to be on-site at each match.
LATE PLAYER: Unless otherwise specified the Schedules state the time matches are to start. It is always a good idea to verify the start time with your opposing team captain a few days prior to the match. The following rules apply to late players.
1. Matches shall start no later than 5 minutes after the posted match start time. If a player has not arrived 10 minutes after the posted start time the team will default the game the player would have normally played.
2. The 5-minute rule applies to the start of each round. Once the next round has started the late player has 5 minutes to arrive or the first game will be defaulted. If the late player arrives during the 2nd game, in any round, more than 5 minutes after the other pairs have begun play, that game will also be defaulted 11-0.
MATCH PROCESS: To begin a match, the visiting teams choose to serve, receive, or side. Each doubles team will play 2 games to 11 (win by 2). If it is tied 1 to 1 then a third full game will be played to determine the winner. Teams shall switch sides after the first game. At the end of the second games (first round), and the fourth games (second round), the visiting doubles teams switch courts to play the next home doubles team noted on the line- up/scoresheet. Each game won is a point when it comes to end of season results.