Silly Pickles: Silly Sports’ format allows players to register as individuals, with a partner or with a group so everyone plays at their own level.
The Silly Pickles: Silly Sports’ pickleball league is coming to the Moorestown’s Players Courtyard Pickleball Club at the end of the month.
Participants will play for eight weeks – Sunday, March 30, through Sunday June 8 (skipping April 20, May 11 and May 25) – for one hour of court time per Sunday night. Players can miss any number of league nights; ranking will not be negatively impacted as long as players communicate when they can’t attend.
“Pickleball is one of those sports where it’s really sensitive to skill level discrepancies,” explained Tommy Flaim, founder of Silly Pickles: Silly Sports. “So it’s the most fun when everyone on the court is pretty (much) precisely the same level, and I found other leagues do not really accomplish that because they had certain skill-level brackets like beginner, intermediate and advanced, which were kind of broad.
“We essentially have 30 different levels of play as opposed to three,” he added, “so it’s just a lot more precise in making sure that everyone on the court is the same level.”
The structure of the league includes a dynamic ladder format that ensures skill-based matching. After signing up, players will fill out a survey to indicate how well they play. Skill level for the league ranges from DUPR 5.0 (a pickleball skill level that indicates a player has mastered the game and is among the best non-professional players) to people who have never played.
Silly Sports: Silly Pickles uses self-reported ratings to put together initial rankings and the schedule for the first week, and then players will move up or down the ladder based on their results. Participants can sign up with others but will play as individuals.
“Adult recreational sports are just a nice way to meet other people in your area, and pickleball is a very acceptable sport,” Flaim noted. “And we try to market it as a league for anyone (at) any skill level. It’s very beginner friendly …
“On the one hand,” he added, “everyone on the court is at the same skill level, so in that sense it’s like a competitive match, whether you’re advanced or have never played before. But in another sense, it’s a nice format for community building because you’re constantly playing with a different partner.”
League-night hours will be from 1 to 7 p.m. and all time slots will be rotated. Moorestown’s league will have roughly 312 players – Silly Pickles’ largest – and the best four players play together, the second best four players play together, and so on. Groups of four will play a game to 15 points with each person for three total).
Players will input their total points won – out of a possible 45 – after each night. The top two players in each group will move up the ladder and the bottom two will move down. But the goal is for everyone to simply have fun while meeting new people.
“It’s a very social game,” Flaim observed. “It’s a great way to get some exercise, meet other people in your community and have fun. If you’ve never played before, we’ll put you on our dynamic ladder format (and) we’ll make sure that you’re on a court with other people at your level, whether you’re a pickleball pro or you’ve never played in your life.”
For more information or to register, visit www.sillypickles.com and look for Moorestown’s league under the Pickleball Leagues tab.
