In MiLP, teams of four players (two women and two men) play matches against other teams of four players. Each match consists of four games: women’s doubles, men’s doubles, and two games of mixed doubles. All games are played with Rally Scoring to 21 (win by two). If the match is tied at two games each after those four games, a “Dreambreaker” is used to determine the winner. That is a game of full-court singles to 21 (win by two) where all four players on a team play in an established rotation for four points at a time. A fuller description of the format and the rules can be found here.

The Lavender Cup at the Sequim Fling is a qualifying event for the MiLP National Championship. Based on their performance in this tournament, players earn points in the national standings which determine who qualifies for the National Championship.

Players form their own teams of two women and two men. Teams are bracketed based on their total (aggregate) DUPR ratings (add together all four individual DUPR ratings). DUPR 12 (maximum aggregate 12.300) DUPR 14 (maximum aggregate 14.300), maximum individual rating 4.100 DUPR 16 (maximum aggregate 16.300), maximum individual rating 4.600 DUPR 18 (maximum aggregate 18.300), maximum individual rating 5.100 There are also senior divisions (50+) for most levels. In order to qualify, each member of a team must be over 50. If you are interested in playing but need help finding partners, you can complete this form.

The numbers after a division are simply the total (aggregate) score of all four individual DUPR ratings. Taking that total number and dividing by four will give you the equivalent skill bracket you may be accustomed to. DUPR 12 ➗ 4 = Standard 3.0 rating DUPR 14 ➗ 4 = Standard 3.5 rating DUPR 16 ➗ 4 = Standard 4.0 rating DUPR 18 ➗ 4 = Standard 4.5 rating

HIstorically there has been limited participation in the DUPR 12 division, enough so that many tournaments are no longer offering the bracket. We believe there will be enough interest in Sequim to offer the bracket but believe it is unlikely we would fill both an over 50 and an all ages bracket so we went with the more open one (all ages) in order to accommodate anyone who may be interested.

Teams are able to substitute a player after initial registration as long as the player has a DUPR rating and their rating does not move the team to a higher DUPR aggregate. If a substitution is made for an injured player during the event, the sub must remain in for the duration of the event. A player that is subbed out cannot be subbed back into play later in the day. If a team is unable to field all required players for any reason during the tournament day, that game is a forfeit of 21-0. If a player has an injury mid-game and cannot finish the game, the team then forfeits that game. The forfeiting team will keep their score and the winning team will automatically be given a score of 21, or greater to ensure the game is won by two. Forfeited games count for wins and point percentage. Forfeited/Withdrawn games that do not play and/or both teams score less than 7 points will not be inputted into DUPR.

If a match is tied after the first four games, the tiebreaker will be full-court singles. Because of the “Dreambreaker” format, no individual player is on the court for more than four consecutive rallies. This is the only tie-breaking option offered in formal MiLP events. The Skinny Singles option offered in some Sequim Picklers events is a local club option that was enacted since those are not formal MiLP events. Since this is a formal, sanctioned event Skinny Singles will not be an available option in The Lavender Cup.

Rally Scoring simply means a point is scored on every rally.* The team that wins the rally wins the point, regardless of who served. The team winning the rally scores the point and serves to start the next rally. Players remain on their side of the court (even/right or odd/left) throughout the match unless they make an intentional, announced change during a time out. * A team must win the game on their serve, so a team at game point cannot score when the opponent has served. In that scenario, the side out is awarded but no point is scored.

A Scramble is an exciting tournament format that allows players to register individually and pair with several random partners throughout the qualifying rounds, then race to the finish with a specified partner through the medal rounds. From all players in a given gender/age/skill bracket, the Tournament Director will create random pairings for the qualifying rounds. During these games (standard scoring to 11, win by two), each player will be awarded points as follows: Win the game: 2 points Lose the game but score at least 7: 1 point Lose and score 6 or fewer: 0 points Standings tie-breakers will be 1) total points scored, 2) point differential, 3) coin flip. At the end of the qualifying rounds, the first place player will select a partner for the medal rounds from any player in fifth through eighth place in the standings. The second place player will select from the remaining fifth through eighth players, and so on. These teams will then face off in the semifinals with the winners playing for gold/silver and the losers playing for bronze.

Given the random pairing of partners during the qualifying rounds, there is no way to ensure teams would be balanced with one woman and one man so the Scrambles are only available in gendered formats.

There is no “second event” rate for this tournament because of the nature of the events. We have worked hard to make the pricing of these attractive and are charging less than comparable tournaments throughout the area.

No. By definition, a Scramble event involves random pairings in the early rounds. If you are one of the top finishers after the early rounds, you will have an opportunity to select a partner for the medal rounds from other players finishing high enough to qualify.

Quite simply, we don’t yet have enough court capacity in Sequim to accommodate multiple age divisions in this format. Since this is our first year testing this format, we will look to fine tune next year to balance court capacity and player interest.

The Blue Hole Bash, September 19 - 21, will feature the traditional doubles format (gendered and mixed).

We are keeping the traditional format for The Blue Hole Bash (September 19 - 21). The proliferation of pickleball tournaments is forcing everyone to get more creative in format, promotion, prize money, etc. in order to continue to attract enough players. We believe the combination of MiLP and a Scramble will make The Sequim Fling stand out and attract many new players from throughout the broader region.

Parking is available in the regular lot adjacent to the courts and skatepark as well as surrounding the Guy Cole Event Center. Overflow parking is available in Carrie Blake Park near the bandshell and soccer fields (enter the park one driveway to the north from where you normally access the courts). It’s a short walk directly across a footbridge from the overflow parking. DO NOT PARK IN THE CHURCH PARKING LOT regardless of the day because they often have weddings, funerals, or other gatherings on days other than Sunday and they need to use the lot that is rightfully theirs. We have authorized the Church to tow vehicles this year.

Yes, absolutely! The MiLP format encourages teammates to watch and cheer while not playing, so there is a built-on spectating environment that will be fun to join. The excitement of the Scramble building up to the medal round partner selections and the fight to the finish will also be very exciting to watch.

A tournament of this size needs an army of volunteers to make it all work. Gail Sumpter and Char Reeves are organizing volunteers into four hour shifts to help with a variety of tasks, including player registration, running scoresheets, directing traffic, and player hospitality. Please contact Char at charsequimpickler@gmail.com to volunteer.

Please put them in touch with one of our Sponsorship Team members: Richard Cary Janie Dicus Rodney Diseker Christine Goodson Cyndi Hueth Char Reeves Alex Sprenger Gail Sumpter

DUPR stands for Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating. It is the largest set of pickleball player data and therefore best positioned to be a representative rating for all players. Its algorithm accounts for a variety of factors to fine tune a player’s rating over time. As a player’s rating becomes more accurate, DUPR displays a reliability score (1-100) indicating how reliable the rating is (100 being very reliable). The only way to increase your reliability score is to enter more games you’ve played, preferably against a wide variety of opponents.

It isn’t so much that the Picklers are using DUPR as much as the rest of the pickleball universe has adopted DUPR and we are moving in concert with that change. Pickleball, Inc., which operates Pickleball.com, PickleballTournaments.com, and PickleballBrackets.com eliminated their proprietary ratings at the end of last year and moved to DUPR. Minor League Pickleball (MiLP) has always used DUPR.

Like any rating system, DUPR needs data to be reliable. Your profile displays a Reliability Score (1-100) indicating how certain the algorithm is of your rating. If your Reliability Score is less than 60, your rating is not deemed reliable. DUPR offers a great guide for ways to increase your Reliability Score.

At DUPR.com you can search for players. If you have previously played in tournaments, you should have a profile with tournament data already on DUPR. If you are not seeing a profile and have played in tournaments, please enter your full name (first and last) in the search box since unclaimed profiles often don’t appear in partial search results. If you have not played in tournaments and do not have a DUPR account, you can create one. If you have more than one account due to tournament data that had mismatched data (birthdate, middle initial, etc.), please contact DUPR support to merge the duplicate profiles. You will need to provide them with the Profile IDs of each profile to merge and select the “Merge Accounts” option in the dropdown menu.

We are in the process of establishing the Picklers as an official Club within DUPR. Our intent will be to enter sanctioned club events in DUPR as we previously did with PickleballBrackets.com for things like Rated Play. We will update everyone as this progresses.

Any player in any game can enter a score into DUPR. The remaining players will be asked to validate the score before it will post. Please discuss whether a game will be recorded with your fellow competitors prior to the first serve in order to avoid any confusion. There are many reasons someone may not want to record certain games (trying a new paddle, using a new grip, practicing a new serve, inclement weather…the list is lengthy and valid), so please respect that decision if they do not wish to record a match. Similarly, if you have agreed to record a match, please honor that commitment and validate it in DUPR when asked. Recreational games carry far less weight for rating purposes than sanctioned club games or tournament matches, so please be generous in allowing your fellow players to enter matches and establish or normalize their rating.

Yes. If you have no rating at the time of your registration, you will be assigned the default average rating for the division you select (e.g., if you sign up for DUPR 14, you would be assigned a default rating of 3.5, or 14 ÷ 4). You also have the option of creating a DUPR profile and entering some games to establish a more accurate rating prior to registering. Either way, you must have created a DUPR account in order to register, regardless of whether you have entered games and established a rating.