How the League Works

Registration is done online through the NPL website. You will be asked to provide your player details and DUPR profile (if you have one), nominate the state(s) you are available to play in, and acknowledge NPLeague's registration terms and conditions, including a commitment to play for the team that selects you and to execute a Player Contract. Completing and submitting the registration form constitutes a binding commitment — if selected in the draft, you are required to execute the NPL Professional Player Contract.

The draft is open to all players — there are no age, skill level or geographic restrictions. You do not need to be Australian. Players may nominate for multiple states and must be prepared to play in any state for which they are selected.

The draft follows a snake (reverse-order) format across three rounds. Team captains are pre-selected before the draft. Round 1 picks proceed in lottery order (positions 1 through 12). Rounds 2 and 3 reverse that order (12 through 1), ensuring teams that picked last get the first pick next round. Every team makes exactly three draft picks across the three rounds.

Unselected registered players are placed in the Reserve / Alternate Pool and remain available for teams to call upon during the season as injury replacements or mid-season additions. Being in the Reserve Pool does not guarantee selection.

The Mid-Season Draft (1 June 2026) allows teams to make limited roster changes after the Mid-Season Festival. A team must release at least one player to participate. Teams that release two players draft ahead of teams that release one. Replacement players are drawn from the shared Reserve / Alternate Pool. Any released player remains in the Reserve Pool and may be selected by another team.

No. The Mid-Season Festival (Round 4) does not contribute to the main NPL season ladder. Conference standings for Finals qualification are based solely on Rounds 1–3 and 5–7.

Round days follow a standard format: 12:00 pm — Venue opens for practice; 1:00 pm — Match 1 begins; 3:00 pm — Lunch break; 3:30 pm — Match 2 begins; 5:30 pm — Match 2 concludes. The League may vary this schedule for individual round venues.

Each team submits a default lineup to the League before Round 1. The default lineup applies to every subsequent round unless the team amends it by 10:00 pm on the Monday before the scheduled round. The opposing team is notified that an amendment has been lodged but is not told the specific format assignments.

Singles is played as one continuous set to 15 by a nominated starter and a nominated finisher. When the first side reaches 8 points, the starting player is replaced by the finishing player. Play continues without interruption from the current score — there is no warm-up for the incoming finisher. Any timeout used before the swap carries over and cannot be reclaimed.

Rally scoring (all doubles formats): either side scores a point on every rally, regardless of who is serving. First team to 22, win by 2. Traditional scoring (singles): only the serving side can score. First player to 15, win by 2.

No. The Freeze rule does not apply in any set format in the 2026 NPL season, including in any Mid-Season Festival event.

Each team is entitled to one (1) timeout per set. Timeouts last up to one minute. There is a two-minute break between sets. The minimum break between separate matches on the same day is 15 minutes.

All NPLeague matches are submitted to DUPR. Singles results are entered as two separate games — one for each half of the set (before and after the swap). Doubles and mixed results are entered as a single game at the final score. Players are encouraged to maintain an up-to-date DUPR profile, though a DUPR rating is not required to register for the draft.

Round MVP: $250 per gender, per round, per state conference (7 rounds × 2 genders × 3 conferences = $9,000 total). Voted by the League. Golden Pickle Award: $5,000, awarded at the Finals Series to the player who best exemplifies outstanding skill, sportsmanship and performance across the Finals weekend. Voted by commentators, referees and an NPL representative.

If you miss a scheduled round and a replacement player participates, you forfeit 12% of your allocated prize pool for that round (16% for Finals rounds). The League retains half of the forfeited amount; the replacement player receives the other half. For unapproved absences, additional disciplinary sanctions may also apply.

Yes, in several circumstances: Unapproved absence from a scheduled round — 12% forfeiture per round (16% for Finals). Absence from the Grand Final and prize presentation without written League approval — 10% of your total prize allocation. Disciplinary action — the League may withhold, reduce or forfeit prize money as a sanction. Failure to meet participation minimums (fewer than 2 regular season rounds) — potential ineligibility for Finals prize money.

Qualifying Finals (Saturday): QF1 — Seed 1 v 4, QF2 — Seed 2 v 3. Elimination Finals (Saturday): EF1 — Seed 5 v 8, EF2 — Seed 6 v 7. Semi Finals (Saturday): SF1 — QF1 Loser v EF1 Winner, SF2 — QF2 Loser v EF2 Winner. Preliminary Finals (Sunday): PF1 — QF1 Winner v SF2 Winner, PF2 — QF2 Winner v SF1 Winner. 3rd/4th Place Match (Sunday): PF1 Loser v PF2 Loser. Grand Final (Sunday): PF1 Winner v PF2 Winner. Seeds 1–4 enter via Qualifying Finals; Seeds 5–8 enter via Elimination Finals.

Yes. All players must attend and remain present at the NPL Grand Final for the duration of the match and the prize presentation ceremony. A player absent without written approval from the League will forfeit 10% of their total prize money allocation.

You must participate in at least two of the seven regular season rounds (Rounds 1–3 and 5–7) to be eligible for Finals. Exceptions may be granted at the League's discretion for legitimate injuries or other approved circumstances.

Legitimate reasons include: injury or illness (medical evidence may be required), family emergency, and pre-notified personal reason approved by the League in writing before the season. Players must notify the League in writing as soon as practicable. Verbal requests are not binding. Unapproved absences trigger prize money forfeiture and may result in additional disciplinary sanctions.

Yes, provided those events do not conflict with scheduled NPL rounds, Finals weekends, or other League-supported commitments. Participating in a competing event during a scheduled NPL round without prior written approval is treated as an unapproved absence.

All players, coaches, officials and staff must comply with the NPL Player Code of Conduct, anti-harassment policies, anti-doping policies and betting and integrity rules. This includes conduct on social media — public comments that attack, disparage or criticise players, organisers, officials or NPL staff may be treated as a disciplinary matter.

Available sanctions include: formal warning, loss of ladder points, lineup restrictions, disqualification or suspension from current or future events, withholding/reduction/forfeiture of prize money, and exclusion from future NPL seasons.

A technical foul that would result in a match forfeit under standard GPFOR rules will instead result in the automatic loss of that set for the offending team. The opposing team is awarded the full set. No individual point adjustment is made to the score prior to the technical foul.

The Mid-Season Festival is held across three days — Friday 22 to Sunday 24 May 2026. It runs three concurrent events: the NPL Mid-Season Teams Cup (12-team competition), the Individual / Open Tournament (open to NPL players and the public), and the State of Origin Showcase (played Sunday). It replaces the regular round format for Round 4 and does not contribute to the season ladder.

Friday: Teams Cup Swiss Rounds 1 & 2 + Individual/Open early rounds. Saturday: Teams Cup Swiss Rounds 3 & 4 + Individual/Open quarter & semi finals; OQS leaderboard published and Origin squads locked Saturday night. Sunday: Teams Cup Semi Finals & Grand Final + Individual/Open Finals + State of Origin Showcase matches.

Seeding is based on NPL season results through Rounds 1–3. Within each state conference, the team finishing 1st is Seed 1, 2nd is Seed 2, and so on. Round 1 pairings follow a seeded cross-state lottery draw conducted by the League.

Every team plays exactly four matches (Swiss Rounds 1–4), regardless of wins or losses. After each round, teams on similar win-loss records are paired against each other. Cross-state matchups are actively sought; same-state games are avoided where possible. The top 4 teams after Swiss Round 4 advance to Sunday knockout semi finals and grand final.

Semi Final 1: Ladder Position 1 v 4. Semi Final 2: Ladder Position 2 v 3. 3rd Place Match: SF1 Loser v SF2 Loser. Grand Final: SF1 Winner v SF2 Winner.

1st Place: $10,000 ($2,500 per player). 2nd Place: $5,200 ($1,300 per player). 3rd Place: $3,200 ($800 per player). 4th Place: $1,600 ($400 per player). Total: $20,000. Teams finishing 5th–12th do not receive Teams Cup prize money. This prize pool is separate from and in addition to the main NPL season prize pool.

The tournament is open to all NPL contracted players and members of the general public. NPL professional players are guaranteed a spot in both the singles and doubles draws but must still register to confirm participation.

Registration opens: Friday 27 March 2026. NPLeague contracted players must register by: Friday 1 May 2026. General public registration closes: Monday 11 May 2026.

Singles: Round of 32, semi finalists confirmed Saturday night. Doubles: Round of 24, semi finalists confirmed Saturday night.

No player will be required to withdraw from an Individual / Open match due to a Teams Cup scheduling conflict. The Tournament Director will shift the Individual / Open match to a different time slot. Players must notify the Tournament Director of any known conflicts before their first match.

Winner (1st): $2,000. Runner-Up (2nd): $500. 3rd Place: $200. 4th Place: $100. Quarter Finalists: $50 each. Total Individual / Open prize pool: $17,000. Prizes apply across both singles and doubles draws.

Yes. The 2026 NPL Mid-Season Festival is a GPA (Global Pickleball Alliance) Tier 2 event. Ranking points are awarded across both singles and doubles draws based on finishing position. See www.gpapickleball.org for the current GPA Tier 2 points schedule.

State of Origin is a representative team event played on Sunday of the Mid-Season Festival. Four squads compete — Victoria (VIC), New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD) and ALLIES — using the standard NPLeague tie format. Each squad has 6 players (3 male, 3 female).

At registration, each player nominates one of VIC, NSW, QLD or ALLIES. You may nominate a state if you currently live there, were originally from there, or have a demonstrable connection declared at registration. Players who don't qualify for VIC, NSW or QLD must nominate ALLIES. Nominations are locked at registration close (Monday 11 May 2026) and cannot be changed.

Squad selection is based on the Origin Qualification Score (OQS) — a composite score earned through performance in the Individual / Open Tournament and the Teams Cup (Swiss rounds only). The top 6 eligible players from each nomination group (3 male, 3 female) are selected. Squads are locked on Saturday night after Swiss Round 4 and once the Individual / Open semi finals are confirmed.

OQS = Individual / Open Score + Teams Cup Individual Score (capped at 16 points). Singles Semi finalist / Top 4: 20 pts. Singles QF / Top 8: 12 pts. Singles R16: 6 pts. Singles R32 win: 3 pts. Doubles Semi finalist / Top 4: 20 pts. Doubles QF / Top 8: 12 pts. Doubles R12: 6 pts. Doubles R24 win: 3 pts. Teams Cup (Swiss R1–4): 2 pts per credited set win, capped at 16 total. Sunday finals results do not contribute to OQS.

A credited set win means your team won a set in which you personally participated during Swiss Rounds 1–4. Each credited set win earns 2 OQS points, capped at 16 points total (equivalent to 8 credited set wins). Sunday finals do not count toward OQS.

In State of Origin, Mixed Doubles is played to rally 22, win by 2, with a swap when the first side reaches 11. Teams must nominate a male starter, male finisher, female starter and female finisher. All other set formats (Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles, Men's Singles, Women's Singles) are unchanged from the standard NPLeague tie format.

Origin Champions (Final Winner): $600 per player. Runner-Up (Final Loser): $200 per player.