This tournament is a USA Pickleball Sanctioned event.
You must be a USA Pickleball "CHALLENGER" level member (or "Champion" level member) to register. (The free casual membership does NOT allow for sanctioned tournament play)
Go to usapickleball.com/membership.
The cost of becoming a member is offset by a sleeve of balls for which you will receive a promo code by email.
We have a low registration fee that is separate from each event fee. Each event has a separate fee that is dependent on the event. Each event is $30 except the cash prize event is $65 and youth events are $15.
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION OPENS NOVEMBER 10, 2025. REGISTER NOW TO SAVE $$$
Registration is $25 for public, $10 for Armory members
REGULAR REGISTRATION OPENS DECEMBER 1, 2025.
Registration is $35 for public, $20 for Armory members.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN JANUARY!
This is our fourth annual Martin Luther King Tournament at Armory Pickleball, held from Friday, January 16 through Monday, January 19.
THIS IS A USA PICKLEBALL SANCTIONED TOURNAMENT! This means that points are earned to qualify players for the two USA Pickleball Amateur national tournaments on the east coast and west coast. See https://usapickleball.org/sanctioning/ for more information.
When you become a member, you will receive a free sleeve of Franklin pickleballs and be eligible for medical insurance coverage (beyond the coverage of your primary and secondary insurances).
THE 4.5+ MIXED DOUBLES EVENT HAS A CASH PRIZE OF $500 (per team)
HOTELS: We have discounted rates available from local Marriott, Hampton, and Holiday Inn hotels. Promo codes and contact information are below.
Marriott is offering a discounted rate when booking online at both the SpringHill and TownePlace hotels.
Go to Marriott.com, and input code A5258 as a "Special Rate."
SpringHill Information
Hotel Address: 4040 Northwest Ave, Bellingham, WA 98226
Hotel Phone: (360) 714-9600
TownePlace Information
Address: 4050 Northwest Ave, Bellingham, WA 98226
Phone: (360) 714-9700
The Hampton Inn in Bellingham is offering a special 20% off rate to MLK tournament registrants! Please go to https://hil.tn/iy7qzd to redeem this rate when you make your reservation.
Hotel Address: 1055 W Bakerview Rd, Bellingham, WA 98226
Hotel Phone Number: (360) 812-7200
The Holiday Inn and Suites near the Bellingham Airport is offering a special discount rate to our tournament registrants.
Go to https://shorturl.at/LlDuS to redeem this rate when you make your reservation
Hotel Address: 4260 Mitchell Way, Bellingham, WA 98226
Hotel Phone Number: (360) 746-6844
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
All start times are estimates and may change once registration is closed.
FRIDAY: 60+ , 70+ Mixed and 60+Men's Doubles
SATURDAY: Women's Doubles
SUNDAY: Mixed Doubles
MONDAY: Men's Doubles
REGISTRATION DETAILS:
- If verified BEFORE registering, Armory Pickleball members get $15 off each registration. (See below.*)
- There is small registration fee. Each event has its own cost.
- Late Registration begins Saturday, January 3rd. at 8:00 AM ($10 more than Regular Registration).
- REGISTRATION CLOSES AT THE END OF THE DAY (11:59 PM) ON Friday, January 9th.
- Start times for each event will be finalized after registration closes and announced by Monday, January 12th. We reserve the right to make changes due to unforeseen circumstances, but we will do our best to keep the tournament running on schedule and let all players know as soon as possible about any changes.
- You and your partner register separately. Once you register, your partner must register within 4 days or YOU WILL BE MOVED TO THE WAITING LIST and your spot is no longer secure as the event may fill. For people who have registered and are still on the waiting list at the end of the tournament, a full refund will be issued.
**Once an event's max number of players is hit, all new registrations will go to the wait list**
FORMAT:
- Round-robin with playoffs for Gold / Silver / Bronze for the top 3 finishing teams in each bracket.
- There will be a maximum of 8 teams per event. With round-robin, this means a guarantee of 7 games per team. If fewer than 8 teams are registered for an event, 5 games will be guaranteed.
- For pool play (before medal round) games are to 15, win by 1 with rally scoring.‡
- For medal rounds, games are to 21, win by 2 (cap at 25) with rally scoring.‡
- At the end of pool play, medal rounds are determined based on the following criteria, in order: 1) games won, 2) head to head, 3) point differential, 4) head to head point differential, and 5) point differential against next highest team. Standings are always based on games won unless there is a tie, which is broken by the next scoring metric (head to head), and so on.
CONCESSION AND SWAG:
Water and some free snacks will be provided. There are also items for purchase in the Armory Pickleball pro shop including Armory and tournament-specific merch, paddles, and other pickleball accessories.
PAYMENT:
Payment via credit card (Stripe) is due when you register. There is a non-refundable service fee of $5 per player. See refund policy below.
PADDLES AND BALLS:
- Selkirk Pro S1 balls will be used. You can purchase this ball here: https://tinyurl.com/bdc37akv
- Paddles must be UPA (United Pickleball Association) or USAP (USA Pickleball, formerly known as USAPA) approved. Your paddle must have an approval sticker from one organization OR the other (it does not need both)
NOTES:
* For the Armory Pickleball member discount, there are three things that need to happen:
1. Be an active member of Armory Pickleball (go to https://armorypickleball.net) AND,
2. Have or create a free account with Pickleball Tournaments (go to https://pickleballtournaments.com) AND,
3. THEN, once your account is set up and you are logged into Pickleball Tournaments, click on "Clubs", and search for Armory Pickleball. If you are a current paid member of Armory Pickleball, select Armory Pickleball, click on "Become A Member" and then, "Click Here To Complete Your Request". Your membership will need to be verified (this may take up to 24 hours). Once you have been verified, you may register and your discount will be applied. This only needs to happen once. If you have done this already for a previous tournament, your information will already be in the system.
- Pickleball Tournaments charges a $5 service fee for registering for EACH of the first TWO events. To avoid paying an unnecessary service fee, if you are wanting to CHANGE events, be sure to drop the first event BEFORE adding the second event. If you add a second event first and then drop the first event, you will be charged the second event fee of $5. No extra fee is charged for signing up for more than two events.
- A player may play at a higher level (play up), but may not play down (sand bag). Pickleball Tournaments uses DUPR scores to determine which events are open to each player. Pickleball Tournaments also uses an events scale based on .5 rating increments - so if you have a DUPR of 3.43, you would be eligible to play in any event from 3.0 and up. Some of our events are based on .25 rating increments (for example, 3.0-3.25 doubles). In this instance, if you have a DUPR of 3.43, you would **technically** be eligible for that event, based on the increments Pickleball Tournaments uses. In that case, we would encourage you to play in the next-highest event.
- A minimum of 5 games are guaranteed. Number of games played and points per game will depend on registration. Our goal is to maximize the number of rallies each team gets to play, and the number of other teams each team gets to play, while staying on schedule to ensure that each event starts on time. Pool play will be round-robin (each team plays every other team in your pool). Under special circumstances and with advanced notice, we may use waterfall format (playing 4 best matches before the medal round).
- Depending on registration numbers, we may split events by age (for example: under 40, 40+), and we may combine teams to make for the best player experience. Your age will be based on your age by December 31st, 2026.
