Welcome, THE SPIRIT (Est 2024) is a tournament celebrating THE SPIRIT of Pickleball as a social / community engagement and wellbeing activity. The tournament is also being held in memoriam of Michelle Gibson who is credited along with her family for formally introducing pickleball to the "Shire" in founding the Sutherland Shire Pickleball Club, who will Host the event.

The Promoter and Major Sponsor - Clever Care NOW is a not for profit (registered charity) organisation providing home nursing and allied health support to ageing Australians in South Eastern Sydney. Clever Care Now recognises that active ageing promotes better health and wellbeing for older Australians and supports Pickleball as a possitive experience for physical and mental health. All proceeds from THE SPIRIT will flow back into Clever Care Now's charitable community activities.

We particulalrly encourage "newbies" and first time tournament entrants to participate at their appropriate ability level.

To enter, participants must be a current member of an organistion affiliated with Pickleball Australia, and register for their participation on the Pickleball Brackets (PB) software platform.

As a sanctioned tournament with Pickleball Australia Association, competitors will play under USA Pickleball (USAPA) rules and compete for Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals in each division. In addition the winners of each division will be presented with the Michelle Gibson Memorial Trophy as the perpetual recognition of Michelle's legacy to the SSPBC.

By entering and participating in the Tournament you will have the chance to share in over $10,000 in prizes awarded through player giveaways and random "lucky door" draws during the event culminating in a "surprise" major prize drawn on the final day. Come and have a go in THE SPIRIT you could be a lucky winner just by participating and sharing with us in THE SPIRIT of Pickleball !

The competition will be held in doubles format only, Mixed and Same Sex divisions.

You may enter up to 6 events - one AM and one PM on each of the 3 days of the tournament with varying combinations of partners who meet the Team Age and Skills Event classifications.

If not registering at the same time as your partner you have 4 days for them to confirm the team registration before you are placed on the Wait List. If you do not have a Partner, you are welcome to book under "Players Needing a Partner" to find a partner.

THE SPIRIT competition format is for preliminary "Round Robins" in each division targeting pools of 5 teams. Round Robin game winners will be determined by first to 15 and win by 2. Pre medal eliminations will also be first to 15 and win by 2. Medal Rounds will be the result of winning 2 out of 3 games with each game first to 11 and win by 2.

Referees will be scheduled for all Gold Medal matches.

Early Bird Registration (before Midnight on 30th November) for THE SPIRIT is $60.00 per player which includes 1 event, with an additional fee of $10.00 for each additional event entered up to a maximum of 6 different events. Registration will increase to $70.00 for players entering from 1st December.

Registrations will close at Midnight on 31st December 2024 or earlier if event limits are reached.

This year there will be FOUR AGE DIVISIONS based on the ages (at 31st December 2025) for each team competing. In 3 divisions the combined ages of team members must total within the range criteria for each event, in the 4th division one player must be aged between 16 & 59 years of age and one player 60 years or over.

SKILLS DIVISIONS are based on PB Brackets classifications in the following order PAA PB rating, then PB Brackets rating, then self rating.

Please note the Tournament Director has the right at their discretion to amend events and elligibility criteria to manage player / team entry numbers and to provide appropriate competition opportunity and flexibility to cater for individual event demand. This discretion extends to event team limits, divisional classifications, scheduling amendments and formats including overiding self ratings on registrations received both after the close of registrations.

If you have any questions click on "Contact Tourney" and they will be answered into your email.

Player requests for withdrawals will be accepted until 11.45 pm Friday 3rd January 2025 with a full refund less stripe fees and a $5.00 administration fee per event entered.

After this time there will be no refunds.

Clever Care Now is a not for profit organisation (registered charity) providing home nursing and allied health support.

Our Nurses will be present during competition to provide first aid assistance as well as general wellbeing monitoring.