How to Make It to The Dink Minor League Pickleball Championship

There are two National Pathways to make it to The Dink Minor League Pickleball (MiLP) Championship:

Earn enough points through local MiLP tournaments
Win a gold at a MiLP Regional Event

Let's discuss each in more detail.

National Pathway No. 1: Earn points in local tournaments

Local The Dink Minor League Pickleball tournaments are happening all the time. In fact, we produce an article sharing where you can find them each month:

But you can also find local tournaments near you by visiting The Dink Minor League Pickleball website and selecting Upcoming Events.

This is important because if you want to make it to the MiLP Championship in December, then you'll need to accrue National Leaderboard points.

Essentially, this is how the points system works:

Looking to organize a Minor League Pickleball event in your area? Click here for more details and information

Players play in teams but accumulate points individually. At each The Dink Minor League Pickleball event, a player earns points based on their team's outcome.

For example, if a division has 8 teams, then the first place team earns 8 points, the 2nd place team earns 7 points, the 3rd place team earns 6 points and so on. The minimum number for a first place team is 4 points.

Another important aspect of accruing points is that when you're rewarded points, it's for the DUPR division you competed in. There is a separate National Leaderboard for each division.

So, if you competed in the DUPR 14 division in one tournament and received eight points but then competed in a DUPR 16 division in another tournament and received four points, your total won't be 12 points, but instead you'll have eight points on one leaderboard and four points on the other.

This means that you need to select your division wisely because you'll need to stick with it throughout the entire MiLP season.

How many points to get to the National Championship?

Since this is a leaderboard, there is no set number of points you must earn to advance to the Championship. Instead, your progress is dependent on what other players in your division also earn.

The set number of players has not been announced yet, but let's say the top 16 in each division earn their ticket to the National Championship. Then, you would need to earn enough points to get within that top 16.

Just like the MLPlay format offers an innovative and ingenious play, the Leaderboard is offering an ingenious way to qualify for the National Championship as players who earn an invite to the National Championship can assemble their team from any players on the leaderboard. (Hint: ensure you play at least one MiLP this season to be eligible to play! What if your friend is a top player and asks you to play? You want to be at least eligible!)

How to earn more points

To earn more points, you must play more tournaments. Fortunately, there are tournaments across the US, and you can participate in any tournament in any city to gain points for the Leaderboard.

So, if you don't happen to have MiLP at your local club, you can travel to a nearby city and compete there.

To learn more about The Dink Minor League Pickleball, visit the home page.

The second way to earn a spot in the National Championship is through Regional Showdowns.

National Pathway No. 2: The Dink MiLP Regional Showdowns

The Dink MiLP organizers will be hosting a total of seven tournaments in different regions of the country.

These Regional Showdowns will include 12 to 16 teams per division. At each event, the 1st place teams from each division will receive a Dream Ticket to the National Championship.

All Regional Showdown players will earn points towards their respective DUPR Divisions on the National Leaderboard (including the 1st place team).

A team that earns a Dream Ticket to the National Championship will compete in the division in which they qualified, regardless of their DUPR aggregate at registration as long as the entire team is intact (all 4 players stay the same).

If any players are substituted, the team will be placed in the appropriate aggregate at the time of registration.

If a team that received a Dream Ticket cannot attend the National Championship with all four of its original teammates, it can choose to replace up to two teammates with players who have competed in The Dink MiLP events during the 2024 qualifying season.

If a 1st place team cannot attend Nationals with at least 2 of its original Regionals’ teammates, the 2nd place team will be offered their Dream Ticket to Nationals.

There is no better time than now to take a stab at making it to The Dink Minor League Pickleball Championship in Missouri in December.

Sign up now for The Dink Minor League Pickleball event to get your name and points on the National Leaderboard and earn your spot at The Dink MiLP’s pinnacle event, The Dink Minor League Pickleball National Championship 2024.