Major interest in pickleball from hundreds of Olympic Peninsula residents are helping fuel Sequim’s first minor league.

The Sequim Picklers — which boasts about 600 members as of April 2024, members said — recently announced the formation of Sequim Picklers Minor League Pickleball (SPMiLP), a league formed of teams made up of two men and two women to play Major League Pickleball (MLP)-style team matches.

“This gives people an opportunity to compete at a high level,” said Pickler Chris Jafay, who helped spearhead the formation of the league.

The SPMiLP already has 12 teams: The Sequim Suns, The Port Angeles Watchmen, X-40 Kraken, The Lavender Lobbers, The Ravens, The Da’dink’quents, The Sun Setters, The Dungeness Dills, PBJ, Needs Practice, The Dungeness Dinkers and Four-Pack Clausens.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Phil Milliman, right of the X-40 Kraken looks to get a shot past Tim Scott of the Lavender Lobbers in a Sequim Picklers Minor League Pickleball match last week.

Some teams have created custom logos, uniforms and slogans for their matches which are played at the pickleball courts at Carrie Blake Community Park.

Instead of playing a prepared, formatted season schedule, SPMiLP teams play each other via a “challenge board,” since league players have varying schedules and availability.

Once at the courts, play is fairly straightforward: a coin toss determines the “home” and “away” teams. The two squads play two gender-specific matches. Then, before the first mixed doubles match, the “away” team names their doubles duo and the “home” team gets to choose who’ll face them. If the teams are tied after the two mixed doubles matches, they play a tie-breaker — a “dreambreaker” (full-court singles) or sudden shock (half-court singles) match.

Players stay on one side of the court as either “even” (serving when one’s team is even points) or “odd” serving at odd-numbered intervals). Matches are to 21 by rally scoring — one point per play, rather than points only earned off of serves — and are typically finished within 60-90 minutes, players said.

Team captains are also responsible for securing a volunteer referee.

Jafay said minor league team play like this got popular among MLP players who got bored of playing only singles or having to figure out who to partner with. Minor league started forming, helping boost the experience and field of top recruits for MLP matches.

Jafay started forming teams and posting challenges on the board at the Sequim courts.

“We built it and they came,” he said.

The Ravens were the first team, he said, followed by The Lavender Lobbers and quickly 10 others. League organizers hope to continue expanding the league by drawing in teams from around the Olympic Peninsula and surrounding areas.

The popularity makes sense, Jafay said, as many players enjoy the social aspect while the camaraderie between teammates “elevates the play.”

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Chris Jafay, left, talks with X-40 Kraken teammates Phil Milliman and Jennifer Knapp during a break in a Sequim Picklers Minor League Pickleball match last week.

Each team has an aggregate rating calculated by adding up the individual ratings of team members, and matches are typically played within a specific rating division. Teams may play up a division (playing more skilled teams), but not down.

The nice thing about that format, Sequim Pickler Susie Lewis said, is that “it’s not about age, it’s about skill level.” Most teams have players of intermediate skill.

Lewis moved to Sequim about four years ago during the COVID pandemic and started playing pickleball at the Sequim courts. She said most of her friends came from playing pickleball.

“There’s something about it,” she said. “It’s a very nice group of people, very friendly, and a nice way to meet people.”

Getting started

The Sequim Picklers started hosting a once-a-month team play using a draft, with a committee taking names from a pool and dividing up individuals into teams so they can check it out.

“People had a lot of fun [though] it’s a little nerve-wracking,” Lewis said. “You have your team and don’t want to let your team down. You don’t want to let your partner down.”

The Picklers also host beginners play from 3-5 p.m. at the Carrie Blake Community Park courts, plus drill sessions three mornings per week.

For those needing some help finding out their rating, Lewis said the Picklers host “skinny singles” play at 2 p.m. on Fridays, where individuals can challenge each other on half of a standard court, and a Pickler will record the results and help that person gauge their skill level and rating.

People can also ask a more experience player to help them gauge their rating, Lewis said.

For more about upcoming SPMiLP matches, check the pop-up page on the Sequim Picklers website (sequimpickleball.com), the Sequim Picklers Facebook page, and the bulletin board at the Sequim Picklers shed at Carrie Blake Community Park.