One year ago All Florida Pickleball started the journey of bringing team pickleball to all levels of the game. Partnering with DUPR and the Florida Smash the first Minor League Pickleball event was hosted at GT Bray. Named the Tampa Showdown teams came from all over the country to compete.
This year was the same, teams came to compete for cash and raise money for MS, a cause that hits close to founder David Tabb as he was diagnosed with MS just days before the mentioned first Minor League event. It was great to see players that played in the event last year and how they have improved as well as seeing new faces that are playing and supporting the cause. Adapting to make sure players have the best experience, this year the event was 1 day and formatted to be the same as MLP.
A new sponsor this year is Dwell Pickleballs, this was the first tournament of the year they were used and the player response to the new ball was well received. Coming back to sponsor the event again were the Florida Smash, owner Graham DAmico came out to support and heckle fellow pickleball players.
A key feature to this event was the anticipated build up for the All Florida Pro League. With the combine only weeks away the captains were scouting to see players in pressure situations and how they handle adversity. You could feel the excitement in the air and it was electric the entire day!
Since this go around we were able to have a two day event, there were so many great players and such an abundance of hype and awesome plays. From the DUPR 16 division all the way to DUPR 22 everyone played their heart out. Let’s look at some of the stand out players from each category. Starting with DUPR 16 we had an exceptional performance coming out of the male duo Peter Anderson and Tomas Heredia. Both members of team “Ding Dong” finished first and second in the rankings for point win percentage with 63.03% and 62.87% respectively. Not lagging too far behind in the overall rankings was the women’s pair from team “Ding Dong,” April Sicam and Laura Morales who finished 4th and 5th. After such a dominating performance maybe it’s time to finally move up divisions cough cough.
DUPR 18 had some tough competition but when all was said and done, Cohen Academy finished on top. Team captain Jared Cohen crafted another winning squad and found himself at the top of the individual rankings with 59.35% of points won. On the women’s side Laura Falceto and Adele Dorion finished 2nd and 3rd with 58.31% and 58.16%. Both women are part of the UF Club Pickleball team, so be on the look out for them in future collegiate tournaments.
DUPR 20 was full of exceptional talent. After a lot of hard fought battles, team Shoulda Warmed Up, led by BK, took home the crown. BK also found himself at the top of the individual rankings, with 61.18% of points won. He will be captaining the Fort Meyers Flamingos in the All Florida Pro League this season and has drafted his partner of this event, Nejc Sitar, to the Flamingos. The women’s duo of Shoulda Warmed Up put on a show as well. After such an amazing performance, both Ellie Skingley and Grayson Hall got drafted in the All Florida Pro League as well. Skingley joins the ranks of the O-Town Bangerz, while Hall will see some familiar faces on the Fort Meyers Flamingos.
To round up the tournament was DUPR 22, meaning the average DUPR of every player is a 5.5. As one can imagine, the level of play was pretty decent. Croquetas and Coladas came out guns blazing, going undefeated in pool play and continuing that momentum in playoffs. The fiery Miami natives, Mario Figuerdo and Juan Saez, dropped only one men’s game the whole tournament. Figuerdo got drafted to the Lakeland Palms in AFPL and will be joined by Isabella Ochoa, one of his teammates for this event. Ochoa and Meredith Laughlin were the highest performing women of the tournament. There is such an abundance of talent in Florida, and we cannot wait to showcase it at the All Florida Pro League. The first event is May 4th, stay tuned!
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