Major League Pickleball asked members of the media to submit nominations for postseason awards following the final regular-season event of the year at MLP Salt Lake City.

There's been a lot of chatter on social media about these awards, so I wanted to share who I nominated and why. Note: I submitted my nominees on Monday, before all of the online debate occurred and before seeing who anybody else nominated.

Ultimately the winners will be decided by the fans. If you want to vote on the MLP postseason awards, you can do so here. Voting closes Thursday, Aug. 14 at 5 p.m. ET.

The league asked us to submit three men and three women at the Premier Level and two men and two women at the Challenger Level for the following awards: Most Valuable Player and Most Improved Player.

Here's who I nominated: 

Major League Pickleball Premier Level MVP selections

Men

Hayden Patriquin, St. Louis Shock: I can't unsee his performance at MLP St. Louis, where he went 10-0 with three of the top five teams in the league in attendance at that event. He was the most dominant player in the building that entire week, and it wasn't particularly close. Patriquin and Gabe Tardio were by far the best men's doubles pairing in the league this season, with a 27-2 record. That's a mark that could stand for a long time. Patriquin was almost equally as good with Anna Bright in mixed -- they went 23-3.

JW Johnson, Dallas Flash: His numbers were actually down slightly from last season in men's doubles -- Johnson and Augie Ge were 16-13 (55%) this year compared to 25-10 (71%) in 2024. But JW and sister Jorja Johnson were the best mixed pairing in the league, with a 27-2 record. I also give Johnson a lot of credit for his performance in Dreambreakers -- he has often held his own against the other team's best singles player despite not playing a full singles slate on the PPA Tour. Dallas finished the regular season 3-2 in Dreambreakers. I think Johnson is the true definition of "valuable" ... if you take him off of the Flash and replace him with any men's player outside the top 5 or 10, I don't think Dallas finishes second in the league standings.

Gabe Tardio, St. Louis Shock: He's the other half of the best men's doubles team in the league and has also played very well with Kate Fahey in mixed -- those two were 21-6 this season and a are big reason the Shock finished No. 1 in the points standings. Ultimately I gave the edge to his teammate -- Patriquin -- because from my view it seems like Patriquin has taken on more of a leadership role this season within the team.

Women

Anna Leigh Waters, New Jersey 5s: It seems like she's been overlooked this year because Dallas and St. Louis have been having great seasons, but make no mistake: She's still the best women's player in the game by a significant margin, and she's irreplaceable on the 5s. She's 22-3 this season in women's doubles with Meghan Dizon and 25-3 in mixed with Will Howells, and last month almost singlehandedly led the 5s to a Dreambreaker win over the Los Angeles Mad Drops, winning 9 of 10 points against Catherine Parenteau. She does it all and never shies away from the big moment.

Jorja Johnson, Dallas Flash: Early in the year it looked like she might run away with this award because she was beating the absolute hell out of opponents, but she cooled off slightly toward the end of the season. Even still, she led the league in games won percentage (88%, 51-7) and points won percentage (70%). She'd be a deserving winner of this award, but I favor Waters slightly because Waters is the clear leader and best player on her team, while Johnson is playing with top 5 partners in both women's doubles and mixed doubles.

Tyra Black, Dallas Flash: She gets equal credit for the 24-5 record with Jorja in women's, and the 21-7 record with Augie Ge in mixed is sneaky good. Ge would probably admit that mixed doubles is not his strongest event -- he's ranked No. 23 this season on the PPA Tour among men in mixed doubles. Tyra seems to be able to elevate his game, and they are one of the better No. 2 mixed lines in the league.

Major League Pickleball Premier Level Most Improved Player selections

Men

Gabe Tardio, St. Louis Shock: I think you can make an argument for Gabe Tardio to win both MVP and Most Improved Player. He and Kate Fahey were 6-22 together in 2024, and 21-6 this year. That's an insane level of improvement, and that mixed doubles record is basically the difference between St. Louis finishing third in the standings last year and first in the standings this season. He and Patriquin also went from 19-10 in 2024 to 27-2 this year -- from good to great. Tardio should win some kind of award, but he only made the final ballot in the MVP category.

Eric Oncins, Texas Ranchers: He went from winning 50% of his men's doubles games at the Challenger Level in 2024 to winning 58% of his men's doubles games at the Premier Level in 2025. That's a huge jump when you consider the difference in competition. He also went from winning 61% of his games in mixed last year to 64.5% this year. 

CJ Klinger, Columbus Sliders: Last year with the New York Hustlers he had a losing record in both men's doubles (30%) and mixed doubles (46%). This year he bumped those percentages to 67% in men's and 59% in mixed.

Women

Kate Fahey, St. Louis Shock: She should be a lock for this award, in my opinion, due to the huge turnaround with Tardio in mixed doubles.

Kaitlyn Christian, Texas Ranchers: She made a big jump in women's doubles and mixed doubles this season. In 2024 she won just 25% of her women's doubles games -- this year that number was 44%. In mixed, she won 37% of her games in 2024 and 52% this season.

Meghan Dizon, New Jersey 5s: This one is a little bit tricky because she made a huge leap in women's doubles (she won 19% of her games in 2024 and 89% in 2025), but obviously a big reason for that is that she's now playing women's doubles with Anna Leigh Waters. Meanwhile, her mixed doubles winning percentage is basically the same this year compared to last (45% in 2024, 46% in 2025). I still give her a lot of credit, though -- she and Waters got off to a little bit of a slow start this season, but they made adjustments and went 16-0 together in June, July and August. So not only did Dizon make improvements from last year to this year, but she also made clear strides throughout this season.

Major League Pickleball Challenger Level MVP selections

Men

Pablo Tellez, Las Vegas Night Owls: Tellez should be a Premier Level starter, so it's no surprise that he had a very good season at the Challenger Level while leading Vegas to a first-place finish in the regular season points standings. He was 14-9 in men's doubles, 16-7 in mixed doubles and was a key reason the Night Owls went 6-2 in Dreambreakers.

Marshall Brown, Nashville Chefs: For me it was between Brown and Nashville men's partner Anderson Scarpa for the second spot in this category. They had very similar records and both were key to Nashville's second-place finish in the standings, but I ultimately gave the edge to Brown because of the energy and positive attitude he brings to the court every match. He's been the heartbeat of the Chefs all season.

Women

Chao Yi Wang, Las Vegas Night Owls: The Las Vegas women were statistically ahead of the rest of the Challenger Level women by a fairly wide margin. Wang led all Challenger players (who played in more than 10 matches) in games won percentage (72.4%) and points won percentage (58%).

Brooke Buckner, Las Vegas Night Owls: Buckner was not far behind Wang in those stats, winning 69% of her games and 57% of points played. They were the clear top 2 women at the Challenger Level and just so happened to play on the same team.

Major League Pickleball Challenger Level Most Improved Player selections

Men

James Delgado, Las Vegas Night Owls: Delgado (and Benitez) both would be rookie of the year candidates, if that was an award that existed. After not playing MLP at all last year, Delgado was statistically one of the best players at the Challenger Level -- he actually ranked a tick higher than Tellez. I think you could make a reasonable case for him to be an MVP candidate, but I had Brown slightly higher for that award because Brown was more of a leader on his team, while Delgado was paired up with players who would likely be starters at the Premier Level.

Juan Benitez (now in Premier, but played most of the season in Challenger): Benitez also was making his MLP debut this season, and while his record wasn't great (7-13 in men's doubles and 9-11 in mixed) I still think it's very impressive whenever a player goes from basically unknown one year to in the mix the next. He was ultimately traded to the Miami Pickleball Club late in the season and is now a bench player for that team in the Premier Level.

Women

Layne Sleeth, California Black Bears: She made a big jump in women's doubles this season, going from winning 30% of her women's doubles games in 2024 to winning at a 72% clip this season. She ranked sixth among all women at the Challenger Level in total games won percentage (52%) and points won percentage (52%).

Christa Gecheva, D.C. Pickleball Team: After starting the year as a Premier Level bench player for the New Jersey 5s, Gecheva was ultimately traded to D.C. and played well the second half of the season, going 9-11 overall. She made gains in both women's doubles and mixed doubles compared to last season -- her women's doubles winning percentage went from 25% at the Challenger Level in 2024 to 35% in 2025, and her mixed doubles winning percentage improved from 44% to 50%.