'Barnstorming the country' -- a look at life in the minor leagues of pickleball

Jay Evans

Contributor

Last Edited

Sep 04 2025

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News

Earlier this year, the PPA Tour created a new series of events for up-and-coming players called the PPA Challenger Series. These tournaments have provided emerging players an opportunity to compete for PPA Tour ranking points, prize money and a chance to earn a UPA contract or wildcard entries into the main draw of PPA Tour events.

In these events, you’ll spot all types of characters, from perennial main draw competitors, hungry newcomers, veterans competing for the love of the sport and local players looking to test the waters at the pro level.

In 2025, I have traveled to Portland, Maine, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Rochester, New York, and Columbia, South Carolina, with a few more mid-sized cities on tap for the rest of the year. This weekend, the tour will head to Orlando, Florida, for the Citrus Classic PPA Challenger, featuring the series' strongest field yet that includes PPA Tour veterans such as Travis Rettenmaier, Ava Ignatowich, Greg Dow and Alex and Angie Walker, to name a few.

For me, as a 30-something, five-point-something level player who’s played a few pro qualifiers over the past few years, the Challenger Tour has given me numerous opportunities: The ability to compete at the highest level against some of the best in the world, an opportunity to travel and see new places and meet new people, and has opened up my eyes to where my level truly is, and where it can be.

Many of us fund our travel and tournament entry fees entirely from our own pocket, cutting costs where possible to give this our best shot, in hopes that we can achieve the results to continue to the next level. This has meant 12+ hour drives to save on airfare and rental car costs, splitting hotels or Airbnb rentals, or staying with host families.

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In one tournament, I played a singles match against a local guy who “won his first tournament and decided to try pro”, and the next day played doubles against John Lucian Goins, who has multiple PPA Tour gold medals this year in men's singles.

For some of us, these tournaments are where our “pro careers” will come to an end. For others, the sky is the limit. The PPA Challenger Series has also shown a glimpse of some of the future stars of pickleball.

Connor Mogle, Jada Bui and Matthew Finnerty have all won multiple singles titles, taking down UPA signed players along the way. Anouar Braham has numerous podium appearances across all three events, and several other players like Ashley Griffith, Isabella Dunlap and Nicole Conard have gone from unranked into the top 100 of the PPA rankings, primarily off their results in the Challenger Series events.

The top four players in each of the five pro divisions will compete for a pro contract at the 2025 Pickleball World Championships in November, while the winner of each division at every challenger stop receives a wild card entry into the main draw of a PPA Open tour stop.

For veteran players, the PPA Challengers have an “old school pro tournament” feel to them. No stadium courts, no vendor villages, no major media coverage. Players compete in the backdraw if they lose in the main draw, guaranteeing two matches as opposed to one-and-done brackets on the main tour.

But there still is the excitement that comes with a professional pickleball event. Local fans and spectators gather to watch players they’ve seen in PPA or MLP, local players, or even their coaches at their club.

Some find new players to support just from watching them play, despite them having
little to no status on the pro tour. The PPA Challenger Series team keeps the matches flowing, and nearly all pro matches are refereed. The PPA has made an effort to stream as many courts as possible, and players in these events feel like they are getting the professional tournament experience.

While the majority of the players are within a day trip of their home, numerous players are barnstorming the country, spending their weekends miles from home for the opportunity to compete and the dream of making it to the next level.

When hundreds of us convened near Columbia, South Carolina, at the end of March for the inaugural Challenger event, many of us were there to test the waters -- some to set out on their path to stardom, and some to continue building on their own previous accomplishments.

For me, I said, "Let’s give this one tournament a try, and see where it goes from there."

I left Columbia with three pro-level wins and a desire to keep on competing. I enter September with confidence in all three pro disciplines, some great results, some disappointing losses, but most importantly numerous new friends, memorable experiences and an even greater appreciation for our sport.

I fully expected to give up on this excursion after one or two tournaments, but my results have motivated me to keep playing.

In 2026, the PPA plans to hold 24 Challenger Series events at venues all across the country.

With a few more stops in 2025, many of us are balancing pro qualifiers in between the remaining challenger events. No matter what our initial goals were, we’re all still trying to achieve our own best in professional pickleball, and the adventure continues, beginning with Orlando in a couple days.

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