EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Challenger Series, a new professional pickleball league, is coming to Edwardsville, Ill., in its inaugural season.
This league produces opportunities for aspiring pickleball players that dream of playing in the PPA to build toward the PPA Carvana Tour, a higher level in the PPA. A tournament will be held at the Plummer Family Park in Edwardsville next year, from August 1 to August 3, for the Edwardsville IL PPA Challenger powered by Joola.
“We are incredibly proud for Edwardsville to be one of the tour stops for the inaugural PPA Challenger Series,” said Edwardsville Mayor Art Risavy. “Our Plummer Family Park is a popular destination for the area’s enthusiastic community of pickleball players and fans. We’re excited to show off our terrific courts and our beautiful city.”
For the Challenger series, 16 tournaments are currently scheduled in 2025. Funding for the City of Edwardsville and PPA Tour comes from the Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau via grant funds from the Illinois Office of Tourism and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
“We are thrilled to bring this exciting new sporting event to Southwest Illinois. This is the first professional pickleball event in Illinois with the PPA, and it’s an incredible opportunity to showcase top-tier talent and bring the energy of this rapidly growing sport to the Edwardsville community,” says Cory M. Jobe, president and CEO-Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau.
“We look forward to welcoming participants and spectators from near and far, and we are confident that this event will become an annual tradition that Edwardsville can be proud of.”
The PPA Challenger Series hopes this new league will foster more participation, nurture emerging talent, and potentially expand the sport.
“We have been excited to create more grassroots opportunities for amateur players as well as a structured pathway to the Carvana PPA Tour for aspiring professionals for a long time and we have done just that with the Challenger Series Powered by JOOLA,” says Connor Pardoe, founder & CEO of the Carvana PPA Tour.
“This new tour will not only elevate the level of play but also inspire and motivate amateurs to reach new heights in their pickleball journey while bringing the PPA Tour’s brand of electric pickleball action to new levels of intensity.”
Those interested in participating in a Challenger Series tournament cannot be ranked in the Top 20 of the PPA tour at the close of entry. All pro players outside the PPA Top 20 are eligible to play in the Challenger Series.
Playing in the top 16 Challenger Series events count toward a player’s Challenger Series leaderboard ranking. Each event winner may choose a PPA Tour Open event for entry into the main draw.
Only a max of two challenger winners per draw in a tournament. Series points count towards the Carvana PPA Tour rankings, but the ranking points earned on the PPA Tour do not count toward the Challenger Series standings.
Point structure for the PPA Challenger Series:
- 125 points for winners
- 100 points for finalists
- 75 points for third place
- 50 points for fourth place
- 25 points for quarterfinalist
- 12 points for those that make the round of 16
- 6 points for those that make the round of 32
- 3 points for those that make the round of 64
The Challenger Series Tour features a $10,000 prize purse for the pro-divisions.
Great Rivers and Routes of Southwest Illinois believe the PPA Challenger Series will bring around $800,000 in revenue to Edwardsville.
PPA Challenger Series event schedule will be the same for professionals as well as amateurs. Friday will feature Men's and Women's Singles, Saturday will be for Gender Doubles, and Sunday is Mixed Doubles.
Tickets for the PPA Challenger Series will be available by TIXR, all participants receive grounds passes with their fee for event participation entry. For everyone else, grounds pass tickets are $15. Championships Court action may be viewed via live stream on the NEW Tennis Channel App and the PPA Tour YouTube Channel.
“The Edwardsville IL PPA Challenger Powered by JOOLA promises to be an exhilarating experience for amateur players, offering them an incredible opportunity to take their game to the next level alongside aspiring professionals seeking to join the ranks of the world’s preeminent pickleball tour,” said Great Rivers and Routes in a press release.
“With its enthusiastic grassroots approach and commitment to growing the sport, the PPA Challenger Series is set to make a lasting impact on the western Illinois pickleball community.”