Were you supposed to play in a pickleball tournament in the coming weeks? If so, your pickleball tournament was likely cancelled, suspended, or postponed in order to combat the global COVID-19 pandemic. This even includes some of the biggest pickleball tournaments held every year, such as the 2020 US Open Pickleball Championships and the 2020 Bainbridge Cup and English Open. USA Pickleball also recently suspended the sanctioning of all pickleball tournaments through April 15, 2020, and is expected to announce next week (the week of March 30, 2020) whether the suspension on sanctioning will continue beyond April 15, 2020. To determine whether your pickleball tournament was cancelled, suspended, or postponed, please check with the applicable tournament director.
If your pickleball tournament was cancelled, suspended, or postponed, you probably have questions like:
- Will my pickleball tournament be rescheduled?
- Will I receive a refund of my money paid?
- What if I was trying to qualify for the 2020 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships? Will I still qualify?
- Is the 2020 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships still going to continue on?
- Are pickleball tournaments after April 15, 2020 still going to continue on?
USA Pickleball addressed these questions, as well as several others, in a press release on March 27, 2020. Generally speaking:
- Whether a pickleball tournament is rescheduled, or whether you receive a refund of your money paid, is up to the individual tournament director. Each pickleball tournament is independently owned and operated. As such, each individual tournament director makes the ultimate decisions in connection with each pickleball tournament. With that said, reach out to the applicable tournament director for answers on rescheduling and refund policies (if any). To note, some tournaments, like the US Open Pickleball Championships, have graciously decided to either provide a full refund or to allow players to reserve their spot in the 2021 US Open Pickleball Championships.
- If you were trying to qualify for the 2020 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships, then you will be allowed to register for the 2020 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships on August 1, 2020, if you were already registered and already paid for the applicable qualifying pickleball tournament.
- At this time, future pickleball tournaments remain as scheduled. However, the current status of the pandemic is changing daily, so circumstances may change. With that said, it is important that you stay informed and reach out to the applicable tournament director for the pickleball tournament, as each tournament director will make the ultimate decisions with respect to the applicable pickleball tournament. To note, USA Pickleball and Indian Wells Tennis Garden are currently proceeding as planned for the 2020 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships to be held October 31, 2020 through November 8, 2020.
Read the full USA Pickleball press release to learn more.
