San Carlos, Sonora is a small, sleepy town on the east coast of the Sea of Cortez, about 90 minutes from Hermosillo. It is known for fishing, diving, boating, seafood, and has a thriving Expat community. But above all the town of San Carlos is a leader of pickleball in Mexico.
The weekend of September 8, 2023, the San Carlos Pickleball Club hosted a DUPR MLP (Major League Pickleball) style Team Tournament. As a preview of their upcoming Nov 10-12 DUPR endorsed Team Tournament, the organizers of San Carlos Pickleball Club quickly and successfully organized and ran a huge team tournament, hosting the best players from Mexico in a fantastic, well organized, and highly competitive tournament.
MLP style pickleball differs from traditional tournaments in that players form teams of 4. Each team squares off against other teams in 4 games of doubles, with each player playing two games. Games are to 21 and utilize rally scoring, a type of scoring where each point is counted regardless of who serves. If after the 4 games it is tied 2-2, the match is decided by a dreambreaker, one singles game to 21.
MLP style pickleball has been growing so much in the United States that the MLP league poached many of the top names from PPA. Around the time of the tournament in San Carlos, the PPA(Professional Pickleball Association) and MLP realized that both their popularities were advantageous to each other and merged to form a new league.
Which brings us back to that sleepy town in Western Sonora, Mexico. The San Carlos Pickleball league is ahead of the curve for pickleball in Mexico. Not only do they play and host traditional pickleball tournaments, but the September and November MLP tournaments will undoubtedly serve to be game changers to the quickly growing pickleball tournament scene in Mexico.
Ryan Kuiken, a high level pickleball player, and one of the executives of the San Carlos Pickleball Club has realized that both types of tournaments will thrive in Mexico. "We realized that with the support of DUPR for our huge November tournament, we wanted to host an MLP style tournament in September." Even though they only had three weeks to prepare, with the draw of newly constructed courts, high level competition, and prize money, Ryan and his team were able to recruit the best players from Mexico to play. Teams from Baja California, Chapala, Hermosillo, and a few local teams all signed up and created a formidable and competitive tournament.
Played under the lights, due to the extreme summer heat, the tournament was a huge success. Most matches were close, well played, and every team was able to root for their teammates in a way only MLP style can create. The Open division saw the Baja California team win Gold, narrowly beating the team from Chapala, Jalisco, with the Smash Pickleball team from Hermosillo picking up the bronze.
Other medalists were: Advanced: Gold - Pioneros from Ciudad Obregon Silver - Double H from Hermosillo Bronze - Vive from San Carlos. Intermediate: Gold: Chapickles from Hermosillo and Huatabampo Silver - Villamar from Ciudad Obregon Bronze - Big Chaks. Beginners: Gold - Zaz from San Carlos and Ciudad Obregon Silver - First Step from San Carlos Bronze - Tam Tam Bam from San Carlos.
Cinthya Diaz, who attended the tournament said "The atmosphere was electric, the games were so fun to watch and competitive, and everyone seemed to make friends throughout the whole weekend." As for the future, the San Carlos Pickleball Club and Ryan Kuiken are looking to build on this success and make the November tournament even better. "We're bringing teams from Mexico of course, but also from other countries in Latin America, and the United States," said Darren Thompson, an integral part of the management team of San Carlos Pickleball and GLP. With the collaboration between San Carlos Pickleball Club and pickleball giant DUPR, the November 10-12 tournament will surely be the next step in raising the bar for pickleball tournaments in Mexico.
Kuiken doesn't see it stopping there. He envisions creating a MLP league throughout Mexico. The GLP, Grandes Ligas de Pickleball, will likely replicate the success and popularity of MLP in the US, and will continue to attract the best talent of the Americas.
The DUPR - GLP Latin American Pickleball Games will be held in San Carlos, Sonora November 10 - 12, 2023.
_edited.jpg)
Comments