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Co-Founder Rick Witsken Expands Role in National Pickleball League as Sport's Popularity Grows
The Erne
April 10, 2023
Rick Witsken is one of the co-founders of the National Pickleball League (NPL), alongside fellow Champions Pro players Michael “Hammer Mike” Chen, Beth Bellamy, and Tom DeCaprio. As the sport’s popularity continues to grow, Witsken’s role in the league keeps expanding. With the first pick in the draft set for April 14, 2023, in Naples, Florida, Witsken is likely to be taken by the Indianapolis Drivers. The league’s regular season weekend matches are scheduled from June to September, and the championship weekend is set for Oct. 13-15 at Chicken N Pickle’s indoor facility in Glendale, Arizona. The NPL has six teams, with each team having eight men and eight women per team, playing at Chicken N Pickle. In 2024, the league will play home and away matches.
There will be no admission fee in the first year of the league, and there will be prize money of $100,000, which has not yet been determined how it will be placed. Some of the premier players were not required to pay entry fees and will receive appearance fees at the events.
The league has avoided going against the major tournaments to allow players to play in individual tournaments when they are not playing in the league. he regular season games will be held in six cities: Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Fishers, which will have a Chicken N Pickle facility in 2024.
There will be four head-to-head dual matches played on each regular season weekend, and the highest percent of payouts will be to whoever wins the championship weekend.
Witsken has won four gold medals in the U.S. Open and three gold medals in the U.S. American Pickleball Association Nationals. He runs Team Witsken, teaching tennis and pickleball, and also serves as the assistant coach for boys and girls' tennis at Zionsville Middle School.
Witsken believes that pickleball’s popularity will continue to grow, with events such as the Pickleball Slam in Hollywood, Florida, which featured tennis players such as Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, John McEnroe, and Michael Chang.
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