Terms & Conditions
2025 English Open Pickleball Tournament

General

The tournament will be held in accordance with the USAP Official Tournament Rulebook. A copy of the Rulebook will be available at the tournament.
The English OPEN welcomes players of all ages and abilities. Players under 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
All players are asked to abide by English Open tournament etiquette Click Here
We will have medical staff at the tournament but players enter at their OWN risk.
All players signed / accepted a waiver of liability when they agreed to the Terms & Conditions at registration:
"I release and discharge, for myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators, the organizers, the facility, its members, employees, and sponsors and all persons associated with the tournament from all claims, damages, rights of action present or future which may arise in connection with my participation in the tournament. I understand that filming and photographs will be taken at this event and I give permission to pickleballEngland to use the creative content to advertise, promote or showcase the event. I understand that it is my responsibility to make it known that I do not wish to have my picture taken or my games filmed. Persons aged under 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult."
Players self rating is subject to change if the tournament committee deems it. There can only be .5 difference between a Doubles and Singles self-rating.
As the entries for each age/rating event bracket varies, the tournament committee reserve the right to merge some brackets to ensure that every player gets a minimum of 4 matches (hopefully many more) per event.
The Competition Draw was made on 20h July and is published on our Pickleball England Tournament Software (PETS). There will be screens at the venue detailing the upcoming matches on all courts. All players will be sent a pdf of their schedule via email and a link to PETS to enable players to browse their schedules and their standing as the tournament progresses.
The Competition Draw is subject to change if there are late withdrawals.
The competition format will be round robin group stages where every win and point will count towards where you end in the group. Not every team goes forward to the knockout stages. See further information under Competition Format Click Here
We have a photographer and video crew attending the tournament. It is assumed that every player has given permission for us to take their picture/film them, unless we are advised otherwise.

Competition Format

The tournament will be an age and skill level tournament.
Each event will comprise round robin group games followed by a knock out competition.
Because of the number of events and players, event start times will be staggered. Please note that this means that the tournament will not finish early on Sunday. Some events could still be playing early evening.
Qualification for the knock out round will depend on where you finish in your group table.

Please make sure that you have checked the knockout match schedule for your event before leaving the venue (we have had people leave who thought they hadn't qualified when they had).
Please remember that if you are through to the semi finals and you lose, there is still the bronze medal match to play.

Table results will be sorted by number of wins, points difference, points scored and if there is still a tie then head to head.
A defined number of teams will go through to the knockout or single elimination rounds.
The first named team is responsible for picking up the score sheet, from the court monitor, at least 10 minutes before the game starts.
The score sheet provided to teams will define whether the game is played to 11, 15 or 21 and win by 1 or 2 and whether it is 1 game or best of 3.
The winning team is responsible for entering the score on the score sheet correctly and getting both team's signature to agree the score is entered correctly.
Score sheets should be returned immediately to the designated 'court monitor' by one of the players in the winning team. The winning player has to verify that the score has been entered correctly before the court monitor submits the score to PETS [Pickleball England Tournament Software].
Results uploaded into PETS are available for players to view online via your mobile phone. The link will be available via https://www.pickleballengland.org/2025-english-open.
In the round robin matches there will be no time outs allowed. In the knock out rounds, each team is allowed a 1 minute time out per game. In the event of a medical time out, a max of 15 minutes is allowed before the team calling the time out forfeits.
15 minutes of court time is allocated for singles games to 15 and 30 minutes for medal matches and OPEN knockout best of 3 to 11.
20 minutes of court time is allocated for doubles games to 11, and 40 minutes for medal matches and OPEN knockout best of 3 to 11.
Court times include a maximum of 2 minutes of knock up is allowed before a game starts if required AND the schedule is not running late.
Any team not arriving on court within 10 minutes of their game's start time may forfeit the match.
In the event of a team withdrawing from the competition, all of the team's games will be taken out of the table results.
Late arrivals – any matches forfeited due to late arrival will be scored as 6-0 but the team can continue in the competition if they arrive in time for their second match.
Gold, Silver & Bronze medals will be awarded.

English Open tournament etiquette

We want everyone to enjoy the English Open tournament, here are a few tips to keep things fair and enjoyable:

Games will start promptly at 8.00am every day. Please check your schedule to see what time your first game is and arrive at least 30 minutes before your first game is due to be played.
All players' match schedules are available online.
Paddle tap and thank your opponents for the game.
Give your opponent time to get into position before you serve.
The server should clearly announce the score before they serve.
If the opponent claims there was a major distraction while hitting a shot (e.g. ball bouncing onto the court), don't hesitate to replay the point.
Please do not walk behind a court whilst a rally is in progress.
Please only call a ball out if it clearly is, if in doubt the ball is in!.
Please refrain from swearing whilst on court.
Please do not throw your paddle.
Players are responsible for identifying foot faults. Be the kind of player that identifies their own foot faults!.
Treat everyone with kindness and respect..
We will not tolerate bullying, verbal abuse or shouting.
In the event of any dispute within a game, the game should be halted and the Tournament Director found to address the dispute.
The decision of the Tournament Director is final. Any player not accepting the decision will be withdrawn from the event. No discussion will be entered into following the decision.

Rules

Pickleball England follows USA Pickleball (USAP) rules, unless otherwise stated in this programme.
For example, we have set a maximum 2-minute warm-up time to help maximise court usage and keep the tournament running efficiently.
To support smooth scheduling, every player is responsible for knowing their assigned court for knockout rounds and ensuring they arrive at least 10 minutes before their scheduled match time.
Thank you for your cooperation and respect for fellow players and tournament volunteers.

Paddles

All paddles used must be on the USAP Approved Paddle List as of 31 July 2025.
Check your paddle is on the list HERE

It is your responsibility to verify that your paddle meets this requirement before the tournament.
If you are found using a non-approved paddle:

It will be confiscated for the remainder of the tournament
You will be provided with an approved paddle to use

For refereed matches and medal rounds, paddle inspections will be conducted by the assigned referee.

Paddle Testing

For the first time at the English OPEN, we will have paddle testing equipment on-site.

Open event players will be required to have their paddle tested.
All other players may be subject to random paddle testing during the tournament.

Please cooperate promptly if you are called for paddle testing—it’s part of ensuring a fair and level playing field for all.

Referees

We will have a combination of USAP, PbE and EPF referees at the tournament.
They have all been trained by USAP tutors.
We thank the referees for taking the time to attend our tournament to elevate the player experience and to ensure fairness.

What to expect if your match is refereed:

The game will start promptly after the scoreboard has been taken
Paddle check [NB it is always the player’s responsibility to check that their paddle is on the approved list before the tournament.
There will be access to the list at the tournament. If your paddle is not on the list and you don’t have another paddle and you can’t afford to buy one at one of the booths, the organisers will lend you a paddle. If you play with an illegal paddle the match will be forfeited.]
For doubles matches, the referee will ask which player is player 1 (for both teams) starting on the right hand/even side and ensure that they have a first server band
The referee will ask one player to choose 1 or 2. If their call matches the number on the reverse of the scoreboard, they will be asked if they want to choose: Serve, End or Defer
The referee will call Non-Volley Zone and Service line faults
The referee will ask you to re-serve if they think your serve did not meet all the requirements of a serve. If they are certain it did not meet all the requirements, i.e. a fault.
Players are responsible for line calls on their side of the court. If a player disagrees with a call, they can ask the referee if they saw the ball. If they did they will provide the call. If they did not, the players call stands.
Remember to wait for the full score to be called before serving otherwise if you serve before the referee finishes the call it is a fault against the serving team. If you serve before the score is started, it is a replay.
The referee should identify if a player is in the wrong position. If you are not sure, you can ask, ‘Am I good?’
You can question score before the service has started or after the point has been played. If you stop play to question the score and you are wrong, it is a fault to you. If you question and you are right it is a re-play.

Terms & Conditions2025 English Open Pickleball Tournament