Pickleball FAQ

Your spot is now confirmed and you will be playing at the specified location, day, and time that was listed on the league registration form. No need to do anything further at this point. You’ll be receiving another email, about 5-7 days prior to the start date of the league with your specified game time for week 1.

You selected the option to sign up as an individual or a small group. We combine you with other individuals to form a full team. Teams comprised of individuals will have a minimum of three players on their team (as long as registrations permit) and a maximum of four players. Why do we place 3-4 players on your team when only 2 are allowed to play at once? Scheduling conflicts come up in life and rather than have to forfeit the match when one person on the team can’t make it, we supply enough participants on the team to ensure you’ll always be able to play.

You selected the option to sign up as a full team. You now have complete control of your roster. You can add up to as many as six (6) players to your full team roster. Maybe one person can only make it 1-2 weeks and another has the same scenario, perfect you’ll be fully stocked on subs. Please only sign up as a full team if you have 1-5 other participants to play with already.

Often times we will only release the first week of the regular season schedule. This is for a variety of reasons. A team comprised of individuals may be short a player or two and we still need to fill out their team. There may be other teams that are intended to sign up but haven’t done so yet. We may only have enough court time available to schedule only a portion of the teams in the league on the first night because the previous season is finishing their playoffs. The bottom line is if you only have one week of your schedule available at the moment, the remainder is coming very shortly.

We’ll always provide court time, nets, and pickleballs for play. All individuals and full teams are required to provide their own paddles. We will have paddles for rent or sale but we can not guarantee they will be available.

You can expect to play 4 games a night in a round robin fashion. Each game will be played to the point of 11 or 20 minutes – whichever comes first

All pickleball leagues play 5 regular season matches per season. The league’s top teams will advance to a one-week single-elimination playoff round. Not all teams will advance to the playoffs.

This is important. Nobody likes forfeits but they do happen. Crazy that real life can get in the way of pickleball sometimes, right? If your team needs to forfeit, you will need to call our main line (617-863-8300) or email the forfeit notification email (forfeits@hubsportsboston.com) by 2 PM of your game day for weeknight matches, 5 PM on Friday for Sunday matches. This gives us ample time to notify your opponent that you need to forfeit. If a team needs to forfeit, we can’t force them to play that day/night, that’s just the reality of adult recreational sports. Forfeits will not be rescheduled, the team that forfeits will receive a forfeit loss on the night and the team that was forfeited on will pick up the win.

All teams can pick up substitute players in the regular season only. As we all know, if you’re missing one player on your team, you’re missing 50% of the team! At the end of the day, we’d all rather play the match than pick up a forfeit win, so please make your best effort to pick up a substitute player instead of having to forfeit your match. You can utilize our HUB SUBS Facebook Page to post for a player as well. If you can not find a sub for your match, more often than not you can pick up a fill-in at the court so you don’t have to forfeit.

Mother Nature often interrupts regularly schedule outdoor events, including pickleball matches. Our office will make the determination on an outdoor courts playability by 5 PM of your match day. If you do not receive a cancellation email from us then you are to assume your match is fully on that night. We will never send you down to a court to play when court conditions are unplayable. We will also never cancel matches based on a weather forecast. We all know that weather reports change and are not guaranteed. If a thunderstorm rolls through the area early in the afternoon but then the sun pops out and dries the courts, we’re playing that night. Occasionally rain will roll in while matches are taking place. If we have to cancel matches at 7 PM, all matches going forward that night will be canceled. Email/text notifications will be sent out immediately. The bottom line is if you don’t receive a cancellation notice from us, your match is 100% on that night.

This is important. All participants will self-assign their skill level. HUB Sports Boston does not assign the skill level of any full team or individual.  It is your responsibility to determine the level of play you’re achieving to experience. Are you looking to learn the game? You definitely don’t want to sign up for an “advanced” skill level league then. Are you looking to improve your official DUPR rating and climb the ranks of one of Boston’s best? Well then you’re going to find all “beginner” and most “intermediate” skills not challenging enough for you. 

TYPES OF PICKLEBALL LEAGUES

Instructional League
You’re looking to learn the game of pickleball. You probably have never even picked up a paddle before. However, you heard about all the buzz and you gotta try it out for yourself. We provide you with a pickleball professional instructor to give you the tools on the court that you’ll need to be a confident and cohesive pickballer! 

Rec League
Beginner/Recreational – You may have dinked around at the park here and there, maybe even played a game or two. You’re certainly not smashing the ball over the net and sustaining long volleys. You need some time to get this whole pickleball thing down. Maybe you have an athletic background but the sport of pickleball is new to you, like it is for so many of us. This is the true novice level. If you played in a few leagues before and have 20+ matches under your belt you probably want to move up to the Intermediate League. 

Juicer League
Intermediate/Advanced – Wanna be the best? You gotta beat the best! Here it is folks, the top skill level offered. Everyone in this skill level has taken the pickleball lifestyle by the horns. You love the sport and consider yourself competitive enough to take on anyone. You must have over a year of pickleballing experience to even consider this league. Don’t be scared though, there are plenty of newly sprouted “pickle ballers” in the area to feed the competition!

Occasionally when people self assign their skill level, they end up in the wrong skill division. Opps! While we love to keep the competition on an even keel, this, unfortunately, can’t be avoided. If you end up with someone that’s a little more novice than anticipated. Help them out, coach them along, and encourage them to get better.

To cap off the finale of the playoffs, all league champions will receive championship prizes. These prizes may include but are not limited to team trophies, championship shirts, food & beverage vouchers, discounts on merchandise, and more.