The International Federation of Pickleball (IFP) just announced the venue for the 2021 Bainbridge Cup tournament.
This international event is being held for the first time in the U.S.A. From the IFP’s website, we find the following information:
The idea for an intercontinental competition evolved from pickleball’s rapid global growth experienced over the past few years. From 2010 onwards pickleball has extended into countries around the world and official tournaments are now being organized by a wide range of countries in different continents. To organize and drive the sport’s global expansion, the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP) was formed. Soon after forming, the Federation’s member countries demonstrated a growing interest in organized international competition. To meet the growing demand the IFP created the Bainbridge Cup – a world stage to host pickleball’s first intercontinental team event. The inaugural Bainbridge Cup took place in Madrid, Spain in 2017. In 2018, the Bainbridge Cup was held in Montesilvano, Italy. In 2019, the Bainbridge Cup was held in Essen, Germany. In 2020, the Bainbridge Cup will be held in Nottingham, England. Team North America has won each of the first three Cups and must defend the Cup once again in England.
Bainbridge Cup Format
The Bainbridge Cup is the first intercontinental pickleball team event in the history of the sport. The format consists of competition among pickleball teams representing different continents. The teams participating in the inaugural event include: 1) North America (where the sport was founded) and 2) Europe (where the sport has seen tremendous growth in recent years). As the sport continues to expand around the globe more continents (teams) are expected to join the event to make it truly a global Cup competition. Participation is open to players at all playing levels, from elite to amateur, and several of the world’s top players will be taking part to represent their continent and compete to win the Bainbridge Cup trophy.
The planned 2020 tournament was never held in Nottingham—a casualty of COVID-19. But the 2021 tournament has been announced to take place at Pictona in Holly Hill, Florida from April 7 – 11, 2021. Having such an important event come to the brand new facility near Daytona is quite a feather in their cap, and it represents a wonderful opportunity for pickleball enthusiasts in North Florida to witness world-class matches as well as the chance to participate. No further information is available at this time regarding how to register to play, but we’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available. In the mean time, it might behoove anyone interested in attending this event to scout out lodging options ahead of the rush.
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