Old-school pickleball. Wooden paddles. Combined 100+.
Earn the plate.
In the tradition of the Canal Cup — champions take home the plate.
The Concept
No carbon fiber. No spin machines. Just wood, grit, and a hundred years of combined experience per team.
House paddles provided at check-in — everyone plays with the same classic wood. Your $300 paddle stays in the bag. Touch and placement beat power.
One division. Your team's ages must total 100 or more on event day — split however you like. A 65-year-old and a 35-year-old? Perfect.
Old-school balls, classic court feel, modern scoring. The game slows down, the rallies get longer, and guile beats youth.
The Trophy
Borrowed from tennis tradition — the Canal Cup awards plates, so do we.
Champions and finalists take home engraved plates — your names, the year, the club. The kind of trophy that lives on a wall, not in a drawer.
A running honor roll lives on this page: every champion, every year, back to the first edition. Win it once and you're part of the club's history forever.
Plates for 1st & 2nd — plus prize money below.
The Format
Year one stays old-school off the court too: no gimmicks, just a clean draw.
Teams are drawn into round-robin pools of five. Everybody plays four matches — first to 11, win by 2. Nobody goes home early.
The top two teams from each pool move on to a single-elimination playoff bracket, seeded by pool record.
Semifinals and final — first to 15, win by 2. Champions take the plate, the prize money, and their place on the honor roll.
The Stakes
$50 per player in. 100% of entries go to the prize pool — split 50 / 30 / 20 between 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
| Field | Prize pool | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 teams | $800 | $400 | $240 | $160 |
| 12 teams | $1,200 | $600 | $360 | $240 |
| 16 teams | $1,600 | $800 | $480 | $320 |
↑ Organizer: entry fee and splits are suggestions — set final numbers before launch. Plates are awarded to 1st & 2nd on top of prize money.
Enter
One division. Limited draw. When it's full, it's full.
Registration form goes here — team name, both players' names, ages (to verify the 100+), DUPR, and contact info.
Organizer: embed the Google Form here when it's built.
A live entrant list lives here once registration opens — teams, combined ages, and payment status, straight from the sheet.
Organizer: embed the published sheet here. Same setup as the Moneyball page.
Questions
The fine print, in plain English.
No — house wooden paddles are provided at check-in, and everyone plays with the same ones. Bring your shoes and your soft game.
Add both partners' ages on the day of the event. 100 or more and you're in — split any way you like.
Classic-style balls, provided by the tournament. Same for everyone, same as it ever was.
Absolutely — different event, different vibe, different weekend. Plenty of players will do both.
Organizer: set the policy before launch — full refunds until 48 hours out is the working draft.
Pac-Man Moneyball — the bi-monthly neon night where 3.5s hunt 5.0s for real prize money and a progressive jackpot.
See the Moneyball