Kent and East Sussex

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Kent and East Sussex Pickleball League (KESPL) 2025/2026 rules (KESPL Rules)

(Updated on 16/12/2025)

1 Objectives & Principles

 

2 Definitions

For the purposes of these rules:

 

KESPL is the Kent and East Sussex Pickleball League

EPL is the England Pickleball League

EPL Rules are the rules that govern this competition in England

KESPL Rules are these rules that operate within the framework of the EPL Rules and allow for the smooth operation of KESPL

Club is a body that organises regular pickleball sessions for players, is registered with Pickleball England, and can be found on the PbE Club Locator

Squad is a group of up to 8 players drawn from a Club

Team is a group of players selected from a Squad to play at a Round

Round is a day when all Teams will convene at a single venue to take part in KESPL

Division is a group of 4 Teams who will play against each other

Match is a series of games between 2 Teams within a Division.

 

These rules need to be read in conjunction with the EPL Rules but where differences appear, the KESPL rules take precedence.

 

3 Local League rules

 

4 Ball & surface

The ball used for KESPL will be the Franklin X40 outdoor ball. The surface for Local Leagues will ideally be acrylic but will be dependent on venue availability.

 

5 Number of Teams and Divisions

The KESPL Directors will determine the total number of Teams who will be invited to play in KESPL. At each Round teams will play in divisions of 4 teams, hence the total number of Teams will be divisible by 4.

 

Notice of inclusion will be given as soon as possible before the commencement of the KESPL season. Factors to be taken into account will include:

 

 

There will be 12 divisions in the 2025/26 season. The top division will be called Division 1, and the remaining divisions will be called Division 2 through to Division 12.

 

The KESPL Directors will allocate teams to divisions in the first round based on their performance in the previous season and their approximate team standard.

 

6 The season and number of Rounds

 

The KESPL season for 2025-26 will run from October 2025 through to May 2026 and comprise 8 rounds.

12 October 2025

9 November 2025

7 December 2025

11 January 2026

8 February 2026

8 March 2026

26 April 2026

17 May 2026

 

After the conclusion of the KESPL season PbE will be arranging Regional Playoffs (as necessary) and National Finals. To participate in these, a Local League is required to comprise at least 5 Rounds. As KESPL comprises 8 Rounds we are able to participate.

 

June 2026: Regional Playoffs

July 2026: National Finals

 

7 Regional Playoffs and National Finals

 

The National Finals are expected to be comprised of 16 teams. These 16 teams will be drawn from the seven PbE regions – NW, NE, WM, EM, SW, SE(North) and SE(South). A minimum of 2 teams will come from each region. The source of the final 2 teams will be determined once the total numbers of entries is known across the regions with the likelihood that these final places will be allocated to the regions with the greatest number of entries.

 

The provisional date for the National Finals is Saturday 4th July 2026 at the Dan Maskell Tennis Centre in Loughborough.

 

It is expected that there will be a need for Regional Playoffs in some regions due to demand from Clubs to take part in the EPL. Once the total number of entries is known and location of Local Leagues then arrangements for Regional Playoffs will be determined.

 

8 Eligibility – Clubs and Teams

 

The KESPL and EPL is a Club team competition open to clubs in England.

 

(a) Clubs must be registered with Pickleball England to take part in the KESPL and EPL.

Register at https://www.pickleballengland.org/club-membership/

(b) The number of Teams that a Club can enter is in part dependent on their active PbE subscription tier*:

 

Baseline tier: One Team eligible

Half Court tier: Multiple Teams eligible

Full Court tier: Multiple Teams eligible

 

If a Club is eligible to enter more than one Team (Half Court or Full Court subscription) then the total number of Teams able to play will ultimately be determined by the KESPL Directors based on their league size and overall demand from Clubs within their locality.

 

(c) Clubs can only take part in one Local League. Clubs cannot have Teams in different leagues.

 

* Subscription tiers are being introduced for Clubs with effect from 1st August 2025. These tiers offer different ranges of benefits to Clubs. Clubs can elect which tier they subscribe for. The Baseline tier is free of charge to encourage all Clubs to become members of PbE. Half-Court and Full-Court membership tiers require an annual fee to be paid for a Club to enjoy the associated benefits. Club leaders/ administrators will be able to see a full description of the tiers, benefits and fees when they log into Picklebook: https://www.picklebook.org/a/pbe

 

Clubs should only enter the competition if, for each team entered, they have a squad of players who are willing and able to form a monthly team to compete in all rounds of fixtures.

 

9 Eligibility – Players

 

Teams must comprise players who are members at their Club**.

 

To be an Eligible Player, an individual player must

 

1. be a member of Pickleball England

Register at https://www.pickleballengland.org/individual-membership/

2. be at least 15 years of age by the end of year of the specific Round, Regional Playoff or National Final being played

3. be a member of the Club from which their team has been entered

4. not have played for any other Club in EPL during the current season***

5. and by extension not have played in more than one Local League.

6. be DUPR registered

 

Whilst National and KESPL Directors will monitor eligibility before any match the ultimate responsibility for player eligibility rests with the player and the team captain. If any player is determined to be ineligible either during or after a Match then the games in which that player played will be forfeit and a score of 0-21 recorded.

 

The lower age limit is to protect all players, both younger and older, and is in line with PbE policy for PbE sanctioned events. For clarity, players who are 13 years old but have birthdays in the months of September through to December will not be eligible for the 2025 part of the season, but will become eligible for the 2026 part, including the Regional Playoffs and National Final.

 

It is recognised that across a KESPL season that spans up to 9 months a small number of players may relocate, change Clubs and still wish to play in the EPL. As this will likely be infrequent such instances will be handled by a formal request being made from the (new) Team captain and considered on a case by case basis by the KESPL and National EPL Directors, whose decision shall be final.

 

These eligibility rules are also intended to prevent ‘ringers’ being drafted in and ensure fairness to all. Poaching players from other clubs to bolster Squads and Teams is not in the spirit of the EPL as it is a Club competition. The Premier Pickleball League (PPL) is an alternative league designed to allow players from across different clubs to compete as a team.

 

**It is noted that not all Clubs are fully constituted clubs and hence their players are not technically members. Player membership in those circumstances means that they play regularly at that Club. This is difficult to define precisely however it is expected that in these circumstances club leaders, players and captains will act with integrity and will, if required, be able to fully justify player eligibility to KESPL Directors and/or National EPL Directors. KESPL Directors and National EPL Directors can ban players from the EPL.

 

*** ‘Club transfers’ are not permitted. Some Local Leagues have in prior seasons allowed transfers between Clubs to take place early in the season. For 2025-26 these are not permitted. If a player is uncertain at the beginning of a season over which Club they wish to represent they must consider their position carefully before committing. Player relocations will be considered as covered above.

 

10 Eligibility – Playing for different Teams within the same Club (playing-up/playing-down)

 

(a) For Rounds 1 and 2, a player is allowed to play for any Team within their Club. This provides flexibility for Clubs and Teams as they develop their squads early in the season

 

(b) An Eligible Player can only play for one Team in any given Round. e.g. a player cannot play for one team in a morning session and another in the afternoon

 

(c) From Round 3 onwards, players must nominate which team they are playing for by means of their team captains submitting their final Squad to the KESPL Directors prior to Round 3.

 

- Captains are expected to act with integrity and ensure that players with greatest abilities are in the higher squads and that there is no gamesmanship.

 

11 Eligibility – Playing in the final 2 Rounds of the season

 

A player must have played at least once in the previous 6 rounds of the season and be a current member of the (up to) 8 person squad.

 

12 Eligibility – Playing in Regional Playoffs and/or National Finals

 

A player must have played at least twice in the course of the season and be a current member of the (up to) 8 person squad of the team selected to play in the playoffs and/or finals.

 

13 Team Squad sizes

A squad will comprise a minimum of 2 men and 2 women, and a maximum of 8 mixed gender players.

 

14 Squad Substitutions

 

If, in advance of a Round, a Squad is unable to field the minimum team size of 2 men and 2 women for a Round then it can field a substitute.

 

The Squad Substitute:

 

If the Squad Substitution occurs in Round 1 or Round 2 then:

 

If the Squad Substitution occurs after Round 2 then:

 

Substitutions are not permitted in the final two Rounds.

 

There is no limit on the number of Squad members who can be substituted but they are all subject to these KESPL Rules.

 

Injuries during a Round that require an immediate Injury Substitute are covered under Rule 25.

 

15 Dates, venue and time

 

(a) The League will convene at Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre: 210 St John’s Road, Tunbridge Wells TN4 9TX, and all teams will compete on each of the following dates:

 

12 October 2025

9 November 2025

7 December 2025

11 January 2026

8 February 2026

8 March 2026

26 April 2026

17 May 2026

 

(b) Timings (either 9.00am or 1.00pm start) & schedules will be communicated to the teams as least 48 hours before each Round.

 

16 Match Format

Teams will compete with each other in their divisions, playing a total of 3 Matches. The order of games within a Match will be:

 

(1) Women’s doubles

(2) Men’s doubles

(3) 1st Mixed doubles

(4) 2nd Mixed doubles

 

Games will be in a ‘badminton style’ rally scoring format (see Rule 22) and will be played to 21 points, win by 1 point.

In the event of a 2-2 draw, a tie will be recorded. For the 2025/26 season there will be no ‘Dreambreaker’ tie break. This is a change from previous years, following feedback.

Team captains can select players from their entire Team on the day (of up to 8 players) to play in any individual game within a Match. i.e. a Match is not limited to 4 players being selected before a Match starts. This is a change from previous years following feedback and allows flexibility to teams in ensuring all squad players can participate if they wish.

 

For the avoidance of doubt, once a game has started players cannot be replaced unless there is a serious injury that prevents a player from continuing. In this instance a substitute from the Team’s available players on the day can be used (see Rule 25). The injured player cannot play again that day – this is intended to prevent any possible gaming. Note that a player can only play in one mixed doubles game during a Match. If a player plays in two mixed doubles games in the same Match then the second game will be forfeited (21-0).

 

17 Results and deciding Division position

A Team’s final position in their Division will be defined by the number of match points the Team won. There are 2 match points for a match win and 1 point for a draw.

 

If there is a tie based on match points then divisional position will be decided by games won and then points difference. If there is still a tie then position will ultimately be decided by the team who won the match between the teams.

 

In summary the metrics to determine position are, in order of priority:

  1. Match points
  2. Games won
  3. Game points differential
  4. Game points won
  5. Head-to-head result (i.e. win / lost)

 

If in the unlikely event that there remains a tie in the Division after these 4 metrics, then the divisional position will be decided on the result of the first mixed doubles game between the tied teams.

18 Promotion and Demotion

Promotion and demotion each month will be determined based on a Team’s final position in their Division.

 

The top Team will be promoted and the bottom team demoted. The second and third Team in a Division will remain in that Division. The top Team in Division one and the bottom Team in the lowest Division will also remain in their respective Divisions.

 

At the conclusion of the season all Teams reapply for the following season. However if the 4 teams comprising the lowest division reapply it is at the KESPL Director’s discretion whether they are readmitted for the following season or new Teams are invited to join and replace them.

 

19 Qualifying for Regional Playoffs and National Finals

 

There will be no playoffs for KESPL. Final positions in KESPL will determine qualification for the Regional Playoffs/National Finals.

 

There will be no ‘merit based’ scoring to recognise Teams who consistently win Division 1 of KESPL throughout the season only to lose their place in the final round. Winning the final round is the prize to gain entry to the Regional Playoffs/National Finals.

 

The number of places in the Local Leagues that qualify for Regional Playoffs or the National Finals will be determined early during the season once the number of leagues and teams, along with the geographic distribution of the leagues are known.

 

20 Warming up

Both teams are allowed 5 minutes to warm up on court before the Match start, but no more than a minute in between games.

 

21 Deciding who serves

Before the start of every game, a coin toss must be carried out. The winner of the coin toss

decides whether they wish to serve or choose end. If they choose to serve, the other team

can choose end. If they choose end, they will receive, and the other team will serve first.

 

22 Rally Scoring & Serving

‘Badminton style’ rally scoring will apply. This is new for 2025/26 and follows feedback that players did not like having to serve and play on only one side of the court.

 

Players are almost certainly familiar with rally scoring and points being scored on every rally. However ‘badminton style’ rally scoring varies by having servers change side after each rally just as in regular scoring:

 

 

 

 

 

 

If players choose to “stack” they must know what they are doing and be very careful of their court positions as they cannot rely on the score telling them where they should be. Incorrect positioning could lead to a serve violation and loss of a point.

The team which has won the most games in the Match (i.e. 3-1 or 4-0 in games) will be awarded 2 match points. The losing team will be awarded 0 points. In the case of a tie (2-2) each team will receive 1 match point each.

 

23 Changing ends at 11

When the score reaches 11, the teams must change ends. Players must remember which side of the court they were on as they change end.

 

24 Declaring mixed pairings

After both of the gender doubles games have been completed, the teams will need to take part in a coin toss to determine who declares their team first for each mixed game.

 

The loser of the coin toss must declare their mixed pairings first for each mixed game. The opposition can then declare their pairings.

 

Players for the mixed games can be chosen from the team’s squad on the day and do not have to have already played in the gender doubles (see Rule 16).

 

The choice of pairing for the second mixed game can be delayed until after the first mixed game has been completed. However, players from the first mixed game cannot take part in the second mixed game. There is no repeat of a coin toss, the coin toss loser still declares first.

 

25 Injuries and Injury Substitutions during a Round

 

(a) If a player becomes unable to complete a game during a round for any reason, they will take no further part in that fixture and they can be immediately (that is within 10 minutes) substituted:

 

  1. by an existing squad member with no penalty; or
  2. by an entirely new player and, save in the circumstances outlined in 25(c) below, the new player becomes a new permanent squad member for which the manager must choose an existing squad member to lose going forward into the following fixtures;

 

(b) If there is no squad substitute available, of if the squad chooses not to use an alternative substitute, then that game and the subsequent games of that fixture will be scored as a 21/0 walk over to the other side.

 

(c) It is possible to play a substitute player for the balance of that fixture without that player being named as a permanent squad member (perhaps for the purpose of the relevant division being able to play a full complement of games), but the substitute player will be considered ineligible.

 

26 Being ready to play, Walkovers & Penalties

It is the Team captain’s responsibility to ensure their players are ready to play. Players must be on court and ready to play within 5 minutes of the reasonable start time e.g. opponents who are ready to play on their designated court cannot be left hanging around indefinitely.

 

If a Team fails to complete a game for any reason before it has started (e.g. players not ready/available), a 21-0 walkover in that game will be given to the opposition.

 

If a Team fails to complete a game which has already started (e.g. player withdraws through injury and a substitution is not made) then their opponents will win the game 21-X, with X being the score of the withdrawing Team at the time the withdrawal happened.

 

If an individual game is awarded as a walkover it is still possible for the rest of the Match to continue.

 

If an individual game cannot be completed as a result of running out time (e.g. venue closing) the game will be recorded as a draw (11-11) with half a game point going to each team. The results of all other games in a match played up to that point will stand. All games that should have followed the incomplete game will be recorded as a draw (11-11) and half a game point each. The overall match result will still be based on total games points.

 

In instances where a walkover cannot be agreed between teams, the KESPL Directors will make the decision based on the best information and facts.

 

The KESPL Director’s decision is final.

 

In the event a Match is not played which is outside of the control of both teams, each team will receive one match point, two games won and 44 game points.If the Division is ultimately decided on game points differential (see Rule 17) then it is clearly a disadvantage not to have played the Match (most Teams score more than 44 game points when there is a Match tie); this is intentional as we want all efforts to be made to play matches.

 

Players are expected to adhere at all times to the PbE Code of Conduct and this includes when spectating games. Spectators must not get involved in any line calls. All line calls are the responsibility of the players involved in the game. Any spectator who repeatedly breaks the code of conduct, including interfering with line calls, may be asked to leave the venue at the LLD’s discretion.

 

27 Things to be completed before each round, and associated penalties

Teams must nominate their Players at least 24 hours before each Round and provide the DUPR registration numbers of those players.

 

If a Team does not nominate at least 4 eligible Players at least 24 hours before each Round, the Team will automatically be relegated to the next lower Division.

 

If a Team does not pay its fees prior to each Round, the Team will automatically be relegated to the next lower Division.

 

If a Team does not turn up for a Round, the Team will automatically be relegated to the next lower Division.

 

28 Order of play

The order of play for each Round will be sent to the Teams at least 48 hours before the start of each round.

 

Match 1Team 1 v Team 4Team 2 v Team 3
Match 2Team 1 v Team 3Team 2 v Team 4
Match 3Team 1 v Team 2Team 3 v Team 4

For Round 1, the LLD will decide Team 1 through 4.

 

From Round 2 onwards, the order of play will be decided by the previous Round finishing positions.

 

Team 1 will be the Team demoted from the Division above in the previous Round

Team 2 will be the Team coming 2nd in the same Division in the previous Round

Team 3 will be the Team coming 3rd in the same Division in the previous Round

Team 4 will be the Team promoted from the Division below in the previous Round.

 

 

29 Time Outs

A 10 minute time out will only be permitted if a Player is injured. In this scenario, you can carry out an immediate substitution from your Team on the day (see Rule 25).

30 Submitting Scores

Scoresheets must be completed at the end of each Match, signed by the Team Captains and handed to the KESPL Directors and the end of each fixture. Changes to the score after submission will only be permitted if both Team Captains agree. It is the Team Captains responsibility to ensure the results on the score sheets are accurate.

 

31 Publishing results on Picklebook

 

The tournament directors will be responsible for entering results onto the Picklebook system. Captains should photograph their team’s score sheets at the end of each fixture and feedback any Picklebook inaccuracies to the tournament directors within 48 hours of the results being posted.

 

32 DUPR

 

KESPL will share its league results with DUPR. Walkovers and games where substitutes are introduced mid-game will not be entered into DUPR.

 

 

Regional Playoffs and the National Final results will be entered by the EPL into DUPR.

 

33 Costs

There is a one-off entry fee of £20 per Team to take part in the 2025-26 EPL season.

 

For each Round there is a session fee of £48 per Team.

 

Fees will be levied on the Teams’ Club. This will either be by direct invoice from PbE or via Picklebook once software development has been completed.

 

It is the Clubs’ responsibility and choice on whether to re-coup any or all of these fees from their players. Picklebook software is planned to assist with this.

 

Costs for the Playoffs and Finals will be communicated nearer the time of those events.

 

34.Approved Paddles

The EPL is a PbE sanctioned event. As such it follows the rules for other sanctioned events such as the English Open and Nationals around approved paddles.

 

The list of approved paddles can be found here: USAP approved paddle list

If a paddle is identified as unapproved, the player must cease using it and switch to an approved paddle immediately. If this happens during a game then all points played up to the time of identification will stand, however any point played with the illegal paddle after that time will be awarded to the opposition.