The MLP Challenger Level Draft starts on Wednesday, April 3, at 6 p.m. ET. The ten Challenger Level teams completed their 2024 season rosters through a four-round, snake-format draft. The ATX Pickleballers and Milwaukee Mashers franchises decided not to operate this year and were acquired by the newly established United Pickleball Association (UPA). The draft order for the Challenger teams was randomly determined, with teams selecting in sequence from 1 to 10 in Rounds 1 and 3 and in reverse order, from 10 to 1 in Rounds 2 and 4. The results from the 2024 MLP Challenger Level draft are written below.
Key Points During Trade:
- Before the Draft’s commencement, the Miami Pickleball Club acquired picks #9 and #12 from the Bay Area Breakers by trading picks #3 and #18.
- During the trade in round 3, the Atlanta Bouncers acquired picks #24 and #37 from the Brooklyn Aces in exchange for picks #26 and #35.
| # | Team | Player |
| 1 | Frisco Pandas | Ewa Radzikowska |
| 2 | Chicago Slice | Jack Munro |
| 3 | Bay Area Breakers* | Vivian Glozman |
| 4 | Atlanta Bouncers | Jaume Martinez Vich |
| 5 | Florida Smash | Travis Rettenmaier |
| 6 | Brooklyn Aces | Lina Padegimaite |
| 7 | SoCal Hard Eights | Irina Tereschenko |
| 8 | Las Vegas Night Owls | Chao Yi Wang |
| 9 | Miami Pickleball Club* | Milan Rane |
| 10 | California Black Bears | Rafa Hewett |
| 11 | California Black Bears | DJ Young |
| 12 | Miami Pickleball Club* | Rianna Valdes |
| 13 | Las Vegas Night Owls | Judit Castillo Gargallo |
| 14 | SoCal Hard Eights | Erik Lange |
| 15 | Brooklyn Aces | Daniel De La Rosa |
| 16 | Florida Smash | Tammy Emmrich |
| 17 | Atlanta Bouncers | Genie Erokhina |
| 18 | Bay Area Breakers* | Collin Shick |
| 19 | Chicago Slice | Allison Harris |
| 20 | Frisco Pandas | John Cincola |
| 21 | Frisco Pandas | Stefan Auvergne |
| 22 | Chicago Slice | Kelsey Grambeau |
| 23 | Miami Pickleball Club | Roscoe Bellamy |
| 24 | Brooklyn Aces* | Martin Emmrich |
| 25 | Florida Smash | Pat Smith |
| 26 | Atlanta Bouncers* | Todd Fought |
| 27 | SoCal Hard Eights | Christine Maddox |
| 28 | Las Vegas Night Owls | Mo Alhouni |
| 29 | Bay Area Breakers | Rachel Rettger |
| 30 | California Black Bears | Amanda Hendry |
| 31 | California Black Bears | Emily Ackerman |
| 32 | Bay Area Breakers | Patrick Kawka |
| 33 | Las Vegas Night Owls | Anderson Scarpa |
| 34 | SoCal Hard Eights | Max Manthou |
| 35 | Atlanta Bouncers* | Angela Walker |
| 36 | Florida Smash | Martina Frantova |
| 37 | Brooklyn Aces* | Layne Sleeth |
| 38 | Miami Pickleball Club | Eric Oncins |
| 39 | Chicago Slice | Brendon Long |
| 40 | Frisco Pandas | Alli Phillips |
Challenger Level 2024 drafted rosters, broken down by team (* denotes pick slot was acquired in a trade):
| Team | Player #1 | Player #2 | Player #3 | Player #4 |
| ATL | Jaume Martinez Vich (4) | Genie Erokhina (17) | Todd Fought (26*) | Angela Walker (35*) |
| BAY | Vivian Glozman (3*) | Collin Shick (18) | Rachel Rettger (29) | Patrick Kawka (32) |
| BRK | Lina Padegimaite (6) | Daniel De La Rosa (15) | Martin Emmrich (24*) | Layne Sleeth (37*) |
| CAL | Rafa Hewett (10) | DJ Young (11) | Amanda Hendry (30) | Emily Ackerman (31) |
| CHI | Jack Munro (2) | Allison Harris (19) | Kelsey Grambeau (22) | Brendon Long (39) |
| FL | Travis Rettenmaier (5) | Tammy Emmrich (16) | Pat Smith (25) | Martina Frantova (36) |
| FRI | Ewa Radzikowska (1) | John Cincola (20) | Stefan Auvergne (21) | Alli Phillips (40) |
| LV | Chao Yi Wang (8) | Judit Castillo Gargallo (13) | Mo Alhouni (28) | Anderson Scarpa (33) |
| MIA | Milan Rane (9*) | Rianna Valdes (12*) | Roscoe Bellamy (23) | Eric Oncins (38) |
| SoCal | Irina Tereschenko (7) | Erik Lange (14) | Christine Maddox (27) | Max Manthou (34) |
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- ‘Keep moving’: 95-year-old pickleball player dominates the courts in Gardner, Kansas
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Follow the MLP Pickleball official website for more updates regarding the upcoming season. MLP’s 2024 season schedule will begin with MLP Atlanta, May 9-12.