Pickleball Tournament Guide for Paddles for Progress

We're thrilled to have you join us for this special event combining pickleball and community in support of The CAMH Foundation's work in mental health research, education, and patient care.

From casual and fun rallies to competitive, back-and-forth nail-biters. We’ve designed a round-robin doubles tournament that balances plenty of court time for all skill levels to have time to enjoy the day. This guide contains everything you need to be ready for tournament day.

Pickleball Tournament Structure

Round Robin Format

• Two pools; each pool includes 11 pods of 4 teams

• Every team plays 3 games within their pod

• Games played to 20 points (no win by 2)

• Hard stop at 15 minutes

Playoffs

• The top 16 teams from each pool advance to the playoffs

• Games follow the same format as a round-robin

• The final championship game is played to 25 points, with a 30-minute time limit

How Rally Point Scoring Works

• Decide which team will serve first (i.e. Rock, Paper, Scissors)

• Decide which side each partner will play on - players do not switch sides

  • Right serving box serves when the score is EVEN (0, 2, 4…)

  • Left serving box serves when the score is ODD (1, 3, 5…)

• The team that wins the rally earns a point and becomes the serving team

• The receiving side must let the ball bounce before returning it. The serving team also needs to let the ball bounce once before returning it

• First to 20 points is the winner. Must score your last point on your own serve

  • When a team reaches 19 points, they can only earn a point when serving for the rest of the game. If the opponent serves to start the rally, the winning team cannot earn a point until they are awarded the serve

See You on the Courts!

Whether you’re aiming for the championship or enjoying a sunny day of pickleball with friends, thank you for being part of something meaningful. Your participation helps us raise critical support for mental health initiatives.

If you have any questions about the tournament or the game format, please reach out to CAMH Engage at hello.camhengage@gmail.com —we're happy to help!