As pickleball’s popularity continues to grow, Zionsville resident Rick Witsken’s role keeps growing.
Witsken is a co-founder of the National Pickleball League along with fellow Champions Pro (age 50 and older) players Michael “Hammer Mike” Chen, Beth Bellamy and Tom DeCaprio. Bellamy, whose maiden name was Herr, played on the pro women’s tennis tour and was the NCAA singles champion as a University of Southern California freshman.
The Indy Drivers is owned by Arnold Meyer Commercial Real Estate. Paula Nahmias will serve as the chief executive officer.
Witsken almost certainly will be taken by the Indianapolis Drivers, who have the first pick in the draft, which is set for April 14 in Naples, Fla. The draft order was determined at a combine in March in Oklahoma City. Witsken is ranked No. 1 among Champions Pro men.
The league’s regular season weekend matches are set for June to September. The championship weekend is set for Oct. 13-15 at Chicken N Pickle’s indoor facility in Glendale, Ariz.
“There are six cities that bought into the league,” Witsken said. “Each team will have eight men and eight women per team and play at Chicken N Pickle. A Chicken N Pickle is coming to Fishers (in 2024). They are cool restaurants/ bars with pickleball courts.”
Witsken said each player pays an $800 entry fee for the six weekends of matches.
Witsken, who won two IHSAA state singles titles (1987-88) as a Carmel High School tennis player and was a two-time All-American at the University of Alabama, runs Team Witsken to teach tennis and pickleball. He also serves as assistant coach for boys and girls tennis at Zionsville Middle School.
In his division, Witsken has won four gold medals in the U.S. Open and three gold medals at the U.S. American Pickleball Association Nationals.
In 2024, the league will play home and away matches.
In addition to the Indy Drivers, there are teams in Boca Raton, Fla.; Austin, Texas; Naples, Fla.; and Oklahoma City.
The six cities where regular season games will be played are Dallas, Kansas City (Overland Park, Kan.), Denver, Phoenix and San Antonio. There will be two matches played in Dallas this year while the Fishers site is being built. There are four head-to-head dual matches played on each regular season weekend.
“Whoever has the best record is the regular season champion,” Witsken said. “The highest percent of the payouts will be to whoever wins the championship weekend.”
Witsken said the league avoided going against the major tournaments.
“So plenty of us will be playing individual tournaments when we’re not playing,” said Witsken, who played in 28 tournaments in 2022.
There will be no admission fee in the first year.
There will be prize money of $100,000 for the league, but Witsken said it hasn’t been determined how the prize money will be placed.
“That’s 200 percent more than the entry fees we collected,” he said. “The regular season, second place and third place will each get a percentage.
Some of the premier players were not required to pay entry fees and will receive appearance fees at the events.
“As owners of the league, Beth and I chose not to take any appearance money for two years,” Witsken said.
As an example of pickleball’s continued growth, Witsken cited the Pickleball Slam in Hollywood, Fla., which included tennis players Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, John McEnroe and Michael Chang. The April 2 ESPN telecast was tied for the fifth-highest rated sporting event of the day according to Nielsen ratings.
For more, visit nplpickleball.com.
