Pickleball | Division Descriptions Menu

• Teams/Groups/Individuals are expected to read the division descriptions and place themselves in the most appropriate division. If players are unsure of which division to register for, they are welcome to contact the office for further clarification or advice.
• The ESSC Division offerings are based on the experience and skill level of a team - not on a team's competitive behaviour. All ESSC players and teams are expected to play with a ‘fun-first, winning-second’ attitude regardless of their division.
• The ESSC reserves the right to move any team up or down a division (regardless of where they registered) based on a team's past results. The ESSC gathers statistics on all registered teams each season, and strives to align the divisions as fairly as possible.
• The ESSC reserves the right to move any team up or down a division (regardless of where they registered) based on total registration numbers. The ESSC rarely runs odd numbered divisions, or divisions with a low number of teams, so in these cases division realignment is necessary.
• If the ESSC feels that a division has a clear skill discrepancy during the regular season, teams may be moved up or down a division mid-season, or in some cases a division will be split come playoff time to allow for multiple Championships.
• For certain sports, when possible, the ESSC incorporates a seeding round as part of the regular season schedule. In these cases, divisions will be re-aligned and standings reset after the completion of the seeding round. For 16 Week Leagues that incorporate a seeding round, standings will not always be reset after the completion of the seeding round, but division realignment will still occur.

This division will feature teams that may have racquet sport experience, but aren't veteran Pickleball players. This division will also feature teams that are new to Pickleball. Players should be able to sustain rallies, but won't necessarily be able to implement advanced Pickleball techniques, such as drop shots, lobs and spin shots. Hard smashing is discouraged in the Recreational division. Teams in this division must have a “fun first” approach to every game.

This division will feature teams that have Pickleball experience.  Players should be able to sustain rallies, and will likely have some more advanced Pickleball techniques, such as: drop shots, lobs and spin shots. Occasional hard smashing is permitted in the Recreational Plus division, but it must remain controlled at all times. Not all players need to be highly skilled; it is more about the average skill and competitiveness of the team as a whole.