She's got game: Sarasota pickleball player competing on national level with professional league

Playing professional sports isn’t out of the realm of possibility for athletes 50 years and older, especially if they have easy access to a pickleball court.

Part-time Sarasota resident Kristi Dorman, 55, never envisioned she would play pro sports – even after playing collegiate tennis at Ball State University – but that’s something she can no longer say.

Dorman was drafted by the Indy Drivers of Indianapolis in the National Pickleball League (NPL) earlier this year.

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The NPL is a 12-team league for players 49 years old and up that meets once a month to play for seeding and prize money. It began in May and ends with a championship in October.

Dorman and the reigning champion Indy Drivers recently competed in Columbus, Ohio, in the second tournament of the season.

“It runs the full gamut,” said the Indianapolis native. “I want to improve. I love being part of a team. Making some money on the back end would be great, but that isn’t my goal. It’s about being a part of a league where you can play with top players, grow and make new friendships. It’s unbelievable the amount of people you meet through pickleball.

“Competing at a high level at age 55 isn’t something I thought I would do again. That was definitely an incentive for me.”

At first, Dorman wasn’t sure if she was ready for the commitment of playing professionally. In fact, she even opted out of competing in the NPL Combine but was still drafted – even though more than 400 athletes tried out.

At that point, she couldn’t say no to the opportunity.

Although she admitted to feeling some nerves ahead of her first NPL tournament last month, she’s started to grow more confident.

“It was interesting to see the talent when I played in Chicago, just to see if I can compete,” Dorman said. “There were definitely some doubts going into that because I know it’s really high-level pickleball. Now that I’ve seen it and I understand the atmosphere, I feel like I can compete at that level for sure.”

Dorman is just one example of area residents who have made it on the professional circuit.

Kelly Stroble of Bradenton (OKC Punishers), Tony Vassos of North Venice (Princeton Bruisers) and Scott Tingley of Venice (Naples JBB United) are also participating in the NPL this season.

Though the league has teams representing cities from Boca Raton to Seattle, players are expected to train wherever they live before meeting up for their monthly tournament.

Each monthly tournament is from Friday through Sunday. Players check-in, practice and get settled on Friday to prepare for two straight days of competition.

Teams compete in five-team pools with three levels of three types of teams – women’s, men’s and mixed teams. Whoever wins the most matches in each head-to-head matchup secures a point for the standings.

A $10,000 reward (split among team members) is on the line in each tournament, with the season champions winning a team prize of $150,000.

Next up for Dorman and the NPL is the third tournament of the season from July 19-21 in Cincinnati. Fans can watch the action livestreamed at the NPL YouTube Page, @nationalpickleballleague.

“I think people may be surprised at the high-level quality of the play and the competitiveness,” Dorman said. “It’s a ton of great athletes. Many of them were great tennis players in their prime, and we have Danny Wuerffel, who was a Heisman Trophy winner. It’s a lot of athletes playing at a high level.”