The Dink Minor League Pickleball: It's Not Nationals Anymore. It's Championships.
Championships is the biggest week on the MiLP calendar. Five days, five events, one $100,000 prize purse, all for amateurs.
You've been calling it Nationals. We get it. We did, too.
But when you earn your Dream Ticket, you're not going to Nationals. You're going to the Championships.
The Dink Minor League Pickleball's premier end-of-season event has a new name, and it fits better than the old one.
Nationals implied one country. The name ‘Championships’ reflects what this event actually is: the best players from around the world, competing for their piece of a $100,000 prize purse.
What Is Championships?
Championships is where the MiLP season ends and the real competition begins.
Held February 24-28, 2027, at Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa, AZ, it's the destination every local, state, and regional event has been pointing toward all season.
Five days, 41 courts, and five competitions: the classic mixed MiLP format in both open age and 50+ divisions, v3, Nations Cup, and a College Regional.
And, a $100,000 prize purse for this all-amateur tournament. Big stakes, big results, big awards.
Qualification runs through the season you're already playing. Points stack. Dream Tickets drop. And the path to Mesa runs directly through your local scene.
How To Get To The Dink MiLP Championships
For most players, there are two roads to Championships:
National Leaderboard: Your MiLP results accumulate across the season. Top performers earn automatic bids. Playing v3? Those gendered team events feed into their own MiLP v3 leaderboard, so they count too.
Dream Tickets: Win your division at a State Championship or Regional Showdown, and you're in. One ticket per gold medalist team.
Both main paths run through the same place: your local MiLP community. The events closest to home aren't warm-ups. They're qualifiers.
There are a few other doors: MLP-partnered Minor League teams earn direct bids, and international players qualify through their own country's pathway.
Mary Margaret Stewart
The Week, Day By Day
Wednesday: 50+ divisions round robin (DUPR 12, 14, 16, 18)
Thursday: 50+ bracket playoffs. Every team advances.
Friday: v3, open age and 50+ (DUPR 9, 11, 13, 15), round robin through brackets in one day. Nations Cup pool play begins.
Saturday: Open age round robin (DUPR 12 through 22). Nations Cup playoffs.
Sunday: Open age bracket playoffs. College Regional.
Important Championships note: division aggregate caps get a bump for the week. DUPR 16 runs to 16.900 instead of the usual 16.300, and so on down the line. This includes the v3 divisions. Since ratings move during a season, Championships make room for that.
The Dink MiLP Championships Is Quickly Growing
When MiLP held its first Championships in 2023, 272 players showed up and competed. 68 teams, 24 U.S. states, and 3 countries were represented.
Here's what happened next:
In 2024: 424 players; 106 teams, 34 U.S. states, and 7 countries were represented.
In 2025: 1,000 players. 318 teams. 35 U.S. states and 23+ countries.
In 2026, with the international scene exploding and USA State Championships running mostly in late fall, MiLP shifted the 2026 season to end December 31, 2026, allowing players a full-year season and international competitors ample time to make travel arrangements.
In 2027: the MiLP Championships adds the Nations Cup to the lineup. 21 countries are already confirmed, from Australia and England to Argentina, India, and the Philippines, with 2,000 players expected. Country vs. Country, in DUPR 14, 16, and 18 divisions.
This is not a local tournament anymore. That's why "Nationals" stopped making sense.
More On Nations Cup
International pickleball usually means elite pros only. Nations Cup flips that.
Any player, any level, can earn the chance to wear their country's colors and compete on a global stage. As part of a team, not solo.
21 countries are already confirmed and counting. DUPR 14, 16, and 18 divisions. Round robin Friday. Playoffs and finals Saturday.
Division winners represent their country. Countries without one qualify through their national leaderboard.
College Is In The Mix
New for Championships week: a College Regional, running Sunday. College teams compete inside Championships for a bid to the College Pickleball Tour Nationals.
One day, round robin to playoffs, and a ticket to the biggest stage in college pickleball on the line.
More details to come.
Mary Margaret Stewart
What You're Competing In
Five events are on the card at Championships:
- MiLP Open Age: The classic four-player mixed format, DUPR 12 through 22
- MiLP 50+: Same format, 50+ divisions
- v3: MiLP's signature gendered format, open age and 50+
- Nations Cup: Country vs. country
- College Regional: The next generation, with a College Pickleball Tour Nationals bid at stake
The Name Is Different, But The Stakes Aren't
Earn your spot. Book your flights to Mesa.
And when someone asks where you're headed in February, tell ‘em Championships.
Mary Margaret Stewart
Mary Margaret is The Dink's Marketing Manager. She enjoys cooking, traveling, craft coffee, and photography.
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