Out of the 30 matches scheduled for Major League Pickleball’s first event in New York City, 15 feature Challenger teams facing off.

Six Challenger squads will be in The Big Apple, so let’s go through everything to note ahead of this week’s Challenger competition.

First things first

Here are the six Challenger level teams set to compete this week:

Brooklyn Aces: Pablo Tellez, Lina Padegimaite, Daniel de la Rosa, Layne Sleeth

Chicago Slice: Jack Munro, Megan Fudge, Brendon Long, Allison Harris

Florida Smash: Travis Rettenmaier, Martina Frantova, Donald Young, Christa Gecheva

Frisco Pandas: John Cincola, Tammy Emmrich, Stefan Auvergne, Ewa Radzikowska

Las Vegas Night Owls: Rafa Hewett, Zoey Wang, Blaine Hovenier, Judit Castillo

Miami Pickleball Club: Eric Oncins, Milan Rane, Noe Khlif, Bobbi Oshiro

Each one is vying for position in the standings, as only six out of ten Challenger teams will make the season-ending playoffs in November.

Here’s where each team stands going into this week’s event, in order of points earned per match.

The nitty-gritty

Let’s break down each team’s prospects going into the fifth regular season event of the year.

Brooklyn Aces: The Aces haven’t taken the court together in nearly two months, but they should have no shortage of confidence after winning the Mid-Season Tournament in July. Led by Pablo Tellez—formerly a member of the Texas Ranchers at the Premier level—this team sits atop the Challenger level standings, and it will be tough to move them from that spot if they continue their form from Grand Rapids.

Chicago Slice: The Slice dropped their first five matches of the year at MLP D.C. and the Mid-Season Tournament, but bringing in Megan Fudge—who Chicago acquired during Waiver Period 1—has helped them turn their season around rapidly. They're coming off a 3-1 outing at MLP Kansas City, where Martin Emmrich (now a member of the Bay Area Breakers) admirably filled in for No. 2 overall draft pick Jack Munro. Currently No. 6 in the standings, Chicago’s stock is certainly on the rise heading into this week’s event.

Florida Smash: Florida is currently in ninth place in the standings, but they were among the most active teams during Waiver Period 2, adding Donald Young and Christa Gecheva. Young will return to New York for the first time since his incredible run to the mixed doubles final at the US Open in the final tournament of his tennis career and will make his MLP debut this week. Gecheva will make her 2024 MLP debut after winning a championship with the Dallas Pickleball Club (now the Dallas Flash) in 2023. We’ll see if these roster changes help the Smash gain some ground in the playoff race.

Frisco Pandas: The Pandas—currently in fourth place thanks to a 4-1 record in DreamBreakers—made one of the more notable moves of Waiver Period 2 when they added Tammy Emmrich in place of Alli Phillips. Emmrich had been dropped by the Smash (for the aforementioned Christa Gecheva) just a few picks before, and Frisco jumped at the opportunity to add her to the squad. She’ll most likely play mixed doubles with John Cincola, as Ewa Radzikowska and Stefan Auvergne look to build on their 8-1 record together this season. We’ll see if that move pays off for the Pandas as they look to cement themselves as one of the top teams in the Challenger level.

Las Vegas Night Owls: Las Vegas strolls into New York with a new men’s doubles pairing of Rafa Hewett and Blaine Hovenier. They acquired both players in trades ahead of Waiver Period 2, getting rid of Anderson Scarpa and Mo Alhouni in the process. Hovenier had some memorable wins filling in for Thomas Wilson on the Los Angeles Mad Drops and will look to have more success now that he has a full-time roster spot in Las Vegas. Look for the lefty Hewett to play mixed with Zoey Wang—who has proven to be a strong left side player—and Hovenier to partner with Judit Castillo.

Miami Pickleball Club: Miami is the team that I am most excited to watch this week. They were heavily active during Waiver Period 1, bringing in Noe Khlif and Bobbi Oshiro. Those changes had an immediate impact, as Miami made the bronze medal match at the Mid-Season Tournament after losing to eventual champion Brooklyn in the first round. Eric Oncins and Milan Rane boast a 10-2 record together in mixed, while Khlif and Oshiro have been getting some valuable reps against top teams at recent PPA tournaments. This will be the first regular season event for the new-look MPC, and I expect them to be comfortably in playoff position by the end of the weekend.

Where to watch

Every match from CityPickle will be streamed on PickleballTV and the MLP YouTube, with Challenger action starting at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday.

Pickleball.com will have match-by-match coverage of the event, from start to finish.