The Edward Jones MLP Mid-Season Tournament at Belknap Park in Grand Rapids, MI delivered outstanding pickleball from start to finish.

So, are you ready for more?

Enter Marathon MLP St. Louis, which begins Thursday at Chaifetz Arena, the 10,600-seat venue on the campus of Saint Louis University.

The Shock have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to hit the court on home turf.

"We're expecting it to be a world-class event," said Andrew Haines, Chief Operating Officer of the Shock, during a recent appearance on The Hannah Johns Podcast. "It's going to be a different type of venue than most of the MLPs, so we're really, really excited to get this going, and the response of the community has been off the charts so far."

Haines believes that the state-of-the-art facility is the perfect host for specators to enjoy some of the best pickleball players on the planet ply their trade.

In other words... prepare to be entertained.

"The seating structure and the LED and digital assets that are within the arena are going to help enhance the experience for fans. It's climate-controlled, which is nice, along with just the atmosphere, the noise, and the music. We're planning some great stuff for the intros to the Saturday and Sunday night matches, so we want it to be an event," emphasized Haines. "You have to make it about more than just the sport. Pickleball is a great sport and we've got a great following, but we want to reach that next level and get new fans, and I think we could do that by creating just a great time out. You come out to this event, whether you're a pickleball fan or not, you're going to leave thinking, 'Wow! This was a great time!'"

Let the anticipation begin.

It should be fun to see the Shock faithful come out in droves to support their squad of starters Anna Bright, Kate Fahey, Hayden Patriquin, and Gabe Tardio.

"St. Louis is a great sports town. You have great support with the Cardinals, the Blues, even St. Louis City SC, so you've got that support already. People also in St. Louis, they like it when you're winning, and we're pretty fortunate to have a great team right now," noted Haines. "What makes this really exciting is just the team aspect. It's still kind of new to a lot of people out there. This will be the first team professional event here in St. Louis. It's just a little bit different than your PPA style. There's more that team camaraderie and that hometown team element. We've got some good matches scheduled for the event, so we're really excited to kick that off."

Click here to learn more about Marathon MLP St. Louis.

Click here to buy tickets.