Caden Nemoff is a classically trained singer, an all-star baseball player, and has earned a Black Belt in martial arts. 

The guy has done it all. However, he hasn’t had a lot of success on the PPA Tour. Friday, Nemoff was in Dallas competing on the APP Tour’s Next Gen Tour, in hopes of getting back to an elite level of pickleball.

The Next Gen Tour helps younger pickleball players (16-23 years old) with the goal of mentoring players to represent the United States in future international and APP Tour competitions. Each tournament, like the one in Dallas this weekend, is a three-day competition. All are held at Chicken-N-Pickle locations. 

Nemoff and partner Ivy Tschetter lost in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles bracket Friday. Nemoff will be partnering with Jack Munro on Saturday. The two are the No. 1 seed in the men’s bracket. 

“I wouldn’t say it’s changed my game,” Nemoff said of playing in the Next Gen Series. “But it’s definitely helped me connect with players my age, which keeps it more fun for me.”

Riley Bohnert and Emily Ackerman will be the No. 1 seeded women’s team in Saturday’s bracket. 

Lauren Mercado and Aidan Schenk earned gold on Friday in mixed doubles. They were the No. 7-seeded team and beat Munro and Ackerman in the final. Bohnert and Richard Livornese earned bronze.

Tschetter and Daria Walczak are the No. 2 seed in the women’s bracket. Mercado and Alia Brown will pair today and will be the No. 3 seed. 

And the best part of the series is the opportunity it creates. It’s a chance to get seen and compete at a high level against quality players - a perfect proving ground for other future competitions.

“The hardest part of being a pro was being recognized by other tours,” Nemoff said of his career. Meanwhile, Next Gen offers something different.

“It’s meant a lot to me,” Nemoff said of the Next Gen series. “It’s given me exposure where I didn’t always receive it."

Saturday in Dallas is the women’s and men’s doubles competition. Sunday is women's and men’s singles.