A) Location
Austin Pickle Ranch
Austin, TX

B) Purpose
The Pickleball Hall of Fame will recognizes individuals who have achieved exceptional results in pickleball play over the course of their career, as well as those who have made exceptional contributions to the growth, development and leadership of the game. All candidates should have also demonstrated a high level of character, integrity, sportsmanship and consideration for others and thus earned the respect and admiration of their peers.

C) Categories- Competitor & Contributor
1- Competitor Category-No minimum and a maximum of 10 players will be chosen by the nominating committee and sent to the selection committee.
2- Contributor Category-No minimum and a maximum of 3 contributors will be chosen and sent to the selection committee.

D) Criteria
1-Any person can submit an application form nominating an individual from the above 2 categories (it’s possible that a candidate crosses over multiple categories) The person nominating a candidate will be responsible for submitting the appropriate application form properly filled out by the July 8 deadline to the chair of the nominating committee.
2-Competitor- In order to be considered hall of fame worthy, a candidate in the player category should have dominated for a 5 year period of time. Examples of dominance would be consistently being on the podium at TOC, The US Open or the USAPA Nationals. Only those competing at the highest level will be considered ie: Open Pro, Senior Pro and Age events.
3-Contributor- In order to be considered hall of fame worthy, a candidate should have impacted the sport of pickleball on the national or international level for a minimum of 5 years. Individuals that may have worked tirelessly in a local region to help grow the sport or get new courts built, while invaluable to that area and our sport, are not considered hall of fame worthy contributors.
4-In the application for both competitor and contributor it's suggested that a minimum of 250 words be included in the essay portion describing the biography and special honors or contributions that the candidate possessed to be considered for the picklkeball hall of fame. The nominating committee reserves the right to reject any application that is not complete and thorough. For those nominating a candidate to be considered for the PHOF, please do your research and provide a thorough application so the nominating committee can do it's due diligence when voting for your candidate. If an application is deemed incomplete it will be rejected and the individual nominating a candidate will be asked to redo the application and re-submit it for consideration

E) The Nominating Committee
1- The nominating committee will be comprised of 9 individuals who will review all application forms submitted. A chair person will be selected by the nominating committee by majority vote.
2- Three nominating committee members will be replaced at the end of year three (2019) and each year thereafter. The three selected to be replaced will be determined by alphabetical order of last name. We will announce that new applications are being accepted to fill the 3 positions on the nominating committee November 15, and final selections will be made by January 1 of the following year.
3- We will accept 3 applicants each of whom will elect to serve a 1, 2, or 3, year term. It was determined to offer the option of shorter terms to help attract younger players who may not want to commit to a longer term on the committee.
4- An existing committee member that was replaced can fill a vacancy only if there aren’t other qualified applicants that submitted an application. If that occurs the committee member should select a different term than what was previously held.
5-The nominating committee will go through a two step voting process. 1) all applications will be reviewed and a secret ballot will be distributed to all committee members. The top 15 applicants or 20% of the total number of applications (whichever is the higher number) will make the first cut. Discussions will take place on the merits of all semi-finalists and a final secret ballot will be sent out whereby the final list will be sent to the selection committee.
6-An applicant who does not make the initial semi-final cut will be kept on file for 2 years. An applicant who makes the semi-final cut will be kept on file for 3 years. An applicant who makes the final list of possible inductees sent to the selection committee will remain in the pool for 5 years
7-Any committee member that is being considered for induction will not be able to vote for themselves but will be expected to participate in the voting process and vote for their other candidates.

F) The Selection Committee
1-The selection committee will be comprised of 7 members who will review the candidates recommended and by majority vote select no more than 4 individuals in any year for induction into the PHOF. Decisions should be made by August 15 to provide enough time for gift production.
2-The selection committee will discuss the merits of all candidates on the final list provided by the nominating committee. Through secret ballot up to 3 players will be inducted and up to 1 contributor will be inducted.

G) Announcements of the PHOF final nominees will be made at the Pickleball Tournament of Champions.

H) The year’s inductees will be introduced on court at the Pickleball Hall of Fame Championships in Austin, Texas. Each inductee will be presented with a plaque on court and a jacket & ring will be presented at the PHOF banquet/dinner during the week of the tournament. A photo/plaque of each inductee will be on permanent display at the home of the PHOF and Museum located in Austin, Texas.