FAQs
PAYMENTS
Coach Bella LLC will be charging in the range $40.00 - $60.00 per person to participate in a Coach Bella Tournament. Since most tournaments are outdoor, I DO NOT ACCEPT PAYMENTS during the initial registration process.
We are constantly monitoring the weather to ensure that the tournament is a “GO”. After confirming with “Mother Nature”, we will send an email notification to all registered/enrolled participants to inform them to begin making electronic payments (i.e. Paypal, Venmo, or Zelle). Sorry checks are not accepted. However, should you decide to pay in “CASH”, please bring the exact amount on the day of the CB tournament. The email notification is generally sent the day before the tournament.
Sorry guys, “no pay… no play”. This is a standard Coach Bella LLC policy/practice so that issuing a refund could be kept at a minimum.
WITHDRAWALS
If for whatever reason you and/or your partner needs to withdraw from the CB tournament, please inform us as soon as possible so that other teams or individuals on the waitlist may have an opportunity to "enroll in". Withdrawals information can be submitted to us 24/7 by any one of the following method:
Text: 301-693-9199
Email: wmaldonado@coachbella.biz
Feel free to call us, but I will still request some form of documentation (i.e. text or email) to avoid any mishaps or miscommunications.
If everybody would comply and respect this request, Coach Bella LLC will not need to re-evaluate the acceptance of payment policy. However, if there appears to be a pattern of abuse (meaning no upfront payment so it’s easy to just “walk-away” and decide no to or forget to inform us… “NO BUENO”), Coach Bella LLC may need to accept payments upfront. Please be considerate and thoughtful because you may also be the benefactor of getting into the CB tournament from a team respecting the withdrawal policy/procedure.
DUPR
Coach Bella LLC has established a partnership with DUPR. To assist us with ensuring “fair competitive play”, a rating system needed to be implemented. We are trying to discourage any “sand-bagging practices” or “ringers” from participating within CB Tournaments.
If by some chance you do not have a current DUPR rating, you will need to contact the tournament director for a consultation/assessment discussion to jointly establish a “self-assessment” rating. We will need to establish an average rating for each team (i.e. DUPR/DUPR or DUPR/self-assessed or self-assessed/self-assessed). A team’s average is taken into consideration when being placed in a group; however, we also perform a “structured randomization process” when placing teams into their respective group. Feel free to contact us if you need a further explanation.
All participant results will be submitted to DUPR to update his/her DUPR doubles/singles rating, no exceptions. In reference to participants who were jointly established with a “self-assessed rating”, he/she will receive an official DUPR rating after DUPR receives his/her results from the CB Tournament.
If you are an individual who does not want to participate in the DUPR rating system nor participate in a consultation/assessment discussion…well then, you are ineligible to participate in any CB Tournaments. This is a standard Coach Bella LLC policy/practice so that “fair competitive play” will be promoted and exercised. In short, our organization wants to ensure that all participants have an “honest chance to win”.
I am providing the following links from DUPR for additional information:
https://www.support.mydupr.com/how-it-works
RULES AND REGULATION
All of my tournaments follow these general rules & regulations...
NOTE-1: In reference to the skill level, we will be using your DUPR rating or you will be jointly assigned a “self-assessed rating” so that “fair competitive play” will be promoted... crafty/ringers/sand-bangers ARE NOT WELCOME
NOTE-2: There will be medals awarded (Gold/Silver/Bronze)
NOTE-3: In reference to finding a partner, also known as "dating" in the pickleball world, I DO NOT provide you a partner, this is known as "matchmaking" in the pickleball world; YOU WILL NEED TO FIND A PARTNER
In short, please keep this in mind...
the tournament promotes pickleball player development
the tournament also promotes competition
even while you are "taking on the pressure of competitive play", you will still have fun playing "PICKLEBALL"
1. To Register/enroll, just go to the www.coachbella.biz website, login, and book the tournament (please do not forget to instruct your partner to do the same”
However, I will post it "officially" on the enrollee list for everybody to know who are the participating teams (after the validation process has been completed)
2. "Double-parking" is closely monitored... this means that you go onto the www.coachbella.biz website and register to secure a spot for you and your partner. However, at a certain time of the registration process, the “CB Waitlist” rule may go into effect. Let me explain, due to limited spots available, for example Coach Bella LLC announces a tournament with 4 weeks in advance, when we get to the last week before the tournament, Coach Bella LLC may invoke the “CB Waitlist” rule so that “Waitlisted” teams may still have an opportunity to get enrolled should any of the enrolled teams change partners during this time. If you need further explanation, please contact me directly and I will explain further
3. Onto the "CB Waitlist" rule... Please keep in mind, even though 16 teams max (number subject to change), I strongly recommended teams to get on the waitlist. With 8 or 10 or 12 or 14 or 16 teams, for whatever reason, teams drop-out so I strongly recommend to get on the WAITLIST.
This helps me ensure that I have an "EVEN" number of teams, because if I do not, the "last team in, is the first team out" so that I may maintain an EVEN number of participating teams.
For example, let's say we have 12 teams enrolled, however team #6 withdraws... now 1-5 are still the same teams and teams 7-12 gets shifted-up... and now no team #12... if that spot doesn't get filled, well then team #11 is withdrawn so that I can go down to 10 (yeah... EVEN number)
However, before I ever pull a team out, I MAKE A STRONG CONCERTED EFFORT TO RECRUIT 1 MORE TEAM, to get back to EVEN... so far so good... yeah... you get the idea.
THIS NEXT RULE IS VERY IMPORTANT...
4. The "ENROLLED TEAMS" can make changes to partners, HOWEVER, you must keep this in mind...
(a) when making a change, if there are "NO CURRENT WAITLISTED TEAMS" waiting... well this change is simply implemented
HOWEVER....
(b) when making a change, if there "ARE EVEN 1 CURRENT WAITLISTED TEAM" waiting and Coach Bella LLC has invoked the “CB Waitlist” rule... well then it gets more challenging because... the change is allowed... HOWEVER, the team making the change gets dropped down to the bottom of the waitlist and the Waitlist Team 1 gets bumped UP into the ENROLLED TEAMS
*** RULE #4 accomplishes the following ***
(1) anybody creating a false team, (a fake double-parking move to secure a spot), well that team will most likely get discovered and dropped down into the waitlist
(2) this rule helps promote recruiting of waitlisted teams, in short, helps me maintain an EVEN number of teams... YEAH
5. When generating the schedule of who plays who... everything is done in a “Structured Randomization Method; the creation of groups is also done in a “Structured Randomization Method.
If anybody wants to know how this is accomplished... just ask me directly and I will gladly explain.
6. The "12/14/16 Shuffle"... let me explain,
(a) Everybody... please keep in mind... I can do a maximum of 16 teams... so if we get a 2nd waitlisted team... I will increase the # of enrolled teams from 10 to 12... and I will continuously promote recruiting more waitlisted teams
(b) If I get "another" 2 waitlisted teams... I will increase from 12 to 14... and STILL promote waitlisted team to sign-up... because with 12 or 14 or 16 teams...teams withdraw for various reasons...
(c) This constant monitoring of potential growth of waitlisted teams allows me to increase the # of ENROLLED TEAMS... this is known as the "12/14/16 Shuffle"
(d) In short... I like to promote more teams participating and hope not having to tell the "last team in... first team out" due to me trying to maintain an "EVEN" number of ENROLLED TEAMS
(e) So the "12/14/16 Shuffle" is ALWAYS IN PLAY
TOURNAMENT PLAY/FORMAT
Stage-1:
All participating teams (8 or 10 or 12 or 14 or 16... must be EVEN... 16 max) will only be playing 5 games during the round-robin stage (Straight-11... for time management purposes)
Stage-2a:
For 8 participating teams
The top 4 performers will advance (BASED ON PERFORMANCE, not head-to-head) to create the semi-finals (a little-bit longer... Straight-15) – SINGLE ELIMINATION mode
1 vs 4, 2 vs 3
... HOWEVER,
Stage-2b:
For 10 or 12 or 14 or 16 participating teams
The top 8 performers will advance (BASED ON PERFORMANCE, not head-to-head) to create the quarter-finals (still Straight-11... just 1 more game) – SINGLE ELIMINATION mode
1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5
Afterwards, the four winning teams will create the semi-finals
However, the “1st highest seed remaining” will play versus the “1st lowest seed remaining” while the “2nd highest seed remaining” will play versus the “2nd lowest seed remaining”.
As explained earlier, these semi-final games are played Straight-15
Championship Game:
Both teams will play a modified 2 out of 3 games (Straight-11 / Straight-11 / Regular-11 ...if 3rd game needed) to determine SILVER & GOLD finalists
Consolation Game:
Simultaneously...the other 2 teams that lost in the semi-finals will do the following...
These 2 teams will ALSO play a game, but to Regular-15 (must win by 2) to determine BRONZE finalists
MISCELLANEOUS
(1) Coach Bella LLC does make restrooms available
(2) We stage the venue beforehand... meaning we get everything ready (nets/balls/signage/banner/tent/music... it's an experience, not just a tournament) so that the participants can arrive early, make payments if need be (CASH), and begin warming-up
(3) We have developed our own pickleball tournament software that is “administered locally"; we bring our own equipment and electricity to manage the tournament, no need for Internet access nor to be dependent on cloud services. In short, "no hiccups", just run the tournament.
(4) There are 2-4 InfoScreens (monitors) placed strategically on the premises which provides the following information:
each round displays a progress indicator (percentage-wise) on how much the current round is about to be completed
when round reaches 100% (round completed), software will display you current seeding position... aka the "roller coaster ride", meaning after each round completed, your current team seeding is displayed (could go up, could go down) so that you and your supporters can monitor your progress within the CB tournament
additionally, once the CB tournament is in Stage 2 (teams that have successfully advance further into the tournament - single elimination), the InfoScreens will continuously provide information about teams status/progress within the CB tournament.
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYBODY
0-0-2…. Let’s GO!!!!