What makes a great Team Name?

 You might not have heard this (in the last hour), but Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the world. Not only are people picking up paddles and smacking the ball at their local rec centers, but clubs, leagues, and tournaments are popping up across the globe. And to me, when I join a team, the 2nd most important thing about that team is the name. Winning is and always will be the most gratifying, but having a memorable pickleball team name comes in a crucial second.

So, let’s dabble into Pickleball team names today. Some of the obvious names, the pc/polished ones, from a marketing perspective, are established in the Major League Pickleball (MLP) organization. For those not aware of the format, MLP teams consist of 4 people (2 men and 2 women) and their match play is composed of four games: women’s doubles, men’s doubles, and two mixed doubles, with a unique Dreambreaker™ singles tiebreaker. If you’d like more details on the MLP official rules, they can be found here.

Major League Pickleball Team Names

So, MLP is where the big money teams (think Brees, Lebron, Clijsters, and Brady money) exist, and their team names are highly polished by marketing agencies to be fresh and “Pickleballish”. Names like:

• Florida Smash
• Jackrabbits
• Mad Drops
• The Fives

Were submitted to the league for approval, by their owners. MLP places the onus on the team owner to verify that the names do not violate any branding or intellectual property laws. 

This means they are run through marketing, design, and definitely legal departments before being submitted, but have you heard the term “Too many cooks in the kitchen”? 

Where is the fun, the acute puns, or the bravado in those names? Honestly, I want to play against a team that has one foot at the non-volley zone and the other next to their tongue, which is in their cheek.

My Pickleball team name suggestions for MLP are as follows:

• The Holy Balls
• Yes Sir, May I Have Another
• Pickle me this, Batman

The Best Pickleball Team Names

Yet, after doing some research for this article, I found that those do not even crack the surface of some of your intelligent and skilled picklers and their fresh team names. 

Here are some actual team names I found that rate an automatic bye for their first-round game, just for their originality and punniness:

1. Baby Got Backhand
2. Bert and Erne
3. Fickle Pickles
4. Hall of Framers
5. Little Does One Dink
6. Mid-Court Crisis
7. Pickilicious
8. Scared Hitless
9. Shutter To Dink
10. Victorious Secret

All great names, some opting for rhyme, while others leveraging a twist of a phrase. So, it’s great to see that we have some creative minds out there knocking around with us on the pickleball court

Pickleball Team Name Makeup

What makes up a good pickleball team name?  Well, let’s start by answering the converse of that question. What makes up a weak pickleball team name? 

Meaning, no passion, no fire, no snarky wit, just blah, blah, blah, a name. As an example, I give you “The Lions” of the MLP league. 

Now I’m sure they are a competent group of folks, with a nice guy, James Blake, as the owner, but it’s obvious that he spent more time drilling than contemplating a team name.

Honestly, The Lions? There are 36 US or Canadian colleges with the team’s name “The Lions” and 14 professional teams worldwide with that name. 

I will give it points for a ferocious image, but big zeros for originally, “Pickelballness”, and cleverness. For a pickleball team name, I want all of those things included.

Why you may ask? Pickleball is a fun sport, that is also competitive, strategic, and for the people, of the people. So, when it comes to pickleball, the team name has to encompass all of those important values.

Team Name Breakdown

So, what makes up a great team’s name? As mentioned above, it requires attributes that make it fit well in the pickleball community. Let’s take a name as an example and break it down:

Dinkasaurs

Right out of the gate, the name sounds like a pickleball team. I picture, them running around the court, with their short little arms and large heads, swinging away at the ball, dropping it just over the net, and then letting out a ferocious Dino victory bellow, when their opponent dumps their return into the net. Plus, Dinkasaurs is original and clever. 

It’s definitely on a different level than “The Dinkers”, “Picklers”, and especially, “The Lions”. Someone burned a couple of brain cells coming up with that original name, and for that I applaud them.Rewind 10sPlayForward 10s

What’s Your Best Team Name

So that is my opinion and reasoning on great pickleball team names. I imagine it might not strike all my readers the same, so I’d love to hear from you. 

Give me your best team names in the comments and show me you are truly part of the pickleball community  – the few, the proud, the originals! Great pickleball team names are almost as important as winning, so show me what you got!