GO.ALL.OUT Southern Pickleball Championship Returns to Johnson City with 124 Players

Tournament director Corin Duginski confirmed that 124 players formed 60 teams over the weekend as the GO.ALL.OUT Southern Pickleball Championship wrapped its third year at Memorial Park Community Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, on March 21 and 22.

The GO.ALL.OUT Southern Pickleball Championship, hosted by Visit Johnson City, returned in its third year. The championship was held Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22 at Memorial Park Community Center (MPCC). The field drew competitors from across 28 states, making it one of the broader geographic draws for a regional amateur event on the Southern Pickleball circuit.

Men's and women's doubles took place on Saturday, while mixed doubles took place on Sunday. Each team was categorized into skill levels ranging from 2.5 to 4.5 and age divisions ranged from 15-plus to 60-plus, ensuring the bracket structure accommodated everyone from developing players to seasoned competitors.

The stakes extended well beyond hardware. The players competed for medals, Southern Pickleball Championship points and the chance to win "Player of the Year" in their skill category. Winners also earned a path forward: the winners of the GO.ALL.OUT Southern Pickleball Championship will advance to the end of the year championship that is hosted in January 2027 in Macon, Georgia.

For Duginski, the competitive framework was secondary to what the event produced off the court. "The sense of community Southern Pickleball brings tends to be kind of the best thing that comes from all of this," Duginski told News Channel 11.

Visit Johnson City Sports Sales Manager James Mauney pointed to both the sport's local roots and its pull on out-of-town visitors. "Not too often do we have the chance to partner on a sporting event that drives participation across all ages with little to no barriers of entry. The Northeast Tennessee community is teeming with pickleball players and their involvement has a direct correlation on those traveling in for the day or weekend to compete and experience our region's amenities outside of competition time."

Registration for the event was priced at $60 per player for one event, with each additional event costing $15. Players who registered by March 8 at 11:55 p.m. received a free tournament t-shirt. With 60 teams and 28 states represented at MPCC, the Johnson City stop continues to grow as one of the more competitive qualifiers in the GO.ALL.OUT series heading into the January 2027 championship in Macon.