Things Got Heated On The Major League Pickleball Court This Weekend After One Of The Players Is Called A Bitch
There was major drama on a Major League Pickleball court this weekend. If you thought tossing around insults and/or resorting to violence was simply for your local pickleball court or the lower ranks of the fastest growing sport in America, you were wrong.
It can, at least the tossing around of insults anyway, reach the professional ranks. Things got heated at the end of a St. Louis Shock and New Jersey 5s match over the weekend at the USTA National Campus.
What was described as a match that featured intense moments on and off the court, according to The Conway Bulletin, resorted to name-calling and a confrontation on the sideline that was one wrong move away from turning physical.
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As The Conway Bulletin reports, the Shock handed the 5s their first loss of the 2025 MLP Orlando season with a 3-1 victory. They won all but one of the mixed doubles matches on the day.
It was at the end of the 5s only win of the day in the first mixed doubles match that tensions boiled over. Anna Leigh Waters and Will Howells, of the 5s, defeated Hayden Patriquin and his Shock partner Kate Fahey 11-3.
Who knew there was so much excitement at Major League Pickleball events?
As they were walking off the court, Patriquin reportedly called Waters a "f*cking bitch." She didn’t appreciate it and decided to confront him.
One of the members of the Shock tried to keep Waters from getting close to Patriquin and allegations of that guy putting his hands on Waters almost had the scene get even crazier.
Who knew there was so much excitement going on during professional pickleball events?
Sign me up to pay good money if we're going to get energy-drink-fueled confrontations like this one on a regular basis. I had no idea that Major League Pickleball was this intense.
One person's leisurely activity and mild form of exercise is another's reason to call someone names and almost fistfight. The paddles add a whole new element to disagreements too.
As you can see, the ones at the center of the heated exchange never put their paddles down. Just in case. At the end of the day, though, you can’t have this sort of behavior.
Players can’t enter other teams' designated sideline areas whenever they feel like it and not be punished. Not if you want to be taken seriously as a sport.