Road to Minors (RTM) Tournament Series

Our Country's First-Ever Year-Round Tournament Series that Leads to the Minors

RTM is a tournament series that provides a pathway for amateur players to qualify for one of D.C. Pickleball Team’s Minor League Pickleball (MiLP) DUPR 12-22 rosters. It will take place at Down the Line (DTL) Sports Center in Fairfax and Annandale, VA. The top performing players in the RTM Series will have a chance to showcase their skills during the RTM Cup (Finals) at the end of the year through MLP format play. It will also allow players to build their DUPR profiles and gain valuable match play experience while being evaluated by the D.C. Pickleball Team coaching staff and front office.

The RTM tournament schedule is listed below and you can sign up directly on pickleball.com here
Or search for “Road to Minors” under Tournaments at pickleball.com
* DTL Members should request membership to DTL Fairfax on pickleball.com to receive member pricing on all events.

Special Pro Tournament Opportunity at the DTL Annendale Grand Opening! Registration available only to RTM TOURNAMENT participants!

Upcoming RTM DUPR Sessions at DTL

DUPR 3.0-3.49

RTM DUPR 4/16 Wednesday @ 7pm

DUPR 3.5-3.99

RTM DUPR 4/5 Saturday @ 8PM

RTM DUPR 4/19 Saturday @ 2PM

DUPR 4.0-4.4

RTM DUPR 4/6 Sunday @ 8PM

RTM DUPR 4/19 Saturday @ 4PM

DUPR 4.5+

RTM DUPR 4/12 Saturday @ 7PM

1) Friday, Feb 28 – Sunday, March 2 & Friday, March 7 – Sunday, March 9 (Fairfax) // Sign Up: RTM Round 1 – COMPLETE

2) Friday, April 11 – Sunday, April 13 & Friday, April 18 – Sunday, April 20 (Fairfax) // Sign up Sign up: RTM Round 2

3) Friday, May 23 – Sunday, May 25 & Friday, May 30 – Sunday, June 1 (Fairfax) // Sign up Sign up: RTM Round 3

4) Friday, June 27 – Sunday, June 29 (Annandale)

5) Friday, July 25 – Sunday, July 27 (Annandale)

6) Friday, August 22 – Sunday, August 24 (Annandale)

7) Friday, September 19 – Sunday, September 21 (Annandale)

8) Friday, October 17 – Sunday, October 19 (Annandale)

9) Friday, November 14 – Sunday, November 16 (Annandale) – RTM CUP (Finals)

December – The Dink Minor League Pickleball Nationals

RTM Requirements

1) All players must join the “Road to Minors (RTM) Association Club on pickleball.com (search under clubs) This is a free membership and only members of the RTM Association club will be able to have their points tracked on the leaderboard.

2) All players may have an active DUPR account

3) All Players must be a member of DUPR Clubs: Down the Line Sports Center – Fairfax and Down the Line Sports Center – Annandale and DC Pickleball Team.

4) All players must participate in a minimum of 2 RTM Dupr sessions for any points you accrue in RTM Tournaments to count. These RTM Dupr sessions do not have to be completed before you compete in the tournament. You only have to complete them BEFORE the National RTM Cup in November 2025. RTM Dupr Sessions will be available throughout the year.

RTM Levels

RTM will mirror the DUPR rating session levels:
Level 1: 3.0-3.49 (men’s/women’s/mixed doubles)
Level 2: 3.5-3.99 (men’s/women’s/mixed doubles)
Level 3: 4.0-4.49 (men’s/women’s/mixed doubles)
Level 4: 4.5+ (men’s/women’s/mixed doubles)
Level 5: Open Division (men’s/women’s/doubles)*

RTM Rounds 1-3 at DTL Fairfax will be allotted 3 hour time slots. Each tournament should complete in approximately 2.5 hours. RTM Rounds 4-8 at DTL Annandale will expand the number of teams and total participants.
*Offered at select tournaments

RTM Format

There will be 2 pools of 4 teams (8 teams total). Every pool will play round robin format and get a guarantee of 3 matches.
The top 2 teams from each pool will advance to the semi-finals.
The winners of semifinals will play for 1st/2nd while the losers of semifinals will play for 4th.
Every pool play round and semi-finals will consist of 1 game to 15 points, win by 1.
Finals will consist of 1 game to 15 points, win by 2.

*Subject to change depending on number of teams registered

RTM Point System

RTM series points are awarded to players across three divisions (men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles) throughout the calendar year culminating to RTM Cup qualification. Players acquire separate points for each division (i.e. a player who plays men’s doubles and mixed doubles will have separate points accumulated for men’s doubles and separate points accumulated for mixed doubles). Points accumulated for different divisions (e.g. Mens Doubles vs. Mixed Doubles) will be tracked separately.

RTM Cup

RTM Gold Points:
1st Place (1,000)
2nd Place (700)
3rd Place (400)
4th Place (200)
5th Place (100)
6th Place (50)

RTM Silver Points:
1st Place (700)
2nd Place (400)
3rd Place (200)
4th Place (125)
5th Place (75)
6th Place (25)

RTM Bronze Points:
1st Place (400)
2nd Place (250)
3rd Place (100)
4th Place (75)

After all the RTM tournaments have been completed the top players will advance to the RTM Cup at the end of year. These players will have a chance to be drafted to the DC Pickleball Team MiLP DUPR 12-22 teams.

DC Pickleball Team MiLP Roster Perks

As the RTM Cup approaches there will be further details provided about what the benefits entail and when/where they will be offered:

Receive official D.C. Pickleball Team jerseys
Play official DUPR MiLP tournaments (prize money offered at MiLP Nationals) and other local events
Access to DCPT coaches and front office
Dedicated DCPT Merchandise Discount Code
Social Media and Website exposure
Become An Official Team Ambassador
Represent DCPT and host DUPR Rating Sessions and other events to bring further credibility to the events and player profiles