DAPHNE, Ala. — The Gulf Coast Paddle & Racket Battle is heading back to W.O. Lott Park in Daphne on Saturday, Nov. 7, but this year the racket half of the name is sitting out. Organizers have made the 2026 tournament a pickleball-only event, with a field of 60 teams and 120 players, and every dollar of proceeds is headed to a South Alabama charity that serves children with cancer.
Baldwin Bone & Joint, the orthopedic practice that has served as the tournament’s presenting sponsor, is once again attaching its name to the event. Registration opens Thursday, Oct. 1.
The beneficiary this year is the Rapahope Children’s Retreat Foundation, a nonprofit that creates recreational opportunities and support for children who have been diagnosed with cancer and for their families.
Gulf Coast Paddle & Racket Battle at a glance
- What: Gulf Coast Paddle & Racket Battle, presented by Baldwin Bone & Joint — a pickleball-only doubles tournament
- When: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026
- Where: Lott Park, Daphne
- Field: 60 teams, 120 players
- Divisions: Men’s doubles and women’s doubles, split by age and then by skill level
- Tennis: Not offered this year
- Registration: Opens Oct. 1
- Beneficiary: Rapahope Children’s Retreat Foundation
A pickleball-only field for 2026
Since its start, the Paddle & Racket Battle has been built around two sports that share the same courts and much of the same audience. The name itself signals the pairing: paddles for pickleball, rackets for tennis. For 2026, organizers have narrowed the focus. Tennis will not be part of the competition, and the entire bracket will be pickleball doubles.
The draw is capped at 60 teams, which works out to 120 players. Competition is organized into men’s and women’s doubles. Within each, players are sorted into age divisions, and those age groups are divided again by skill level. That layered format is common in amateur pickleball tournaments because it lets newer players compete against others at a similar stage while giving experienced players matches that test them.
With a fixed cap on teams, players who want a spot will want to watch for the Oct. 1 registration opening. Organizers have not announced a registration fee for 2026. For reference, the 2025 edition listed pickleball registration at $48 per player and tennis at $50 per player, with a tournament T-shirt and swag bag included, according to the presenting sponsor’s event page from last year.
How the tournament got here
The Gulf Coast Paddle & Racket Battle is a young event. The first tournament was held in 2023 at W.O. Lott Park, in part to showcase the city’s tennis and pickleball complex. That first year drew more than 200 players and filled up quickly, according to local coverage at the time, and Daphne Mayor Robin LeJeune said ahead of the 2024 edition that the event “highlights Daphne and our complex.”
The 2024 tournament, held in early November, continued the tennis-and-pickleball doubles format and supported two causes: the American Heart Association and Rapahope. Baldwin Bone & Joint served as title sponsor that year as well. The third annual tournament in November 2025 again named Rapahope as its beneficiary.
That makes the Nov. 7 event the fourth edition of the Paddle & Racket Battle, and the first to drop tennis entirely. It also continues the tournament’s habit of landing on the first weekend of November, when Gulf Coast temperatures have usually eased from summer highs but courts are still comfortable for a full day of outdoor play.
Who benefits: Rapahope Children’s Retreat Foundation
Rapahope is a Mobile-based nonprofit whose mission is to bring joy to children on the childhood cancer journey. The organization has been providing programs to children with cancer and their families since the mid-1980s, and all of its programming is offered free to families.
Its best-known program is Camp Rap-A-Hope, a week-long summer camp experience for children who have been diagnosed with cancer. Over the years, Rapahope has expanded well beyond that one week. Its current programs include:
- Camp Week, the organization’s flagship summer camp
- Sibling Weekend, for the brothers and sisters of children with cancer
- Teen Weekend, designed for teenagers
- Family Day and a Family Retreat, which bring whole families together
Rapahope’s programs are accredited through the Children’s Oncology Camping Association International, a network of camps serving children affected by cancer. The organization is also affiliated with United Way of Southwest Alabama.
The sibling and family programs reflect something families of children with cancer often describe: a diagnosis affects the entire household. Brothers and sisters can spend long stretches in the background while a parent is at the hospital, and parents rarely get a break from the logistics of treatment. Programs that bring siblings and families into the same kind of carefree setting that campers enjoy are meant to address that strain.
In October 2024, Rapahope broke ground on a roughly 3,000-square-foot building on Center Street in Mobile, across from USA Health, to give families a year-round gathering place instead of waiting a full year between camp sessions. At the time, the organization said the building had been donated and that it needed to raise $300,000 to complete the project. Executive Director Melissa McNichol said then, “Our goal is to be able to provide opportunities for the whole family.”
Why pickleball draws a crowd
Pickleball’s popularity helps explain why a tournament can fill a 120-player field. The sport was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and for decades remained a niche pastime. Over the past several years it has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States, and the Sports & Fitness Industry Association has repeatedly named it the country’s fastest-growing sport in its annual participation reports.
The appeal is easy to see on a Saturday morning at a public court. The court is smaller than a tennis court, the paddle is solid, the ball is a light plastic wiffle-style ball, and the rules can be learned in an afternoon. Doubles play, the format used in this tournament, rewards teamwork and placement more than raw power, which helps players of many ages compete on the same court.
For spectators new to the game, a few basics help. Games are commonly played to 11 points and must be won by two. Each side of the net has a seven-foot “non-volley zone,” better known as the kitchen, where players cannot hit the ball out of the air. Much of the strategy in high-level doubles revolves around soft “dink” shots into that zone, as teams wait for an opponent to pop the ball up.
That broad age range is one reason tournaments like this one use age divisions. A bracket that separates players by both age and skill gives a recreational player in their 60s the chance to compete meaningfully, while stronger younger players get the competition they are looking for.
About the venue: W.O. Lott Park
W.O. Lott Park, on Main Street in Daphne, is home to the city’s Tennis & Pickleball Complex. According to the City of Daphne, the complex has 10 tennis courts and six dedicated pickleball courts, with additional pickleball courts under construction, along with restrooms with changing areas, bocce ball courts, a picnic area and a playground. The courts are open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. for regular play, and the city asks that no pets be brought onto the courts or into the complex.
The park sits along Daphne’s Main Street corridor, which makes it an easy stop for spectators who want to watch a few matches and then grab a meal in town.
The presenting sponsor
Baldwin Bone & Joint is an orthopedic medical practice with locations in Daphne, Bay Minette, Foley, Atmore, Fairhope and Spanish Fort. The practice’s physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners focus on orthopedic surgery and related care, including sports medicine and joint problems — the kinds of injuries and conditions that active pickleball and tennis players know well.
The practice has served as the tournament’s title sponsor since at least 2024, and this year’s billing again reads “presented by Baldwin Bone & Joint.”
What players and spectators should know
For players, the key date is Oct. 1, when registration opens. With the field limited to 60 teams, doubles partners should decide on their division — men’s or women’s, their age group and their skill level — before signing up. Players who are unsure of their skill level may want to compare their recent results or ratings with the division descriptions once they are published.
For spectators, local tournaments are typically free and casual to watch, and a full day of doubles matches offers plenty of close points. Bringing a folding chair, water and sun protection is sensible for any outdoor event on the Gulf Coast, even in November.
Anyone who cannot play but wants to support the cause can look into giving directly to Rapahope, whose programs rely on community fundraising to stay free for families.
What’s next
Organizers are expected to release registration details, division breakdowns and match times as the Oct. 1 opening approaches. With tennis off the schedule this year, the Nov. 7 event will put all of Lott Park’s pickleball attention — and all of the proceeds — toward giving children with cancer and their families a little more joy.