All Florida Pro League - Season 3 Draft Preview

The All Florida Pro League is entering into its third season and the draft is Friday, April 24th.

Livestream Info: The draft will be livestreamed at 7pm EST, Friday, April 24th on Open Play Sports Youtube Channel

This is a preview of the draft, including some of the top available players. The full draft order and rules can be found on the league’s website.

What is the All Florida Pro League?

The All Florida Pro League is a regional professional pickleball league based solely in Florida. The 2026 season includes five regular season stops, a mid-season tournament, and a Finals.

• Stop #1 - May 9 - Punta Gorda - PicklePlex
• Stop #2 - June 6 - Lakewood Ranch - The Pickleball Club at Lakewood Ranch
• Stop #3 - June 27 - Miami - Epic Athletic Club
• Mid-Season Tournament - July 11 - Fort Myers - DNA Pickleball
• Stop #4 - August 15 - Jacksonville - The Hub Pickleball Jax
• Stop 5 - September 5 - Lakeland - Lone Palm Pickleball Club
• Finals - September 26 - Orlando - Central Wings Pickleball

There are eight teams involved in the All Florida Pro League:

• Sarasota Manatees
• St Pete Icebergs
• Punta Gorda Tide
• O-Town Bangers
• Jacksonville Ballers
• GNV Chomp
• Miami Blaze
• Lakeland Palms

Past Players

In its third season, the All Florida Pro League (AFPL) has already produced some top pros. In fact, eight players have played in the AFPL and gone on to sign exclusive Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Tour contracts:

• George Rangelov
• Valerie Simon
• Chris Crouch - drafted to the Florida Smash in Major League Pickleball this year
• Ashley Griffith
• Jade Rau
• Cailyn Campbell - drafted to the SoCal Hard Eights in Major League Pickleball this year
• Brooke Caruso
• Lauren Hidalgo Smith

Florida is known for being one of the top 5 hotbeds for pickleball in the world, and some would argue it is the top. With all of the talent playing in Florida, it is no wonder the AFPL is producing some top level talent that goes on to perform on the world stage.

The 2026 AFPL Draft Order

The draft order is set:

• Sarasota Manatees
• St Pete Icebergs
• Punta Gorda Tide
• O-Town Bangers
• Jacksonville Ballers
• GNV Chomp
• Miami Blaze
• Lakeland Palms

The draft consists of four rounds and is a snake draft. Meaning Rounds 1 and 3 will look like the above, and Rounds 2 and 4 will be in the reverse order. Teams ARE allowed to trade draft picks and/or players during and after the draft.

56 players have applied for roster spots in the 2026 AFPL. If you are doing the math, yes, this means there are going to be plenty of players that go undrafted. Each team has four players (2 men and 2 women), for a total of 32 available roster spots. This means 24 players will not be drafted (they could still be picked up in waivers throughout the season).

Snake Draft and Strategies

Snake drafts are always very unique in pickleball. There are some tried and true strategies that these teams may implement, or they may just get rid of the playbook and come up with their own strategy. Here are some of the strategies I believe we will see:

Grab a top guy - If a team (especially at the top of the draft order) feels like there is a guy that can take over matches and be an MVP candidate, they may go for him early. In that case, I would expect this team’s draft order to be MWWM.

Ladies run the world - In every pro pickleball draft I have mocked, the women are essential, because there are not as many women players. So if a team is looking to capitalize on some top women and think they know who they want in terms of guys that could slip to the 3rd and 4th round, I could see multiple teams use this strategy, especially toward the bottom of the draft order. These teams draft will likely look like this: WWMM.

A balanced approach - For the teams in the middle of the draft order, a more balanced approach may be in order. Maybe they really like a top guy or a top lady, and then in round two, they chose someone from the opposite gender. This draft would either look like this: WMWM or MWMW. 

You noticed I didn’t mention a team drafting MMWW. Inevitably, someone will probably do this, I just have never seen this type of draft be wildly successful at the highest level of pickleball.

Top Players

For a list of all 56 available players, please click here.

I am not going to list out all players, but I will list out some top candidates who I think have a chance of going in the first round. I am going to list five women and five men.

Five women to look out for (in no particular order)

Alexa Quintinella - 28 years old - Doubles DUPR 5.214 - Singles DUPR - 4.660

• Alexa has never played in AFPL, but has made a PPA Main Draw before, won five Moneyball tournaments throughout the Mid-Atlantic and won a silver medal at the 2024  Pickleball World Cup.

Arielle Nealy - 25 years old - Doubles DUPR 4.642 - Singles DUPR - 4.527 

• Arielle is newer to the sport, but the former D1 tennis players (FAMU) made it to the 2024 Pickleball World Championships women’s doubles main draw, and has played in the APP Signature Event Women’s Doubles. Despite never playing in the AFPL before, she is one to watch out for.

Adalynn Lund - 16 years old - Doubles DUPR 5.347 - Singles DUPR - 4.400

• The 16 year old has the highest DUPR rating of any female in the draft and already made PPA Tour Main Draws, and recently won the US Open 5.0 gold medals in both mixed doubles and women’s doubles. She works with her family at the Pickleball Club at Lakewood Ranch, the AFPL stop #2. Lund has never played AFPL.

Ava Pisacrita - 21 years old - Doubles DUPR 4.890 - Singles DUPR - 4.586

• Pisacrita played for the Lakeland Palms last year in the AFPL, and has made multiple PPA and APP Main Draws. Additionally, Pisacrita helped found the Ole Miss Pickleball Club.

Ellie Skingley - 29 years old - Doubles DUPR 5.205 - Singles DUPR - 5.174

• Ellie has played in both seasons of the AFPL and finished second in 2025 with the O-Town Bangers. She is the Pickleball Director at Central Winds Pickleball, which is where this year’s finals will be held.

Five men to look out for (in no particular order)

Bharat Karunakaran - 28 years old - Doubles DUPR 5.56 - Singles DUPR - 4.332

• Bharat has won the first two AFPL seasons and has established himself as one of the best AFPL players. He has made multiple Main Draw appearances on the PPA/APP Tours and recently made the Round of 16 at the US Open.

Kamden Bradstreet - 19 years old - Doubles DUPR 5.566 - Singles DUPR - 4.714

• Kamden played AFPL season 2 for the O-Town Bangers, finishing second last year. He made the semis of The Kitchen Open in Atlanta in 2025 and has been winning regional moneyballs at a rapid pace.

Noah Waddell - 24 years old - Doubles DUPR 5.768 - Singles DUPR - 5.285

• The native Floridian is known for two things - winning the 2017 US Open Junior Boys Doubles with Josh Elliott. Oh yeah - he is also an award winning pianist and has played for multiple symphonies and has a degree in piano performance. The lefty is also really freaking good at pickleball and has the highest DUPR of any player available in this year’s draft. This will be his first year in the AFPL.

Jake Bower - 22 years old - Doubles DUPR 5.468 - Singles DUPR - 5.614

• Jake has won a collegiate national championship with the University of Florida Pickleball Team and recently won gold at the Pickleball World Cup, representing Team USA. He has also been a regular contributor for The Dink Pickleball for a while now. This will be Jake’s first foray into AFPL, but he is used to the team sport environment.

Drew Holder - 28 years old - Doubles DUPR 5.265 - Singles DUPR - 5.505

• Holder has been on the Lakeland Palms each of the last two seasons, finishing fourth in both years. He has been playing the game for a long time and is a super consistent AFPL player. He is also the Assistant Pro at the Lone Palm Country Club. Fun fact - he was also a kicker/punter for Southeastern University as well, so you know he is competitive.