My 2026 Major League Pickleball Player Awards Ballot — Vote Now!

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Anna Leigh Waters should win the 2026 MVP award, as the most dominant player of the season.

MLP

Voting for Major League Pickleball (MLP)’s season awards is open now to fans, with the voting closing on July 31st 2026 at 5pm EST. This year we’re voting on two awards:

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  • Most Valuable Player
  • Most Improved Player

The league does not distinguish between “Rookie of the Year” and “Most Improved Player,” so voters have to pick between players who may fall into one or the other category.

Click here to vote. When you vote, you’ll select one player for each category. At the end of voting, the league will declare one winner from each category.

Disclosure: as a member of the MLP media, I helped the league select its candidates by offering a selection of nominations for the awards earlier this month. I’ve included my original nominations in each section.

(Records below are as of Week 8 in the MLP season and do not include any Orlando events, if you’re reading this after the event starts).

My picks for MVP and MIP for 2026 Season

2026 Most Valuable Player: Anna Leigh Waters, New Jersey 5’s.

Who else would it be, than the best player in the game. Waters is a league-best 25-1 in Women’s Doubles, 23-3 in Mixed (where she’s always playing Mixed-1), and is a dominant 25-9 in DreamBreaker points (good for No. 6 in the league).

If I were to also pick a male MVP, I’d probably go with Gabriel Tardio of St. Louis. He’s 23-3 in Men’s and 17-2 in Mixed this year. That’s pretty dominant.

My original nominations: Anna Leigh Waters, Anna Bright, Gabriel Tardio, and Ben Johns.

Sofia Sewing has been a revelation on tour this season.

MLP

2026 Most Improved Player: Sofia Sewing, Palm Beach Royals.

Sewing has burst onto the scene, having been a star on the APP for most of the last two seasons. In MLP this season she’s been pretty dominant; she’s 22-4 in Women’s, 14-9 in Mixed, and a respectable 26-22 in DreamBreaker points despite usually playing 1st female. Palm Beach sits comfortably in playoff position in its first year, and Sewing is a big part of it.

If I had to also pick a Male player, it would have to be Nico Acevedo, who has exploded onto the scene in MLP this year, his first in the league. Another Johnny Goldberg find, since moving to Texas he’s combined to go 19-8 in Men’s, 13-11 in Mixed, and 43-41 in DreamBreaker singles.

My original nominations: Sofia Sewing, Danni-Elle Townsend, Eric Oncins, Nico Acevedo

For past years, see here for my 2025 ballot explained, and here for my 2024 ballot explained.

Here’s a quick history of MLP award winners.

Most Valuable Player Award Winners, 2021-Present

  • 2025 Premier: Jorja Johnson, Dallas Flash. She led the league in both W/L record (51-7) and in points won (an astounding 70.24%).
  • 2025 Challenger: Brooke Buckner, Las Vegas Night Owls. She was the star on the league-winning Night Owls, going 45-20 for the season.
  • 2024 Premier: Anna Leigh Waters, New Jersey 5’s. ALW went 55-6, leading NJ to the regular season title.
  • 2024 Challenger: Jaume Martinez Vich, Atlanta Bouncers. Vich went 35-8, including 14-0 in Mixed, to lead the Challenger league statistically for the season.

Before 2024, there were no official season-long MVP awards, so these MVPs were those that I captured along the way. Prior to 2023, The league gave out individual event MVPs, which helped guide these picks.

  • 2023 Season 2 Premier: Jackie Kawamoto, DC Pickleball Team. Kawamoto was the leader of the regular season champion DC team.
  • 2023 Season 2 Challenger: CJ Klinger, SoCal Hard Eights. SoCal went undefeated, and Klinger won two event MVPs along the way.
  • 2023 Season 1 Premier: Julian Arnold, LA Mad Drops. Arnold was an absolute force this season, winning two event MVPs and making a big name for himself in the sport.
  • 2023 Season 1 Challenger: Ewa Radzikowska, Bay Area Breakers. Won two of the event MVPs and was tied for 1st statistically for the season.
  • 2022: Parris Todd, BLQK. BLQK made all three event finals. Parris was the MVP of Columbus event and was the No. 1 player in stats for the season.
  • 2021: Lee Whitwell, Chimera. Whitwell was named MVP of the inaugural MLP event, even as the Chimeras lost in the final to the Ben Johns-led BLQK team.

Most Improved Player Award Winners, 2024-Present

  • 2025 Premier: Kate Fahey, St. Louis Shock. Fahey went from a major liability in doubles (she went just 6-24 in Mixed in 2024) to a force this year (27-8), and was a big reason St. Louis became a league favorite.
  • 2025 Challenger: James Delgado, Las Vegas Night Owls. The rookie of the year finished the season 22-13 in doubles and was an integral part of the Las Vegas DreamBreaker attack in his debut MLP season.
  • 2024 Premier: Rachel Rohrabacher, DC Pickleball Team. Rohrabacher was better known as the “Anna Bright discovery” in 2023, but when she split up with Anna for the 2024 season, she took major steps forward towards being the top 10 player she is today.
  • 2024 Challenger: Eric Oncins, Miami Pickleball Club. Oncins was one of the first “Johnny Goldberg” special finds in MLP, leading Miami into the playoffs in his debut season.

There are no “most improved players” prior to 2024; perhaps a fun intellectual exercise would be to go back into those seasons to try to name the best newcomer or most improved player. I’ll put it on my todo list.

All stats here are courtesy of Picklekey.com . They’re the best source of MLP data.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

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