Community Guidelines

PickleHunter is built for a respectful, welcoming and safe pickleball community. These Guidelines apply online and during activities discovered, listed or booked through the Platform.

1. Respect and Sportsmanship

Treat players, coaches, referees, organizers, venue staff and spectators respectfully.

Compete fairly, accept results professionally and support players of different skill levels.

PickleHunter is an adults-only community. Accounts may be created and used only by people aged 18 or older.

2. Zero Tolerance for Abuse

The following are prohibited:

• threats;
• harassment;
• bullying;
• hate speech;
• discrimination;
• intimidation;
• stalking;
• sexual harassment;
• abusive language; and
• violent or aggressive conduct.

These rules apply to profiles, messages, reviews, tournaments, venues, Open Play and Group Classes.

3. Fair Play

Do not:

• cheat;
• manipulate scores or results;
• create fake or duplicate accounts;
• impersonate another player;
• misuse a Permanent Player ID;
• deliberately misrepresent eligibility or skill;
• manipulate rankings where available; or
• submit false tournament or payment information.

4. Consent and Registrations

Do not register another person for a tournament without their consent.

Doubles and team partners must accept their participation.

Organizers must not misrepresent directly collected payments as PickleHunter gateway payments.

4A. Play Requests, Connections and Messaging

Do not send repeated unwanted Play Requests or messages, evade a block, pressure someone to accept, use sexual or romantic harassment, solicit private contact details aggressively, or automate outreach. Respect cooldowns, daily limits and the recipient's decision. An expired or unanswered request is not permission to continue contacting someone through another account.

4B. Reports and Protective Action

Reports must be truthful and should identify the relevant account, request, message, activity or other evidence. False, retaliatory or coordinated reporting is prohibited. PickleHunter may apply proportionate temporary safeguards while credible reports are reviewed. Enforcement considers evidence, severity, context and history; a report count alone does not automatically establish wrongdoing.

4C. Keep Personal Contact Details in PickleHunter

Do not post or solicit phone numbers, WhatsApp links, personal email addresses or other off-platform contact details in chat. Do not disguise contact details to bypass automated checks. This restriction supports moderation, blocking, reporting and a safer record of the conversation.

4D. Identity-Verification Mismatches

A difference between profile information and a verified document is reviewed privately and does not by itself establish wrongdoing. PickleHunter may temporarily withhold a verification badge and gender-restricted features while the difference is resolved. Deliberate impersonation, use of another person's identity or intentional misuse of gender-restricted eligibility may result in rejection of verification and account suspension after review.

4E. Player-Name Safety

Use a genuine Player name: your real name, a shortened version, or the name people actually know you by. Do not impersonate another player, an organiser, PickleHunter staff or an official account; do not add phone numbers, email addresses, links, deceptive titles, invisible characters or abusive material. Attempts to evade these protections, repeatedly cycle identities or mislead tournament staff may lead to a forced name reset, restricted changes, account review or suspension. Duplicate ordinary names are not impersonation; the permanent Player ID resolves ambiguity.

4D. Invite People Thoughtfully

Use player invitations only with people you reasonably believe will welcome them. Do not send repeated, misleading or bulk invitations, impersonate another player, obscure where a link leads, or use an invitation to evade blocks, moderation or account restrictions.

4F. Verification Integrity

Do not submit another person's legal identity or document, lend or transfer a verified account, evade duplicate-identity protections, or attempt to obtain more than one active badge from the same verified identity. A badge retained under a process-change transition is personal to the approved account and does not authorise duplicate accounts or transfer to another person.

4G. Invitation Safety

Send personal invitation links only to people you are entitled to contact. Do not use invitations for spam, harassment, deception, impersonation, automated outreach or attempts to evade a block or account restriction. An invitation does not create a connection or permission to message the recipient repeatedly.

5. Safe Participation

Play responsibly, follow venue instructions and respect your physical limits.

Report unsafe courts, dangerous conduct, damaged equipment or other serious risks promptly.

6. Clothing and Equipment

Wear suitable sporting clothing and footwear and use safe equipment.

Follow reasonable venue-specific requirements relating to footwear, cleanliness, equipment and facility protection.

7. Venue Conduct

Follow reasonable venue rules concerning:

• access and check-in;
• court usage;
• cleanliness;
• food and drink;
• smoking or vaping;
• equipment; and
• staff instructions.

8. Attendance

Arrive on time and cancel when you cannot attend.

Repeated no-shows, deliberate disruption or misuse of reservations may lead to restrictions.

9. Tournament Conduct

Follow tournament rules and respect officials and organizers.

Do not threaten officials, interfere with matches, falsify results or disrupt other participants.

On-ground tournament operations remain the organizer’s responsibility.

10. Open Play

Rotate fairly, respect different skill levels and follow the host’s reasonable format.

Open Play should remain welcoming and enjoyable rather than exclusionary or intimidating.

11. Group Classes and Coaching

Respect coaches and other participants.

Coaches must act professionally, provide accurate information and avoid inappropriate conduct or unsafe instruction.

12. Organizers and Venue Partners

Organizers and venues must provide accurate information, treat participants fairly, honor confirmed services and communicate material changes promptly.

They must not misuse player data, manipulate registrations, misstate payments or retaliate against legitimate complaints.

13. Referees and Officials

Officials should act impartially, apply rules consistently, disclose conflicts and record results accurately.

14. Privacy

Do not publish another person’s private contact details, identity documents, financial information or private messages without lawful authority.

Do not photograph or record people in restricted areas or where consent is reasonably expected.

15. Content and Reviews

Content must be genuine and lawful.

Do not post:

• fake reviews;
• impersonation;
• scams;
• illegal content;
• hateful or abusive material;
• sexually exploitative content;
• private information; or
• intellectual-property infringement.

Deceptive synthetic or AI-generated content, deepfakes, impersonation and manipulated evidence are prohibited. Where AI-generated content could reasonably mislead another person, its synthetic nature must be disclosed.

16. Reporting

Users may report safety concerns, harassment, fake profiles, payment misuse, incorrect results, unauthorized registrations or other violations through available support tools.

Reports should be truthful and include relevant information.

17. Enforcement

Depending on severity and history, PickleHunter may:

• issue a warning;
• remove content;
• cancel or hold a registration for review;
• restrict features;
• suspend verification;
• suspend or terminate an account; or
• cooperate with authorities where required.

Serious conduct may lead to immediate action.

18. Appeals

Where available, users may request review of an enforcement decision through the official support channel.

Submitting an appeal does not guarantee reversal.

19. Updates

These Guidelines may be updated as the Platform and community develop. The current version will display its effective date.

By using PickleHunter, you agree to follow these Guidelines.