About
Built by pickleball players, for pickleball players.
Tri-Star Pickleball is an East Tennessee–based platform that grew out of the Athens, TN pickleball community and now serves groups across the Southeast. Founded in 2026 by Michael Barlok.
Why we built Tri-Star
Tri-Star started because the existing options for running a ladder league only handled one playing style. Some groups want Court Promotion, where 1st on each court moves up one court and last moves down between sessions and players carry their court forward. Other groups want Dynamic Ranking, where every player's step and Points % recompute after each session and the courts re-seed from scratch the next time. Both are valid — they just suit different communities. Tri-Star supports both, plus Free Play with point-differential standings and Round Robin tournaments with seeded playoffs, in one place.
We started in Athens, TN and are actively expanding to new pickleball communities across the Southeast.
Our mission
Keep the game at the center. We build software that handles the logistics — sign-ups, waitlists, rankings, court promotions — so organizers can focus on running a great session and players can focus on playing.
What we care about
Fairness
Promotion logic is deterministic and published — no black-box rankings.
Clarity
Every sheet, every score, every step change is visible and auditable.
Speed
Built for the moment before a session starts, when the bar is "it just works."
Contact
Questions, feedback, or running a league you want to move onto the platform? Email info@tristarpickleball.com.
Operated by Tri-Star Pickleball, LLC. Registered in Tennessee, 2026.
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