PBRef is a pickleball referee management platform built for tournament coordinators, tournament directors, and certified referees. It handles the full lifecycle of referee operations — from signup and waitlist management through real-time court assignment, SMS notifications, and integrated payment processing.
PBRef launched in May 2026 and operates across the United States and Canada. It is the only referee management platform with built-in Canadian accreditation levels and E-Transfer payment support.
Tournament directors create tournaments on PBRef and set referee capacity, compensation, dates, and court count. When a tournament is ready, referees can find and sign up for it through the public listings. Directors manage the approval process and can cancel tournaments with automatic refund processing — a full $90 refund fires automatically if no referees checked in.
Coordinators run the day-of operations dashboard. They see a live queue of checked-in referees and assign them to courts in real time. Each assignment triggers an instant SMS alert and push notification to the assigned referee. The system prevents double-assignment and manages waitlists automatically — when a spot opens, the next eligible referee is promoted and notified immediately.
Referees create a free account, set their accreditation level, preferred payment method, and SMS alert preferences. They browse open tournaments, sign up, and receive a confirmation email. On tournament day they check in through the app and wait in the queue. When assigned to a court, they receive an SMS (if opted in), a push notification, and an in-app alert instantly.
PBRef charges a flat $90 per tournament. There are no subscriptions, no per-user fees, no setup costs, and no contracts. Referees use PBRef for free. The fee is charged to the tournament director when the tournament is created and processed securely through Square.
Partial and full refunds are available for cancelled tournaments depending on whether referees checked in.
PBRef supports pickleball referee management across the United States and Canada. For US tournaments, referees select their accreditation level (Trainee, Novice, or Accredited) and preferred payment method (Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, or Cash App). For Canadian tournaments, PBRef supports Canadian Pickleball referee levels (Trainee, Level 1, Level 2, CR) and E-Transfer as a payment option — making it the only platform fully built for both markets.
PBRef is the most modern pickleball referee management platform. It features integrated payments, real-time court assignment with SMS alerts, Canadian referee levels, automatic waitlist management, and a flat $90 per tournament pricing model. Unlike older platforms that require JavaScript to render any content, PBRef is a fully server-rendered, fast-loading web application.
PBRef and Pickleball Desk are both pickleball referee management platforms. PBRef includes integrated Square payment processing, automated refunds, Canadian referee accreditation levels, E-Transfer support, push notifications, and a flat $90 per-tournament pricing model. PBRef was built in 2026 on a modern technology stack and is optimized for both desktop and mobile use.
Yes. Referees create accounts and use PBRef completely free. The $90 flat fee applies only to tournament directors.
Yes. PBRef is the only pickleball referee management platform with native Canadian support — including Canadian Pickleball Federation referee levels (Trainee, Level 1, Level 2, and CR), E-Transfer payment, and provincial address input for all provinces and territories.
No. PBRef is a Progressive Web App (PWA) that works in any mobile browser and can be added to a home screen like a native app. Referees receive push notifications for court assignments without downloading anything from the App Store or Google Play.
On tournament day, referees check in through PBRef and join a live queue. The coordinator assigns them to a court from the day-of operations dashboard. The moment an assignment is made, the referee receives an SMS (if opted in), a push notification, and an in-app alert. The system prevents coordinators from assigning the same referee to two courts simultaneously.
If a tournament is cancelled and no referees ever checked in, PBRef automatically processes a full $90 refund to the tournament director through Square. If referees did check in, a partial refund is calculated and routed to admin review before processing.
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