PDC Players Advance and Early Season Shakeups
We are rolling right along this 2021-2022 ACL season! As we approach the 2nd National event of the year (March 18th-20th), there have been a few changes amongst the Pro field behind the scenes. Prior to this season kicking off, the ACL had announced the creation of the Professional Development Cup (PDC), which would consist of 64 players who would compete against each other for a chance to fill vacant spots in the Pro brackets. At first, many people were skeptical of the PDC and how the overall process would work, however the first National event seemed to squash any early season skepticism. We saw several individuals from the PDC earn a spot in the pro brackets and several of them had excellent performances. Just this week, three (to my knowledge) former PDC players received a call and will be moving up to the “Big Leagues”. Let’s take a look at the early season changes and find out who is “Movin’ On Up”.
A well-known ACL pro player, Jimmy McGuffin, did not participate in the doubles event at National number 1. His former partner and Lucky Bag’s sponsored player, Greg Geary, is no longer in the league do to “off the court” trouble as he was accused of some serious (disturbing) wrongdoings. McGuffin will now be playing with former Doubles National Champion, Matthew “Short shorts” Sorrells. The partnership makes sense on paper as they are both Lucky Bags sponsored players and each has had excellent success on the biggest of stages. Prior to playing with McGuffin, Sorrells was playing with RJ Crawford. The two had a lackluster start to their season going 0-2 at National number 1. According to Crawford, he had no idea Sorrells had moved on as he stated, “I tried to Register Matt and I for Doubles and I kept getting an error.” Confused RJ reached out to the ACL, “I emailed Trey Ryder, who informed me that Matt was playing with McGuffin. Matt nor Lucky Bags, our sponsor, never said a word to me.” Crawford has since decided to void his pro contract stating, “It ruined it for me, I don’t feel like playing now”.
Three individuals received messages from the ACL informing them that they had been chosen to move up from the PDC to the Pro division: Eli Stevens, Greg Poulos and Josh Hill.
Poulos and Hill both earned an opportunity to play in the Pro Bracket at National number 1. The two partnered up in Doubles and placed a respectable 17th place. In Singles, Greg Poulos ruined brackets as he took down the heavy favorite, Ryan Windsor, in the 1st round. When asked how he felt when he received the news that he was selected to move up, Poulos stated, “There were so many feelings: Elated as my hopes and dreams were being realized. Grateful because there are so many out there like me grinding and working on their game to make it world class level and Excited because I do not want to waste my opportunity to play with the best in the world.” Poulos noted that currently his pro doubles partner is TBD, however he says, “No matter what partner I end up playing with, I will absolutely give it my all.”
Josh Hill, a Zero Gravity sponsored player, also earned a spot in the pro singles bracket as he placed a solid 35th place. “I was stoked,” said Hill about his feeling when he learned he was being called up, “Once I opened it and saw it was Trey Ryder I felt a huge relief off my shoulders.” When asked if he felt the PDC tournament helped him prepare for the Pro bracket, Hill responded, “The PDC tourney was a huge eye opener. Just seeing all the talent around me and playing against people I have never played before was just amazing.”
Josh Hill will be playing Pro Doubles with Eli Stevens for the next National event in March. Stevens, who had been an ACL pro for two seasons, prior to being “relegated” to the PDC, stated, “I personally think I belonged in the Pro division to begin with.” When asked if he was surprised he got the call to the pro level again he noted, “Stacy had told me in Vegas I was probably next to move up, but it did feel good to hear it officially.” Eli has been off to a solid start placing well in regional events around the Cleveland area.
Will there be others who get that exciting message from Trey this season?? Who will be the next to move up? As a professional do you owe it to your partner to have a “man to man” conversation about changes?? Or is it just “business”? Regardless, the ACL season is rolling along! I will do my best to keep you all updated on the latest news!
As always, I hope you throw it straight and it’s nothing but four baggers from here on out! Later!
Sean
