Puryear Park Players Excited for First Battle Court Draft
August 9, 2026: St. Petersburg, FLA: Battle Court Jai-alai is coming to St. Petersburg on August 29th and the first ever draft will be this Monday night at Glory Days Grill.
Four team captains – all front-courters – will draft from a roster of 24 players. Brodie won the rights to the first pick, event organizer Rastock will pick second, Anthony will pick 3rd, followed by Rule with the 4th pick. Each team will comprise of 6 players and will follow the exact format that Magic City “invented” – but not allowing a second serve. There will be best of 3 format for each match. The number of points to win a game has not been determined. A 9-point game all going to 3 sets in every match could result in a 9-hour day! Organizers may elect to match the 6 points as used by Magic City or go with 7 or 9 points for the win.
The draft will be held Monday night at Glory Days Grill on 4th Street and 99th Ave in St. Petersburg, just north of Derby Lane. There will be a normal performance Monday evening at Puryear Park, and the draft will follow afterwards. Assuming no rain (yes the forecast has it mainly dry for the next week or two) the draft time could be around 8:30pm, but no guaranteed time set. Several players are expected to attend. Glory Days Grill is a chain of 39 restaurants located in 6 states. The principal owner is Bob Basham, the co-founder of Outback Steakhouse, which started across the bridge in Tampa Florida in 1988. Players on the winning team each get a certificate for chicken wings. Oddly, Puryear Park has had a rule of any team not scoring a point in a game (they normally go to 15 points) they would have to buy chicken wings for all the other players after the performance.
The Pelota Press will have the full draft results and story Tuesday.
If the event is successful, look for future events like this.
