W
hen Sid Williams first announced the
formation of the USAPA in 1984, the
association had about 200 members, each of
whom were required to pay a $15 fee to play
in his tournaments in Seattle and Tacoma,
Washington.
More than 30 years later, the USAPA
has nearly 12,000 members, and there are
an estimated 2.5 million pickleball players
nationwide, according to the Sports and
Fitness Industry Association.
The USAPA’s primary mission has always
been to develop and grow the sport, says
Mark “Yoda” Friedenberg, USAPA’s former
president, who now serves as an advisor to the
association’s Board of Directors.
“Without the USAPA, pickleball would not
have exploded as it has,” says Friedenberg. “I
can say without a doubt that the USAPA grew
pickleball by becoming the national governing
body of pickleball.”
Between 1984 and 2005, the game—and the
USAPA—experienced slow but steady growth,
buoyed by senior communities in Arizona,
Florida, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
“It really started to take off in 2002 when
many of the developers in senior communities
were beginning to take the philosophy, ‘You
build it and they will come,’” says Friedenberg.
When Friedenberg took over as president
of the “new” USAPA in 2005, his goal was to
make the association a strong governing body
of pickleball. Along with Steve Wong as his
vice president, he created a volunteer board of
directors, managed by members who had years
of experience with pickleball.
In addition to standard roles such as
President, Vice President, Secretary and
Treasurer, the USAPA added Webmaster,
Membership Marketing, Rules, Counsel,
Tournament, and National and International
Relations positions to the Board. At this time,
the USAPA also introduced the Ambassador
program to enhance the sport’s global reach
and, as time progressed, Training and Media
Relations positions were added.
A new USAPA website, complete with
training, referee, tournament and sanctioning
documentation, was launched in March 2005.
Finally, the USAPA officially became a
nonprofit corporation on September 14, 2012.
“The USAPA is comprised of intelligent
and very knowledgeable players and board
members,” says Friedenberg. “We began small
but now we have nearly 12,000 members and
1,250 ambassadors spreading the word on how
exciting this game is. And anyone can play this
game.”
By 2008, 420 places to play were listed on
the USAPA website, in 43 states and four
Canadian provinces.
As popularity of both the game and the
USAPA continued to swell, the USAPA held its
first National Pickleball Tournament, which
took place in Buckeye, Arizona, in November
of 2009. The tournament welcomed nearly 400
players from 26 states and several Canadian
provinces. At the 2015 National Pickleball
Tournament in Casa Grande, Arizona, nearly
800 players competed.
In 2009, the USAPA established its Grant
Program, which provides funds to subsidize
training programs for school students, local
residents, organizations and other individuals
who are pickleball novices and who do not
belong to a pickleball club. With the help of
the USAPA, the grant program and numerous
grassroots efforts, more than 1,400 new sites
have been built. Today, there are more than
4,000 places to play listed on the USAPA site
map.
“Originally it was a senior sport growing
in the senior communities, but now we have
many young players,” says Friedenberg.
“Tournaments help bring out the players,
young and old.”
Despite a few growing pains over the early
course of the USAPA’s history, Friedenberg
says the organization is growing at a very
effective pace.
“Our mission has and will always be to
develop and grow pickleball around North
America and possibly around the world,” he
says. “It truly is working today because, as
we now see, pickleball has exploded to be
America’s fastest growing sport.” •
MARCH 2016 |
MAGAZINE
33