USAPA to Introduce Sanctioned League
Play in 2018
A
s a sport, pickleball’s
humble beginnings have
been well-chronicled. In an
effort to provide a family
activity, in 1965 co-inventors
Joel Pritchard, William Bell and
Barney McCallum of Bainbridge
Island, a short ferry ride from
Seattle, originated the concept
and developed the game of
pickleball—and the rest, as
they say, is history.
Fast forward to 2017 and
pickleball has nearly 2.5
million players and the sport’s
governing body, United States
Pickleball Association (USAPA)
has over 20,000 members and
is growing every day. The 2017
National Championships to be
played November 4-12 at Palm Creek RV and Resort has
attracted nearly 1,400 participants. When registration
opened up online, all age/skill brackets were filled within
30 minutes. A wait list of over 300 players had to be
established. The sport, without question, is growing at a
feverish pace.
In an effort to keep pace with the increasing demand
for structured play, the USAPA will introduce nationally
sanctioned league play in early 2018. Local league
coordinators throughout the country will help facilitate
the new leagues, which will eventually lead to sectional and
regional action and ultimately a national championship
event. Multiple league coordinators within each region
will be needed while a revenue component with earnings
potential will be available for those individuals. So far, the
reaction from USAPA Ambassadors across the country has
been very favorable.
“Pickleball is an extremely social sport, one often
played with friends and family members, but there are
many players in this country who strive for a competitive
outlet away from tournament action,” said Drew Wathey,
USAPA’s new Managing Director of Recreational Programs.
“Our sanctioned leagues will provide that passage for
pickleballers to hone their skills in an atmosphere that
promotes fair and honest play and, at the same time, offer
those who want to improve
their games the opportunity
to do that on a regular basis in
league action.”
For sanctioned league play,
all participants must be USAPA
members and leagues must
compete under the rules and
guidelines of the USAPA. Men’s
and women’s singles, doubles
and mixed doubles will be
featured in eight- or 12-week
leagues. “We are still working
out the details for the leagues,
but should have a working
game plan for all league
coordinators to utilize within a
month,” added Wathey. “I have
heard from ambassadors from
every region of the country so
our roll-out will be well represented.”
In another exciting development relative to the opening
up of sanctioned league play, USAPA is in discussions with
the AAU, Amateur Athletic Union to co-brand the new
leagues. “USAPA has built a strong membership base of
adult athletes, so this strategic alliance would allow us to
now provide youth athletes with opportunities for first-
class competition in this unique sport,” said Dr. Roger J.
Goudy, President and CEO of the AAU.
The AAU is one of the largest nonprofit volunteer
sports organizations in the country. As a multi-sport
organization, the AAU helps promote and develop amateur
sports and physical fitness programs. “One of our main
focuses at USAPA is to introduce the sport of pickleball
to our country’s youth and to have a continual pipeline to
the players of the future, and what better way to do that
than to align ourselves with the finest amateur sports
organization in the United States, the AAU. A majority
of their more than 700,000 members are between the
ages of 8 and 18. We are very excited about this potential
partnership.” Details of this new and exciting venture will
be announced soon.
For more information on the new USAPA nationally-
sanctioned recreational leagues, visit www.usapa.org or
email Drew Wathey at [email protected]. •
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2017 |
MAGAZINE
11