Participation
Create more opportunities for people to discover, learn and enjoy pickleball.
WPU / DEVELOPMENT
Growing the Game.
Building the Future.
Sustainable growth is about more than increasing player numbers. It means developing the people, pathways and organisations that allow pickleball to grow for the long term.
WPUDEVELOPMENT
01PLAY
02LEARN
03GROW
04COMPETE
01 DEVELOPMENT MISSION
Growth needs
a pathway.
A sport becomes stronger when the whole ecosystem develops together.
WPU intends to support development from first participation through to organised competition, while recognising that every country and community begins from a different starting point.
Development should create opportunity without unnecessary barriers and provide practical ways for players, coaches, officials, organisers and national organisations to progress.
02 FOUR PILLARS
Building the sport
from the ground up.
A simple development framework designed to strengthen the foundations of pickleball.
People
Support the development of coaches, officials, organisers and volunteers who help the sport grow.
Pathways
Connect participation with structured opportunities to develop, compete and progress.
National Capacity
Help organisations develop sustainable structures suited to the needs and maturity of pickleball in their country.
03 PLAYER PATHWAY
Start anywhere.
Keep moving forward.
Development should make the next opportunity visible without suggesting that every participant must follow the same journey.
01→
Discover
First contact with the sport.
02→
Play
Regular participation and enjoyment.
03→
Develop
Skills, coaching and structured progression.
04→
Compete
Local, national and international opportunities.
05
Represent
The pathway toward representing a community or nation.
04 PEOPLE WHO GROW THE GAME
Players need
people around them.
Sustainable sport depends on capable people both on and beyond the court.
DEVELOP PEOPLETeach. Support. Grow.
Coaches
Developing people who can introduce the sport well, improve players and build positive sporting environments.
Officials
Building rules knowledge, practical experience and pathways for referees and competition officials.
Organisers
Supporting the people who turn courts, clubs and communities into sustainable pickleball activity.
Volunteers
Recognising the people whose time and energy make grassroots sport possible.
05 EMERGING PICKLEBALL NATIONS
Different starting points.
One global game.
Pickleball is developing at different speeds around the world. A useful international framework should recognise those differences rather than assume every nation has the same resources, participation base or sporting infrastructure.
WPU intends to develop practical pathways that can support both established and emerging pickleball communities.
06 YOUTH & FUTURE GENERATIONS
Give the next generation
a place to begin.
Long-term development begins by making pickleball accessible, understandable and enjoyable for young people.
SchoolsIntroductory programmesYouth participationPlayer development
WPU youth development frameworks and resources are in development.07 KNOWLEDGE & RESOURCES
Share what works.
Grow together.
01Development FrameworksIn development
02Education ResourcesIn development
03Technical GuidanceIn development
04Shared Good PracticeIn development
WORLD PICKLEBALL UNION / DEVELOPMENT
Every nation
starts somewhere.
WPU is building an international development framework designed to help pickleball communities take their next step.
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