Chicago – 9th February 2021 – Today, Seymour Rifkind, President of World Pickleball Federation (WPF) announced that the first “WPF World Pickleball Games” will be hosted by the World Pickleball Federation at the Austin Pickle Ranch, Texas from 3rd-8th May 2022.
Each country’s team will be comprised of a minimum of 4 men, 4 women, and a maximum of 6 men and 6 women selected by the country federation. The team format will consist of men’s doubles and singles, women’s doubles and singles, along with mixed doubles.
Seymour Rifkind said “WPF decided to host the first World Pickleball Games so that we could define the blueprint for the event. Future World Pickleball Games will be subject to an RFP process based on that blueprint and all member countries will have the opportunity to bid to host the Games. It is anticipated that, like other sporting championships e.g. World Badminton Championships and Commonwealth Games, hosting a future World Pickleball Games will have direct economic benefits whilst creating exposure and promotion values for the region and country that far exceeds the investment in the event itself.”
Rifkind went on to say “It is the Committee’s vision that this will be a prestigious event that will attract the world’s media to create exposure for the game and to inspire non players to aspire to play for their country in the future. Hosting the first games on the site of the soon to be opened Pickleball Hall of Fame seemed appropriate.”
Tim Klitch, owner of the Austin Pickle Ranch said “We are thrilled that our venue will be the location of the first ever World Pickleball Games. We will be part of making history. Our 32 court venue will have all the facilities to ensure that the WPF’s event will be a success.”
With good international travel links and excellent hotel facilities just down the road, WPF are confident that teams will be well taken care of.
World Pickleball Games Championship will rotate to different continent’s countries based on countries’ desire to host and ability to meet WPF host prerequisites. To be eligible to host, countries must compete in the games and be a WPF member.
World Pickleball Games for Seniors and Juniors will be introduced in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
WPF was founded at the end of 2018 to help grow pickleball globally with the end goal of getting the game into the Olympics. WPF now has 24 country federation members and is actively working on expanding its membership. WPF’s website address is: https://www.worldpickleballfederation.org
For further information contact: rif@worldpickleballfederation.org
