Pickleball News: June 2023

The National Governing Bodies of United States, Canada, and Mexico has come together to promote the growth and development of pickleball across the Western Hemisphere.  Announced on April 20, 2023, the Pickleball Federation of the Americas (PFA) launched as the first continental pickleball federation in the Americas with ambitions to promote and grow pickleball across North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.  While the national organizations of USA Pickleball (USAP), Pickleball Canada (PCO), and Professional Pickleball League Mexico (LPPM) are the founding members, other National Federations for pickleball in the Americas are encouraged to join.  The representatives from the USAP,  PCO, and LPPM will serve as the initial leadership group. Javier Regalado, the LPPM President, will serve as the first Chair of the Board of Directors for PFA.

This comes at time when the global federations for pickleball are still very much in flux.  One year ago, in April 2022 the governing bodies of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and eight other countries withdrew from the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP) in which the United States and Canada were founding members. Pickleball Canada and Professional Pickleball League Mexico have since joined the World Pickleball Federation (WPF). Combined, the new PFA represents over 95% of pickleball members as the sport is still heavily North American based.  This makes the PFA a strong force on the international pickleball stage.

For more information on the organizations within the pickleball world, see our evergreen Professional Pickleball Organizations article that we maintain.