AROUND THE WORLD
Pickleball on the Rise
ACROSS EUROPE
BY ALICE TYM
T
here is lots of exciting news on the international pickleball
scene! The United Kingdom Pickleball Association (UKPA)
was founded in 2014 in Oxfordshire, England. It has set up
400 clubs throughout the UK and is currently working on
getting pickleball into the schools and leisure centers. In May
of 2016, the UKPA held its first national tournament. The
first International Tournament will be held October 21-23 in
Stratford-on-Avon to commemorate the 400th birthday of
Shakespeare.
Great Britain Pickleball, a separate association, has been
conducting surveys in preparation for a meeting with the board
of Sport England in June to discuss the recognition, growth,
and development of pickleball across England, Scotland, Wales,
and Northern Ireland.
Great Britain Pickleball is hosting its first international
pickleball tournament on May 26-28, 2017. Friday will be a day
of clinics and referee training followed by a dinner. Saturday is
men’s and women’s doubles, and Sunday is mixed. With all the
Brexit excitement and the devalued pound, now is a great time
to visit the UK.
Spain held a summer pickleball tournament in a beautiful
park in the center of old Madrid. The Second International
Tournament will be held outdoors this coming September 16‑18
at LA Chopera in Retiro Park. It is age and skill WD, MD, and
MXD. You may register in English on Pickleballtournaments.
com. Easy, peasy, so start packing. There are partner hotels
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within walking distance of the museums and historic center
of Madrid. Go to www.PickleballSpain.org/en/torneointernacional-2016/.
During the recent tournament in Amsterdam, Pickleball
Europe representatives met to create a continent-wide
organization. They plan to establish a social media presence
and coordinate tournaments across Europe including a 2017
European Championship. See pickleballeurope.com. According
to David Conover of the Ukraine Pickleball Association, the
“main focus right now is on growing the sport.”
Here in the USA, Executive Director Justin Maloof is working
on an IFP logo so we can move forward with a Canadian/U.S.
Challenge and a World Cup. We will have an IFP booth at the
USAPA Nationals in Arizona. Please stop by and let us know
if you are interested in representing your country. We hope to
have representatives from other associations there to answer
questions and to encourage U.S. players to play internationally.
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Alice Luthy Tym was ranked 13th in the world
in women’s tennis and was a Master Professional
for the USOTA and a USTA Clinician. She is now
Chair of International Promotions for the IFP and a
pickleball tournament player. She recently retired
after 40 years of teaching geography and geology
at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She
lives and works on a horse farm in McDonald, TN,
and welcomes all players to the beautiful courts in
Collegedale, TN, where she is a Parks and Rec board
member.