Table of Contents

• Will Pickleball Ever be an Olympic Sport?

• Highlights from MLP SLC

• Watch the Latest Pod

• Join the KOTC discord community

• Shop with KOTC

Will Pickleball Ever Be an Olympic Sport?

The thrill of summer Olympics in Paris is here, officially kicked off with today’s Opening Ceremony. This, coupled with the recent announcement of the 2034 Winter Olympics in Utah, has a lot of people asking, “Could pickleball become an Olympic sport?”

The short answer is, yes, it could be. But here are the sports that are closer to becoming an Olympic sport than PB: Frisbee, duckpin bowling, ballroom dancing, orienteering (map navigation), and tug-of-war.

How can that be? Let’s look at the nuts and bolts of becoming an Olympic sport. First, one of the most important steps is to get your international sports federation (ISF) recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).  But pickleball doesn’t even HAVE an ISF. To be an ISF, you must be a non-governmental non-profit organization that manages the sport at the international level.  The closest thing we have in the US is the UPA-A (a “global” governing body underneath the for-profit UPA), but this doesn’t qualify.  As far as we know UPA-A is a for-profit entity.  What about USAPA?  While USA Pickleball Association is a non-profit, it doesn’t manage the sport at an international level. 

If all the warring factions would come together under an actual ISF, the next major factor is implementation of a drug testing program.  It seems ludicrous that we even have to ask pickleball leaders to add drug testing to a sport with Olympic aspirations, but that’s just one checkbox in the long list of items that need to be fixed for the integrity of the sport.  Calling your own lines, substandard replay systems, inconsistent paddle approval and testing, and unequal treatment of players are just a few of them. 

Frisbee, by comparison, has all of these issues already worked out.  They have an ISF with member associations in 118 countries.  They have a strong anti-doping policy that adheres to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) standards.  They’ve even been recognized by the IOC and joined the Association of IOC-Recognized International Sports Federations (ARISF).  All of these steps are non-negotiable and must be done before the IOC would even consider a request to become a sport.

If and only if a sport is recognized on the ARISF, the IOC will evaluate a petition, and in general require that the sport:

• is “widely” practiced in 75 countries and 4 continents for men, and

• is “widely” practiced in 40 countries and 3 continents for women,

• increase value and appeal of the Olympic Games,

• retain and reflect its modern traditions.

Of course, these factors are largely subjective, and determined solely by the IOC. Host countries can have influence over a sport’s inclusion (which is why baseball and softball have come and gone across past Olympic games), or it could be included as an exhibition only. Skateboarding, for example, was an exhibition sport in Tokyo’s “2020” games.

Overall, we need more people in leadership who care more about growing the sport than cashing in on a quick-turn investment. If Frisbee can organize effectively to establish an ISF, there’s no reason pickleball can’t as well. The sport is still growing, and there’s time before the next summer Olympics (come on, PB is not a winter sport). Big Pickle: it’s not a matter of can you, it’s will you?

Watching the MLP SLC event?

We’re just on day 2 and there’s already been a lot of excitement in this weekend’s event. [Catch all the storylines and where to watch info in our last issue]

Here’s a few exciting things that have happened so far:

• Anna Leigh body bags Jay Devilliers with an absolute rocket (courtesy @memesofpickleball):

• Flash got revenge on their BCO loss to the 5s, beating them 3-1.

• LA Mad Drops shut out Dallas Flash 4-0, even without their #1 man, Thomas Wilson.

• Alix locked in, and was key in leading the Black Diamonds to their first match win, over the AZ Drive.