{"id":19038,"date":"2025-07-27T05:14:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T09:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/sin-categoria\/wppa-professional-pickleball-creates-players-association-seeking-its-own-voice\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T05:14:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T09:14:11","slug":"wppa-professional-pickleball-creates-players-association-seeking-its-own-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/tennis\/wppa-professional-pickleball-creates-players-association-seeking-its-own-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"WPPA: Professional Pickleball Creates Players Association, Seeking Its Own Voice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pickleball Professionals Create World Players Association<\/h2>\n\n\nProfessional pickleball players unite to establish the World Pickleball Players Association (WPPA). This initiative marks a significant milestone, being the first time professional players have formally organized, unifying under a single entity.\n\nAn official announcement from the WPPA is expected this Friday.\n\n\n
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\u201cThis is something we needed for a long time,\u201d said Collin Johns, board member and player. \u201cIt’s the right time. We have many important issues for the players.\u201d<\/p>\n\nCollin Johns<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nThe association will be led by a board of directors composed of seven players. Among its priorities are the health and safety of the players, as well as transparency regarding compensation.\n\nGiven the consolidation of professional leagues, which led to the formation of the United Pickleball Association, players felt it was a natural step to organize.\n\n\n

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“I don’t see the formation of the association as combative with the tour,” Johns commented. “They can make it as collaborative as they wish. It’s about establishing some minimum standards that we can all agree on. We want to make sure everyone is treated equally, regardless of whether you’re the number 1 or number 100 player.”<\/p>\n\nCollin Johns<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nPrevious tour-sponsored player council initiatives lacked the independence of the WPPA, which prevented lasting changes in player affairs.\n\nThe creation of the association was supported by Sports Solidarity, founded by former baseball player Harry Marino, who helped unionize minor league baseball players in 2022.\n\n\n

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“We formed Sports Solidarity to help groups of players like those on this tour, who are working hard, dedicating many hours and moving the sport forward, and who simply want to have a voice,” Marino said. “This isn’t a money grab for them. We want professional pickleball to thrive, and we know that, as a group of players, they can help improve things.”<\/p>\n\nHarry Marino<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nInitially, the WPPA will resemble more a group like the Association of Tennis Professional Players than a union like the MLBPA or NFLPA, given that pickleball players are currently classified as independent contractors. The WPPA was simply seeking an independent voice for the players and considered it a natural progression given the growing popularity of the sport.\n\n\n

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\u201cThis really gives legitimacy to the players and the tour,\u201d Johns commented. \u201cI also feel that there has been quite a bit of frustration among the players over certain basic things that don’t even necessarily cost money.\u201d<\/p>\n\nCollin Johns<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nJohns cited the classification system as an example of something that could be reviewed under the direction of the WPPA. This is just one of the issues they consider worth addressing, along with security, scheduling, and player discipline.\n\n\u201cIt’s these problems that can be solved,\u201d Johns said. \u201cWe’re not going to ask for anything unreasonable, but you have to stand firm on the goals to get all the players to join. That’s what’s been missing in previous years.\u201d\n\nThe PTPA also issued a statement supporting the creation of the WPPA.\n\n\n

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\u201cThis is a significant and commendable milestone, representing the crucial first step towards independent representation led by the players,\u201d stated the tennis association. \u201cWe firmly believe in the importance of athletes having a unified voice that is free from the control or interference of the league or tour. Such independence is vital to ensure that the interests, rights, and well-being of the players remain the priority in all decision-making processes.\u201d<\/p>\n\nTennis Association<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nPickleball has experienced massive growth in the last five years, with professional players earning hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on tournament prizes and sponsorships.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pickleball Professionals Create World Players Association Professional pickleball players unite to establish the World Pickleball Players Association (WPPA). This initiative marks a significant milestone, being the first time professional players have formally organized, unifying under a single entity. An official announcement from the WPPA is expected this Friday. \u201cThis is something we needed for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[6310,6311,604,6312],"class_list":{"0":"post-19038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-association","9":"tag-pickleball","10":"tag-players","11":"tag-wppa"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}