By Susan Lewis

Pickleball is extremely popular in the U.S. with the number of players doubling year-on-year from 2022 to 2024 to approximately 20 million.

Media presence has risen rapidly with coverage on streaming services, a dedicated YouTube channel, podcasts, and websites. A major film called “The Dink,” starring Ben Stiller, is in production, and it’s now common to hear sports and film celebrities enthusing about the game.

But have folks in other countries taken up the paddle and embraced the dink? The answer is (no surprise) yes!

One region where pickleball is enjoying rapid growth and significant investment is Asia, especially in China, India, Vietnam, and Malaysia. A recent survey found that the top reasons people start playing are to improve fitness, for the social aspects, and because the sport is fun and easy to learn. Another factor is that other racket/paddles sports such as tennis, badminton, and table tennis are very popular in the region; these are excellent foundations for pickleball.

Since the early 2020’s, thousands of Vietnamese, especially younger urban dwellers, have started playing. In China it is expected that within five years there will be over 10,000 courts and 100 million picklers. The Asia Federation of Pickleball is working on getting pickleball included, at least as a demonstration sport, in the 2027 SE Asian Games to be held in Malaysia. (Pickleball was already included as a demonstration sport in the 2024 African Games held in Ghana.)

Seeing an opportunity to meet the interest in other countries and serve the needs of people there, Aaron Trost founded Pickleball Planter four years ago. He has introduced pickleball to countries including Thailand, Laos, Philippines, and Hungary by creating places to play and opportunities to learn.

Earlier this year he brought donated paddles, nets, and balls from Poland into Ukraine where he teamed with the Ukrainian Pickleball Federation and other local organizers to arrange several camps, clinics, and demos in multiple cities throughout Ukraine.

“They have a lot of programs with youth and adaptive athletes who have unfortunately been disabled due to the war,” Trost said in a July 2025 interview in The Kitchen. “This is an opportunity to bring some joy and fun to the area and to take people’s mind off of some of the stuff that’s happened there.”

The English Open Pickleball Championship, held in August this year, was a major event featuring adaptive athletes, including Ukrainian war veterans and players with prosthetic limbs, highlighting inclusivity in the sport, with teams traveling from Ukraine to compete despite significant travel challenges.

As pickleball enthusiasm spreads across the globe, will it soon be included in the Olympics? In order for any new event to be considered for the Olympics the sport must be played by men in at least 75 countries across four continents and by women in at least 40 countries across three continents. There also needs to be a competitive structure; i.e., pickleball would need to be included in major multi-sport events such as the Pan-American, African, and Asian Games.

The sport must comply with the Olympic Charter (a complex and tedious process that pickleball governing bodies have yet to work through) and be governed by an international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Currently there are two major international pickleball organizations: United World Pickleball Federation (with 60-plus member organizations) and Global Pickleball Federation (with 50-plus member organizations). The good news is that these federations have formed a joint task force with the goal of merging into one democratic IOC-compliant organization to accelerate pickleball’s path to major multi-sport competitions.

It is too late for inclusion at the 2028 Summer Olympics to be held in Los Angeles. However, given how popular pickleball has become in Australia, it’s possible that the Australian committee may nominate pickleball for 2032. As the Sydney Morning Herald stated on Dec. 4, “[it’s] the fastest-growing sport on the planet, and pickleball’s proponents are pushing for its inclusion in the Brisbane 2032 Games.”

If this happens, the IOC will evaluate the proposal and make a decision. Through developing relationships, dedicated promotion, and adherence to international practices, pickleball will be a great candidate for future Olympics.

Note: This will be our last monthly column, but the Sequim Picklers look forward to continuing to promote pickleball in Sequim and on the Olympic Peninsula and thank the Gazette for their support over the years.