GLOBAL PICKLEBALL ALLIANCE FORMALLY UNVEILED; UNIFIED WORLD SCHEDULE AND NEW GLOBAL RANKINGS FRAMEWORK LAUNCHED
First official GPA event confirmed for Dec. 4-7, 2025 at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne, Australia
CHICAGO (Dec. 1, 2025) — A landmark moment for international pickleball has arrived with the official unveiling of the Global Pickleball Alliance (GPA) — a unified global coalition created to align professional pickleball organizations, harmonize competitive structures, and build the sport’s first truly connected world calendar.
This marks the beginning of a coordinated global era for pickleball, bringing together leadership across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia to advance pickleball’s professional future.
Alongside the formal establishment of the Alliance, the GPA has launched its official digital home at GPAPickleball.org, which now hosts:
- The Alliance’s founding members
- New member onboarding and governance information
- The first-ever unified global pickleball schedule for 2026, featuring tiered events across all major regions
- The newly released Global Pickleball Rankings (GPR) — a provisional but historic milestone designed to integrate all players, tournaments, and regions under one global measurement system
The Global Pickleball Alliance – Coordinated Global Governance and Schedule
The GPA’s formation represents the most significant step toward unifying professional pickleball worldwide. Founding members include:
- USA — Association of Pickleball Players (APP)
- Australia — National Pickleball League (NPL)
- Vietnam — D-Joy Pickleball
- India — Global Sports Pickleball
- Canada — Canadian National Pickleball League (CNPL)
- United Kingdom — Pickleball England
- Europe — European Pickleball Federation
- Malaysia — Rallyworld Malaysia
- Japan — Japan Pickleball Association (JPA)
The GPA’s mission aims to create the world’s first shared pro schedule, a unified ranking system, and a collaborative governance structure that strengthens player pathways, increases international exposure, and ensures consistent standards across all member regions.
The unified global pickleball schedule for 2026 is the first coordinated professional world calendar in the sport’s history. Now live on the GPA website and TheAPP.global, the calendar features more than 30 tiered events across the USA, Australia, India, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Europe.
Global Pickleball Rankings (GPR): The World’s First Unified Ranking Framework
The GPA is also launching the provisional Global Pickleball Rankings (GPR) — a foundational step toward a single global ranking system that will evaluate and compare all professional pickleball players worldwide. As a result, GPR will serve as the cornerstone of pickleball’s global professional identity.
The GPR initiative will be introduced in two stages. First, players will receive provisional rankings and the initial global standings will be published. Player rankings will update after each sanctioned GPA event is completed, and the global standings will update accordingly. All players, events and results will be publicly accessible and sortable by country, continent and world. By 2027, GPR will determine all pro player seeding for GPA premier events and rank players from all regions using one calibrated global standard.
GPA Officially Set to Launch in Melbourne, Australia
To usher in the new era of international professional pickleball, the 2025 Sypik Australia NPL Invitational is set for Dec. 4-7 at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne.
This historic tournament — hosted by NPL Australia — will be the first event to officially operate under the new GPA banner and the newly launched provisional Global Pickleball Rankings framework.
Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, long regarded as one of the world’s most iconic racket-sport venues, will host professional pickleball for the first time.
Hear from GPA Leadership
Ken Herrmann, Founder of Association of Pickleball Players:
“This is a monumental day in pickleball history. The APP is immensely proud to partner with these incredible organizations and lay the pathway for players across the globe to realize their professional dreams. The GPA represents the pinnacle of ambassadors for the sport internationally, and creates unprecedented unity never before seen in pickleball.”
Ron Shell, CEO of NPL Australia:
“Today marks the beginning of a long-term global project to elevate pickleball to a truly international professional sport. The formation of the GPA, the launch of a world schedule, and the unveiling of a global ranking system are foundational steps. Kooyong hosting the first official GPA event is the perfect way to start this new era.”
Stay Connected with the GPA
Additional details on the Global Pickleball Alliance (GPA), Global Pickleball Rankings (GPR) and the full global pickleball calendar are available at GPAPickleball.org and TheAPP.global.
About the Global Pickleball Alliance (GPA):
The Global Pickleball Alliance is an international coalition of leading pickleball organisations across Australia, the USA, Canada, India, England, Europe, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Japan. The GPA’s mission is to unify global professional pickleball through a shared world calendar, aligned rankings, and cooperative governance — strengthening pathways, integrity, and visibility worldwide.
Website: www.gpapickleball.org
About the National Pickleball League (NPL) Australia:
The National Pickleball League is Australia’s #1 pickleball ecosystem: home to the NPL Pro Tour, the nation’s largest venue network (The Jar Pickleball Club), and major pickleball events via NPL Events. The NPL mission is to modernise pickleball and make it accessible to everyone, powered by world-class venues, professional pathways, content, and community engagement.
NPL Australia Media Contact: Ron Shell, CEO, NPL Australia at ron@nplpickleball.com.au
Website: www.nplpickleball.com.au
Instagram: @nplpickleball
About the APP:
The Association of Pickleball Players (APP) provides opportunities for pickleball players of all ages and skill levels—professionals, amateurs and recreational—to compete in world-class pickleball events for the opportunity to win prize money and be featured on nationally televised broadcasts on CBS Sports and ESPN. Since its launch in 2019, the APP has operated the first and only pro and amateur pickleball tour fully and officially sanctioned by USA Pickleball. It also became the first pickleball organization ever to establish an official headquarters and training center with The Fort in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The APP Tour’s 2025 schedule will feature the most robust pickleball showcase across pro and amateur competitions accompanied by youth development programs, grassroots charity initiatives and international partnerships to continue to grow the game. Schedules, up-to-date news and additional information about the APP are available at theapp.global and on Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn.
APP Media Contact: Daniel Sagerman at dsagerman@theapp.global
