FROM CAMEROON TO THE PPA TOUR: VANESSA ZOMMI IS TAKING AFRICAN PICKLEBALL TO THE WORLD
How Vanessa from Cameroon is becoming one of Africa’s most powerful pickleball ambassadors and what she told the sport’s biggest stars about the continent’s dream
by Capt. Collins Munene, Africa Correspondent
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At her first-ever Carvana PPA Tour event, Vanessa Zommi Kungne did not ease herself in quietly. Competing in the 4.0 Mixed Doubles bracket, paired with a blind-date partner, Soren Dickens of California, she finished 6th out of 22 teams. It was a debut that announced her, and by extension, African pickleball, to one of the most competitive amateur stages in the world.
“It’s only up from here,” she said afterwards. “1% better every day. I’ll be back.” She credited her coaches, Susan Hughes and Angie Dhenricks, for keeping her grounded throughout, helping her go out and simply enjoy the game. That attitude, composed and forward-looking, is precisely what makes Vanessa so effective as both a player and an ambassador.
A CONVERSATION WITH THE WORLD’S BEST
The tournament gave Vanessa something beyond a strong result: direct access to the sport’s elite. She met over ten professionals, including world number one Anna Leigh Waters, Ben Johns, and her personal favourite, Hurricane Tyra Black. But she did not simply watch from the sidelines. She used every conversation to carry Africa’s story into the room.
“I spoke to them about the African pickleball and the journey to the Olympics,” she recalled. The response was more than encouraging. Anna Leigh Waters’ father, a key figure behind one of the sport’s most celebrated careers, told her to keep working. From that inner circle, those two words carry real weight.
LEADERS, PADDLES, AND A CONTINENT TO WIN OVER
Vanessa’s competitive ambitions run alongside a much larger mission. In Cameroon, she has been the driving force behind the sport’s growth, organising sessions, building communities, and generating the kind of local media attention that brings new players through the door. Her approach goes beyond teaching rules; she looks for people with the leadership potential to become long-term champions for the sport in their own communities.
That philosophy was on full display at the Mandela Washington Fellowship programme Young African Leaders Initiative. Representing the Confederation of African Pickleball through the Global Pickleball Federation, Vanessa helped introduce pickleball to 22 rising civic leaders aged 25 to 35, drawn from 18 different African countries. Not one of them had ever heard of the sport. Every single one left as an ambassador for it. Each participant went home equipped with the knowledge and resources to launch a programme in their own country a masterclass in the kind of scalable, leadership-driven growth that African pickleball needs.
THE OLYMPIC CONVERSATION HAS ALREADY BEGUN
When Vanessa stood courtside at a PPA event and spoke to the world’s best about Africa’s Olympic ambitions, she was not speaking as a dreamer. She was speaking as someone who has already laid the groundwork. With growing member nations and a clear mandate to reach all 54 African countries, African leadership knows the path to Olympic inclusion runs through visibility, governance, and grassroots depth. Vanessa’s work touches all three.
As Nelson Mandela said, sport has the power to change the world. Vanessa Zommi Kungne has taken that belief and made it her life’s work: one paddle, one community, one conversation with a world champion at a time.
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Official references: PPA Tour | Global Pickleball Federation
Chris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at all levels of pickleball. Chris is also an avid player, currently struggling to make the breakthrough from 4.0 to 4.5.