Three stories from around the pickleball world this week highlight how the sport continues to evolve in very different ways. In Asia, governance bodies have aligned behind the APP Asia Tour. In Australia, the National Pickleball League is experimenting with a new way to finish matches. Meanwhile, one of the sport’s biggest media brands has offered a timely reminder that strong communities are built before successful businesses.
Key Takeaways
- The APP Asia Tour has become the first professional circuit in Asia to receive dual sanctioning from both the APA and AFP.
- Australia’s National Pickleball League has introduced an innovative ‘Freeze’ scoring format alongside significant mid-season roster changes.
- The Kitchen’s success underlines the commercial value of building genuine community before pursuing scale.
APP Asia Tour secures dual sanctioning
The APP Asia Tour has been officially dual-sanctioned by both the Asian Pickleball Association (APA) and the Asia Federation of Pickleball (AFP), giving the circuit a stronger institutional position across the continent.
The agreement places the APP Asia Tour alongside two of Asia’s most influential governing organisations. The APA serves as the continental federation aligned with the Global Pickleball Federation, while the AFP represents a separate network of more than 20 affiliated organisations.
Rather than simply adding another logo to tournament branding, the agreement provides greater clarity in a region where governance has often been fragmented. Both organisations are working towards wider recognition of pickleball within major multi-sport events, including the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games.
The announcement also reflects the APP’s broader international strategy. Alongside staging tournaments, it is investing in relationships with continental governing bodies that could help shape future competitive pathways.
Readers interested in governance developments can also explore our recent coverage of Japan’s latest federation milestone, which illustrates another important step in Asia’s administrative landscape.
Australia experiments with ‘Freeze’ scoring
Australia’s National Pickleball League has used the halfway point of its season to introduce both a significant roster reshuffle and an experimental scoring system designed to increase pressure at the end of matches.
Teams were permitted to release up to two players back into the draft pool in exchange for improved draft priority. Among the notable moves, New South Wales Heat recruited Kairen Levers and Dan Fogle, while Queensland Brumbies strengthened with Joey Farias and Kirsty McCorandale.
The league has also introduced a new ‘Freeze’ scoring format. Matches remain first to 22 points, but once the leading team reaches 21 and the trailing team reaches 20, both scores freeze. From that point onwards, teams must be serving in order to score the winning point.
The change aims to create more meaningful finishes without fundamentally altering how the game is played. Whether the format becomes a permanent fixture remains to be seen, but it offers an interesting case study for leagues looking to make close contests even more compelling.
More tournament news from around the world is available in our tournament coverage section.
The Kitchen’s story begins with community, not content
The Kitchen has become one of pickleball’s most recognisable media brands, but its founders continue to point to community as the foundation of everything that followed.
Jared Paul and Dane Eiff began with a simple Facebook group after discovering pickleball during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin, Texas. From those early conversations, The Kitchen has grown into one of the sport’s largest digital communities, generating hundreds of millions of monthly content views across its platforms.
The figures are impressive, but perhaps the more valuable lesson lies elsewhere. The Kitchen did not begin as a media company searching for an audience. It began as a place where players wanted to spend time together.
That distinction still matters. In a crowded digital landscape, pickleball audiences respond to authenticity before production quality. Sponsors may ultimately invest because of reach, but communities are built through trust, consistency and shared identity.
For anyone building inside the sport, The Kitchen’s journey suggests that sustainable media businesses are usually created in that order.
You can learn more about The Kitchen and its community-first approach via the official Kitchen website.
Further Reading
- Latest pickleball news from around the world
- Tournament coverage and results
- Rankings and player profiles
- Regional pickleball coverage
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Chris Beaumont
Founder and Editor-in-ChiefChris 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…
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