The short answer: The Pickleball Champions League (PCL Asia) has launched PCL Rising Stars, a development programme for players under 19. Teams of two boys and two girls compete through national and provincial qualifiers for a place in the finals at the Asia Elite Pickleball Academy in Hainan, where top performers can earn scholarships.
What’s the score?
The Pickleball Champions League (PCL Asia) has unveiled PCL Rising Stars, a revolutionary youth development program for athletes under 19. This initiative aims to identify and professionalise the next generation of Asian talent through a structured pathway involving regional qualifiers and a prestigious final. The program emphasizes standardized equipment and regional exposure, moving beyond the casual nature of traditional junior tournaments.
Hit it deeper!
The PCL Rising Stars format utilises a team-based approach, with each squad consisting of two male and two female players. These teams will compete through national and provincial qualifiers to earn a spot in the Finals, which will be held at the Asia Elite Pickleball Academy (AEPA). The AEPA, currently under construction at the Hainan Campus of the Beijing Haidian Foreign Language Experimental School, is modelled after world-class Olympic training hubs used for sports like tennis.
A life-changing aspect of the program is the inclusion of scholarships for standout players. Winners and top individual performers will be eligible to attend the AEPA, where they will receive elite coaching, academic support, and daily immersion in a high-performance environment. PCL President Alex Yuen stated that this foundation is critical for ensuring that Asian youth development keeps pace with the sport’s rapid global momentum. By focusing on “long-term athlete development” and a “player-first environment,” PCL Asia is positioning itself as the premier architect of the sport’s future in the East.
The world Pickleball verdict
The “Rising Stars” program is a direct answer to the professionalisation of the sport in the U.S. By creating an academy-based scholarship model, PCL Asia is treating pickleball with the same seriousness as elite tennis or football. It is an infrastructure project as much as a tournament. If successful, it will produce a generation of Asian players who are skilled and are also products of a professional system, ready to compete for world titles by the time they hit the senior tour.
