International Federation of Pickleball

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International Federation of Pickleball
(IFP)

Formation	2010; 11 years ago (2010)
Type	Federation of national associations
Headquarters	Goodyear, Arizona, USA
Membership	62 national associations
Official language	English
President	Pat Murphy
Website	www.ifpickleball.org/

The International Federation of Pickleball (IFP) is the governing body of world pickleball. The IFP was founded in 2010 by the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA), and as of October 19 2021, is affiliated with 62 national pickleball associations and 5 continental federations. The IFP is a nonprofit organization that focuses its resources on providing support to national and local pickleball organizations.^[1][2][3][4]

The IFP's goals include creating and maintaining official rules across all of pickleball, organizing international tournaments, and most crucially, spreading the sport of pickleball across the world.^[5] The IFP's main goal is to have the sport of pickleball added to the Olympic Games.^[3][4][6]

The IFP also organizes international pickleball competitions including the Bainbridge Cup, an international competition in which teams made up of people from across Europe, Asia, and North America represent their continents and compete on professional and amateur levels.^[4][7]

History[]

The International Federation of Pickleball was founded in the wake of the first National Pickleball Open competition, held in Surprise, Ohio in 2009. The tournament was hosted by the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA), and drew almost 400 players from 26 American states and several Canadian provinces. The interest of the Canadians, among other factors, influenced the USAPA to establish a committee dedicated to the formation of an international governing body for pickleball. This committee was formed in 2010, and is considered to be the founding of the IFP.^[2][5]

The IFP's constitution and bylaws were officially ratified in 2015 by its four inaugural member countries: the United States, Canada, Spain, and India. Since 2015, the IFP has steadily grown, adding over 20 countries to its ranks in the first half of 2021 alone.

Structure[]

Map of the world, the darker blue highlighting which countries are members of the IFP as of October 19, 2021.

National and regional associations[]

As of October 19, 2021, there are 62 national organizations in the International Federation of Pickleball. These national associations are organized into three categories: full member countries (7), associate member countries (24), and affiliate member countries (31). Each member country is organized under the umbrella of a continental federation. Full member countries can have members elected to the IFP's board of directors, while associate and affiliate member countries cannot.^[8] All member countries are required to follow the rules of pickleball as established by the IFP.^[9]

The IFP has five continental federations. These are the Asia Federation of Pickleball (AFP), North American Pickleball Federation, South American Pickleball Association, European Pickleball Federation (EPF), and Oceanic Pickleball Federation.

Overall, the IFP gives complete autonomy to member countries in their own nations, except if the actions of a member nation "affect the international image of the sport, the uniform application of one set of rules, or in some way affect the future Olympic status of the sport."^[8]

Board of directors[]

The IFP's officers on the board are elected by the IFP's full member nations and serve two-year terms. The board consists of four officers, including the President, and lower-ranking members known as "At Large" members. The board may assign a maximum of six at-large members at any given time. The previous President is also reserved an "At Large" spot on the board.^[10]

Board of Directors (2021)

Role	Board Member	National Association
President	Pat Murphy	United States
Vice President	Sunil Valavalkar	India
Treasurer	David Jordan	United States
Secretary	Mike Johnson	Philippines
At Large	Justin Maloof	United States

Competitions[]

Bainbridge Cup[]

Team North America leader Marcin Rozpedski, holding the trophy earned by Team North America at the inaugural 2017 Bainbridge Cup

The IFP hosts the annual Bainbridge Cup, one the first international pickleball team tournament to ever be played. The tournament is named after Bainbridge Island, where pickleball was invented by Joel Pritchard and his colleagues. It consists of two teams representing geographical regions, usually continents. Originally, the tournament pitted players from Europe against those from North America. In the 2021 Bainbridge Cup, the tournament was organized as "east" versus "west", with players west of the Mississippi River and those from Asia on one team, and players east of the Mississippi and those from Europe on the other.^[11][12]

The tournament consists of divisions organized by age and skill level for men's, women's, and mixed doubles. Men's and women's singles were played for the first time at the Bainbridge Cup as a demonstration event in 2021.^[11] The event was first hosted in Madrid, Spain in 2017, and has since been hosted in Italy, Germany, and the United States.^[11][12][13]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website