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November 4, 2022
Los Angeles Sparks star, Chiney Ogwumike, has co-founded a new organization to create a level playing field for women in the increasingly popular sport of pickleball (an indoor or outdoor racket/paddle sport). Founded alongside pickleball pro and CEO Rachel Hong and Disrupt the Game president Allison Galer, the Women’s International Pickleball Association (WIPA) intends to “ensure women in pickleball have an ecosystem to best serve their success.”
Pickleball has been referred to as the fastest growing sport in America – currently played by nearly five million people which is double the amount of players from a year ago. The WIPA launched this week to guarantee equitable representation for the hundreds of women entering the world of professional pickleball and the tens of thousands of women playing recreationally.
“As females, oftentimes choosing to pursue a career as a professional athlete comes at the cost of putting off your education, launching a career and delaying starting a family,” said lifelong tennis player and now pickleball player Lee Whitwell who is working with the WIPA to help fortify their mission for players of all ages.
“With pickleball being so new, combined with the fact that females are generally underrepresented when it comes to sponsorships, I am so grateful to have the WIPA working behind the scenes to make it more feasible for us to choose pickleball as a career.”
The organization will advocate for equal pay, prize money and sponsorship opportunities for women – areas in which women are underrepresented in sport. “Very rarely is there a sport that’s new enough where you can start out with equitable pay…Females are driving one of the fastest growing sports in the country and there are significant needs for guidance to help get these women the representation they deserve,” said Hong.
Athletes affiliated with the WIPA will have the chance to play in an inaugural world tour exclusively for women. The organization is also looking towards opportunities for the sport to be in the Olympics and at the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), giving girls an opportunity to play at a collegiate level, which is seen to have a knock-on effect with the sport in middle schools and physical education programs.
“I came late to the pickleball game but it’s really the best-kept secret,” said Ogwumike. “As someone that works in media and also currently plays at the professional level [in the WNBA], what caught my eye was increasing representation.”
Athletes such as Ogwumike, former NFL quarterback Drew Brees and NBA stars LeBron James, Draymond Green, Kevin Love and Kevin Durant are seen as responsible for the increased visibility and mainstreaming of the sport. Many of them have invested in Major League Pickleball teams.
Source: Yahoo Sport and Boardroom
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