Pickleball expands through new partnerships in Barbados and Sri Lanka

Barbados is exploring a partnership with the Ultimate Pickleball League (UPL) to establish the nation as a Caribbean hub for pickleball. Minister of Sports Charles Griffith stated the initiative aims to fuse pickleball with the local sport of road tennis, potentially creating opportunities for the mass production of road tennis rackets for international sale. Plans include retrofitting hardcourts, introducing the sport in schools, and hosting coaching clinics to scout local talent.

In Sri Lanka, Padel Chief has expanded its competitive racket-sports platform into pickleball with the inaugural SLAM25 Pickle tournament at the Air Sports Club. The event utilized a rotating-doubles format to integrate pickleball into the organization’s existing player ranking and tournament administration ecosystem, which was previously focused on padel.