UPA Asia names 16 athletes in Trailblazers program class of 2026

UPA Asia widened its talent pipeline with 16 athletes in the Trailblazers program class of 2026, splitting the group evenly between eight Trailblazers and eight Rising Stars and tying both tracks to a clearer path into the professional game. The roster stretches from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and China in the top tier to Malaysia, China, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan among the Rising Stars, a sign that Asian pickleball is no longer being built around a handful of early hot spots.

The structure matters as much as the names on the page. Top Trailblazers earned two-year UPA Asia Pro Contracts and an all-expenses-paid six-week immersion in the United States, where the plan is to train at world-class facilities under top coaches, absorb media training and compete on the Carvana PPA Tour. The Rising Stars received one-year UPA Asia Pro Contracts plus athlete pathway support, media backing and development resources built to prepare them for the 2026 PPA Tour Asia season. In a region that has long relied on fragmented local circuits, ad hoc invitations and self-funded travel, that is a real ladder.

The program’s second season was shaped by a December pre-selection camp at Infinity Academy in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 9, with Collin Johns appointed head coach. UPA Asia also brought in the Racket Professional Organization as the official technical partner to professionalize coaching standards and curriculum across Asia, while Johns worked with Chris Harradine, Josh Jenkins and other coaches from the region. Infinity Academy’s campus, spread across 2 hectares, includes 11 pickleball courts, 10 tennis courts and VAR technology, giving the selection process a more professional setting than the pop-up venues that have often defined the sport’s early growth.

For Vietnam, the partnership carried extra weight. Infinity Academy CEO Minh Anh Pham framed the collaboration as a milestone for the country’s growing pickleball scene, and the campus itself now stands as part of the region’s emerging infrastructure rather than just a training stop. UPA Asia’s inaugural 2025 Trailblazers class had 12 athletes from eight countries and territories, so the move to 16 athletes marks both growth and maturity, from one talent-identification experiment to a broader development system.

The timing also lines up with a bigger competitive horizon. PPA Tour Asia’s 2026 calendar runs to 10 stops across seven markets and closes with the Hong Kong Slam, a tournament the tour says will offer up to US$1.1 million in prize money and stand as the biggest professional pickleball event ever staged in Asia. That makes Trailblazers more than a selection program. It is the feeder line for the next stage of Asian pickleball, where local promise now has a defined route to regional, and potentially global, relevance.