Samin Odhwani@SaminOdhwani
Ryan — your post leaves out material facts. To be clear, you didn’t submit the approval request — James submitted it on your behalf. And what he submitted was not accurate.
The request stated:
“Clinics and potentially a free exhibition.” “No potential conflicting partners.”Hosted by “a local couple who love pickleball.” Pros attending: Tyra, Max, Ryan Fu.“No tournament, no prize money.”
For clarity: we are fully supportive of the Pickleball Japan Federation and want to collaborate with them the right way. The issue is that the approval request described this as a small, informal trip hosted by “a local couple,” when in reality it was a federation-run, commercially sponsored event — which simply requires proper approval and sanctioning.
The request said everything would be free. In reality:
$150 per person for clinics
And the exhibition (“Challenge the Pros”) cost $20 per ticket, not free. (Screenshots below)
The request also stated explicitly: “No tournament.” But the Japan event did include a tournament — and the PickleballTournaments listing shows 1,200+ registered participants. This was a full-scale event.
The pros listed for approval were not the pros who actually went. The real group was James, Ryan, Vivian, and Parris — completely different from the list submitted.
The event also used PPA and MLP branding in marketing without approval. We’re always open to working with international organizers and would’ve gladly sanctioned this properly. But transparency and accuracy matter — especially when representing the league, its partners, and its athletes.
