Everything you missed in pickleball pop culture in December 2025
From global travels to contract terminations, here’s everything you missed in pickleball pop culture in December 2025.
Ben Johns appears on Anna Leigh Waters’ YouTube channel and together they make Ben’s favorite cheesy spinach dip.
Pablo Tellez and his new bride take a trip to Colombia.
PPA Tour Asia holds its final event of the year, and notable pros like Federico Staksrud, Connor Garnett and Blaine Hovenier travel abroad to play. Alix Troung and Staksrud win mixed. Alix and Zoey Wang win women’s.
Pros like Anna Bright, Hurricane Tyra Black and Meghan Dizon share their Spotify Wrapped.
Carmel-by-the-Sea in California institutes a permanent pickleball ban at a local park due to noise complaints. The ban makes playing the sport a misdemeanor criminal offense.
Tim Tebow, Danny Wuerffel, Eric Crouch, and Johnny Rogers play pickleball during the Heisman Weekend in New York City.
The St. Louis Shock name Erik Lange as their head coach.
Major League Pickleball partners with OWL AI to bring AI-powered line calling and in-match challenges.
The PPA Tour signs Abbigal Hatton.
Callie Smith gives Pickleball.com a tour of her Utah home, including her incredible backyard pickleball court. And she also showcases her piano skills.
Collin Johns travels across Asia to teach and promote pickleball with JOOLA.
Anna Bright releases a vlog on her YouTube channel and shares her 2025 Dating Wrapped.
The Dallas Stars' mascot, Victor E. Green, visits the UPA headquarters.
Many of the pros travel during the offseason. Anna Leigh Waters and her family visit Italy.
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Tammy and Martin Emmrich take their daughter to Disney World.
The Johnsons take Dylan Frazier out to dinner for his birthday.
Zane Navratil hikes Machu Picchu.
Tyson McGuffin and his wife, Meg, take a trip to Costa Rica.
The UPA terminates the contracts of James Ignatowich, Ryan Fu and Vivian Glozman for participating in an unsanctioned event.
Dylan Frazier and his family take a cruise to Mexico.
Mary and Maggie Brascia travel to Las Vegas with their younger sister, Molly.
Kate Fahey goes on her honeymoon.
Hunter Johnson and Yates Johnson go on a fishing trip.
The Razer x JOOLA collab paddle sells out in mere seconds after release.
NHL superstar Connor McDavid’s wife claims that the couple is undefeated in pickleball.
Genie Bouchard speaks at a Game Changers event in conjunction with the Boston Children’s Hospital.
Zane Ford and his fiancé visit Puerto Rico.
Rachel Rohrabacher gets in the holiday spirit and goes to a Christmas market in Tampa, FL.
The Brascia Family takes a trip to Disneyland. Then, they take a festive Christmas lights tour.
Meghan Dizon and AJ Koller visit Maui.
Diadem collabs with Monopoly to release a limited-edition paddle set for lovers of the game.
The PPA Challenger Series announces that the pro main draws will now be seeded based on PPA Tour points, not DUPR rating.
Mary and Maggie Brascia play pickleball with Andre Agassi and James Blake.
Marcela Hones and Rafa Hewett take the kids to Disneyland.
Genie Bouchard takes a trip to the British Virgin Islands with her siblings and plays tennis with Sloane Stephens.
Camila Zilveti gets crafty and decorates her skiing helmet to look like a disco ball.
Kaitlyn Christian enjoys some downtime before Pictona and attends a candlelight symphony, goes to an Old Dominion concert, and spends time with friends.
WNBA star Jewell Loyd visits the JOOLA store to promote pickleball.
During the PPA Raleigh Challenger event, 17-year-old Kiora Kunimoto wins women’s singles and mixed doubles with Will Mackinnon.
Milan Rane and Jorja Johnson visit a farmer’s market together in West Palm Beach, FL.
Blaine Hovenier visits Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Singapore.
After competing with the New Jersey 5s, Will Howells signs a three-year deal with the PPA Tour.
Tesla partners with Selkirk to launch a new paddle, and it sells out in just a few hours.
Nick Kyrgios is announced as a new owner and creative director for Stack Athletics.
Paddletek and ProXR announce that they are officially merging their tech and athletes to create one powerful paddle.
The Florida Dairy Farmers Open begins. Catherine Parenteau wins her first gold in women’s singles in two years.
After much anticipation, we get to see Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson partner up, and the results are impressive. The pair claimed gold in women’s doubles.
Jorja and JW Johnson win their fourth title together in 2025. Augie Ge snags his first gold medal on the PPA Tour alongside JW Johnson in men’s doubles. And Chris Haworth wins gold in men’s singles.
The Junior PPA Finals took place at Daytona. Allyce Jones’ daughter, Leah, wins gold in girl’s doubles.
The Best Dressed List from Daytona features Gabe Joseph, Marcela Hones, Genie Bouchard, and others.
Gabe Joseph, Jalina Ingram, and Tom Protzek participate in this viral trend:
Matt Wright, Lucy Kovalova, Terrell Owens, and Genie Bouchard go on the Pickleballers podcast.
Mary and Maggie Brascia officially launch their new brand, Fun Pickleball.
The iconic photo of Tyson McGuffin and Eric Oncins at the PPA Tour Malaysia Cup is nominated as a finalist in the World Sports Photography Awards.
‘A Pickleball Christmas’ starring James Lafferty and Zibby Allen premieres on Lifetime.
The pros celebrate the holidays with family and loved ones across the globe. Dekel Bar and his girlfriend visit Hawaii.
Christian Alshon and his family share their holiday family photo.
The Johnson crew gets festive and decorates gingerbread houses together.
Leigh Waters is surprised with a bernadoodle puppy of her own on Christmas morning.
Hannah Blatt and Grayson Goldin go skiing.
The PPA Tour signs Austin Bricker.
Parris Todd is fined $50,000 and a receives a two-event suspension for participating in multiple pickleball-related events with the Pickleball Japan Federation.
The pros share their New Year’s resolutions.
Catherine Parenteau gets her wisdom teeth removed.
And the pros celebrate the last day of 2025 with yearly recaps of their accomplishments and attend holiday parties with friends, family and fellow pros.
What was your favorite pop culture moment from December? Let us know on Instagram or X (formerly Twitter).
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