Who are the current pickleball Gold Card holders?

DinkBank's live working list currently includes 15 active players: Anna Bright, Anna Leigh Waters, Ben Johns, Catherine Parenteau, Dylan Frazier, Federico Staksrud, Hayden Patriquin, Jack Sock, Jay Devilliers, JW Johnson, Kate Fahey, Riley Newman, Tyra Black, Tyson McGuffin, Zane Navratil. The list separates players with strong public renewal evidence from provisional classifications where public contract records are incomplete or conflicting.

What is a Gold Card in pickleball?

In this report, Gold Card means DinkBank's classification for the closed 2026 UPA/PPA Gold Contract prize-money tier. It does not mean the separate early-2025 PPA main-draw credential that public coverage also called a Gold Card.

Is there an official public list of UPA Gold Card holders?

DinkBank has not found a definitive public UPA roster showing every player who completed the 2025 Gold Contract renewal. This report is a transparent reconstruction from public signing, renewal, and contract-status evidence, so mistakes are possible.

Is a PPA Gold Card the same as a UPA Gold Contract?

Not always. In early 2025, Gold Card was also used for a PPA main-draw credential available to UPA-signed players. This report uses Gold Card for DinkBank's 2026 Gold Contract prize-money classification, which is a narrower closed cohort.

Can a new player get a UPA or PPA Gold Card?

Under the published 2025 contract framework, no new players enter the Gold Contract prize-money tier. The list can still grow if DinkBank corrects a documented omission, but that is a roster correction rather than a newly issued Gold Contract.

Does playing in MLP prove a player has a Gold Card?

No. MLP participation may establish that a player was UPA-signed under the applicable eligibility rules, but it does not identify the player's contract tier or prove Gold status.

How can I correct a player's Gold Card status?

Use DinkBank's Submit a Correction form and include the player's name, proposed contract tier, and a reliable source. DinkBank reviews submissions before updating the live roster.

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Pickleball Gold Card Holders: 2026 UPA/PPA List

See DinkBank's current list of pickleball Gold Card holders and the public evidence behind each UPA/PPA classification. We reconstruct the 2026 Gold Contract prize-money cohort from 2023 Tour Wars signings and 2025 renewal reporting.

Report Type: Methodology & Live RosterLast updated: July 21, 2026

There is no official public UPA Gold Card holder list

UPA has not published one definitive, player-by-player list of the athletes who completed the 2025 Gold Contract renewal. Contract terms are private and public announcements are incomplete, so our list may contain mistakes.

If you believe a player is missing or incorrectly included, please submit a correction and include a reliable source. We review every submission before changing a player's tier.

What Is a Gold Card in Professional Pickleball?

In this report, Gold Card means DinkBank's classification for the closed 2026 UPA/PPA Gold Contract prize-money tier: the top payout grid offered to qualifying 2023 Tour Wars signees who accepted the applicable 2025 extension by the Gold deadline. UPA refers to the United Pickleball Association, the organization encompassing the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball.

This is not the same as the separate PPA main-draw credential that public coverage also called a “Gold Card” in early 2025. Being UPA-signed, appearing on an MLP roster, or receiving direct entry to a PPA draw does not by itself prove that a player belongs to the Gold Contract prize-money cohort.

See how UPA/PPA pickleball contract tiers affect PPA prize-money payouts.

2026 Pickleball Gold Card Holders (15)

The names below are pulled from DinkBank's live contract-tier data. High-confidence entries have public reporting of a timely Gold extension. Provisional entries have evidence supporting eligibility, but incomplete or conflicting public renewal records. Neither label is an individual confirmation from UPA.

High-confidence (6)

Public reporting supports a qualifying deal and a timely 2025 Gold extension.

Catherine Parenteau
Public reporting identified Parenteau as accepting a five-year extension before the August 15, 2025 Gold deadline, following her qualifying Tour Wars-era deal.
Federico Staksrud
Public reporting identified Staksrud as accepting a four-year extension before the Gold deadline, consistent with his qualifying 2023 Tour Wars contract.
Jack Sock
Public reporting named Sock among the players who signed extensions before the Gold deadline following his Tour Wars-era deal.
Tyra Black
Public reporting identified Black as accepting a four-year extension before the Gold deadline, with strong evidence of a qualifying 2023 deal. DinkBank added her as a correction to its working roster.
Tyson McGuffin
Public reporting identified McGuffin as accepting a two-year extension before the Gold deadline after a confirmed Tour Wars-era contract.
Zane Navratil
Navratil reported that he signed an extension before the Gold deadline after a qualifying Tour Wars-era deal.

Provisional / likely (9)

DinkBank's current working classification where public contract disclosure is incomplete. Absence of contrary evidence is not proof of renewal.

Anna Bright
Bright has strong Tour Wars-era eligibility and was discussed in pre-deadline extension reporting, but DinkBank is retaining her provisionally while the public renewal record remains incomplete.
Anna Leigh Waters
Public evidence supports inclusion in the 2023 eligible cohort, but DinkBank has not located public confirmation that Waters completed the 2025 Gold renewal by the deadline.
Ben Johns
Public evidence supports inclusion in the 2023 eligible cohort, but DinkBank has not located public confirmation that Johns completed the 2025 Gold renewal by the deadline.
Dylan Frazier
A 2023 MLP signing announcement supports eligibility, while later reporting that his executed UPA agreement began in 2024 leaves the classification uncertain.
Hayden Patriquin
August 2025 reporting says Patriquin signed a multi-year PPA/MLP extension, consistent with his reported Tour Wars-era agreement.
Jay Devilliers
A Tour Wars-era signing announcement supports eligibility, but DinkBank has not located direct public confirmation of a timely 2025 Gold renewal.
JW Johnson
A 2023 MLP signing announcement supports eligibility, while later reporting that his executed UPA agreement began in 2024 leaves the classification uncertain.
Kate Fahey
Reporting states that Fahey signed with PPA during summer 2023, supporting eligibility. DinkBank has not located public confirmation of her 2025 renewal.
Riley Newman
A 2023 signing announcement supports eligibility, but later reporting creates uncertainty about when Newman's executed agreement began.

Live as of July 21, 2026. A player profile's Gold Card badge and this table use the same DinkBank classification.

UPA Gold Contract Renewal Timeline

Window	Cohort	Published consequence
July 1–August 15, 2025	Gold renewal	Eligible late-2023 Tour Wars signees could extend into the Gold prize-money grid.
August 15–September 23, 2025	Standard renewal	Post-2023 signees and eligible players who missed the Gold deadline could extend on the Standard grid.
September 23–November 1, 2025	New players	Previously unsigned or emerging players could sign into the Standard grid.
After November 1, 2025	Futures	New signings entered through the Futures grid, with published performance paths to Standard—not Gold.

Missing the August 15 Gold deadline meant losing access to the Gold extension. A player who declined every extension could remain on an existing agreement through 2026, so we do not automatically describe every non-renewing player as Standard.

How DinkBank Built the Gold Card List

DinkBank's first Gold Card roster was an internal working list assembled from Tour Wars signing announcements, later contract reporting, and historical research. It was subsequently adjusted as new player-specific information became available. The original badge records stored the tier, but not the source or reasoning behind each assignment.

We are now reconstructing that evidence player by player. As of this report, we classify 6 players as high-confidence and 9 as provisional. A missing public announcement does not prove that a private renewal did not occur, but it does mean the classification should not be presented as independently confirmed.

How We Verify UPA/PPA Gold Card Status

Build the eligible cohort. We start with players credibly reported or strongly evidenced as signing a PPA or MLP agreement during the late-August and early-September 2023 Tour Wars. Less-complete or conflicting records are explicitly labeled provisional. We do not assume that every player who had ever signed with a tour before that period was automatically eligible.
Verify the 2025 renewal where possible. A 2023 deal established eligibility, not completed Gold status. We look for a league, player, agent, or credible media announcement dated on or before August 15, 2025.
Check for contrary evidence. A later signing, Standard announcement, missed deadline, contract termination, departure, or confirmed retirement can remove a player from the current Gold cohort.
Use inference only when disclosure stops. When the public record confirms eligibility but not the renewal date, we may retain a working classification based on the best available evidence. Those entries are more likely to change after a correction.
Keep the public roster synchronized. Approved tier corrections update both this report and the Gold Card badge shown on player profiles.

Can New Pickleball Players Receive a Gold Card?

Under the published 2025 rules, new players cannot earn the Gold Contract prize-money tier. The eligible cohort is therefore closed: it can remain level or shrink as players leave, retire, lose their contracts, or are shown not to have completed the Gold renewal.

The number displayed by DinkBank can still increase if we correct a documented omission. That would be a data correction—not a newly issued Gold Contract. Any true expansion of the eligible cohort would require UPA to change its policy.

What Counts as Gold Card Evidence?

Strong evidence

A dated UPA, PPA, MLP, player, or agent announcement
Credible reporting that identifies both the 2023 deal and the 2025 extension
A later termination, retirement, or tier-specific announcement

Not sufficient on its own

Being listed as a PPA athlete or playing a PPA event
Appearing on an MLP roster, which establishes signed status but not Gold tier
Receiving main-draw entry or being called a historical “Gold Card pro”
A DinkBank badge without an independent supporting source

Does Playing MLP Prove UPA Gold Card Status?

Two different competitions have used the word “Challenger.” Unsigned players may compete in the PPA Challenger Series, which is explicitly a pathway to a PPA contract. By contrast, MLP's 2025 eligibility rules required a UPA contract for every MLP event, including the MLP Challenger Level.

Challenger participation therefore cannot be used as a shortcut for a Gold classification: PPA Challenger participation may indicate a player is unsigned, while MLP participation proves only that a player is UPA-signed.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pickleball Gold Cards

Who are the current pickleball Gold Card holders?: DinkBank's live working list currently includes 15 active players: Anna Bright, Anna Leigh Waters, Ben Johns, Catherine Parenteau, Dylan Frazier, Federico Staksrud, Hayden Patriquin, Jack Sock, Jay Devilliers, JW Johnson, Kate Fahey, Riley Newman, Tyra Black, Tyson McGuffin, Zane Navratil. The list separates players with strong public renewal evidence from provisional classifications where public contract records are incomplete or conflicting.
What is a Gold Card in pickleball?: In this report, Gold Card means DinkBank's classification for the closed 2026 UPA/PPA Gold Contract prize-money tier. It does not mean the separate early-2025 PPA main-draw credential that public coverage also called a Gold Card.
Is there an official public list of UPA Gold Card holders?: DinkBank has not found a definitive public UPA roster showing every player who completed the 2025 Gold Contract renewal. This report is a transparent reconstruction from public signing, renewal, and contract-status evidence, so mistakes are possible.
Is a PPA Gold Card the same as a UPA Gold Contract?: Not always. In early 2025, Gold Card was also used for a PPA main-draw credential available to UPA-signed players. This report uses Gold Card for DinkBank's 2026 Gold Contract prize-money classification, which is a narrower closed cohort.
Can a new player get a UPA or PPA Gold Card?: Under the published 2025 contract framework, no new players enter the Gold Contract prize-money tier. The list can still grow if DinkBank corrects a documented omission, but that is a roster correction rather than a newly issued Gold Contract.
Does playing in MLP prove a player has a Gold Card?: No. MLP participation may establish that a player was UPA-signed under the applicable eligibility rules, but it does not identify the player's contract tier or prove Gold status.
How can I correct a player's Gold Card status?: Use DinkBank's Submit a Correction form and include the player's name, proposed contract tier, and a reliable source. DinkBank reviews submissions before updating the live roster.

Gold Card Sources, Limitations, and Corrections

The contract framework is well documented. The individual roster is not. The 2023 signing tracker itself was compiled from league social announcements rather than reviewed contracts, and the 2025 extension reporting named only some players. We use these sources as a transparent evidence trail, not as an official roster.

Have better evidence? Submit a contract correction. Please include the player's name, the proposed tier, and at least one source link.