Promising Chinese player defers PhD programme to give pickleball career a shot
Long Yufei turns down two US universities to join training programme offering a two-year professional contract
A Chinese pickleball player said it was worth deferring her PhD studies to pursue a professional career in the emerging sport.
Long Yufei, who was about to start a biomedical informatics course in the United States, was presented with the opportunity to become a part of the United Pickleball Association’s inaugural Asia Trailblazers Programme.
Under the scheme, 12 players across the region will undergo a three-month training stint in the US and, if they impress, will be given a contract as a UPA Asia Pro. The two-year deal includes playing in at least 10 events a year, predominantly in Asia but also in the US and Australia.
Long, who holds a Master’s degree in public health from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said the decision to defer her doctoral studies was difficult, but she had opted to embrace a less traditional route.
“I had invested months crafting potential research proposals and preparing applications,” said the Shenzhen native, who received acceptance letters from the University of Washington and from Washington University in St Louis shortly before the pickleball opportunity emerged.
“The sunk cost was high,” she said. “I spent the whole of February evaluating the best option … I was choosing between two different life trajectories.”