Pickleball popularity spiking on campus

Commonly described as a combination of badminton, tennis and ping-pong, the sport of pickleball is identified by the USA Pickleball Association as one of the fastest-growing sports in America. The growing popularity of pickleball among Luther students and staff suggests that Luther is following the trend.

Although pickleball has been played for more than 30 years, it was not included in the Luther College Physical Education Department until the year 2000.

Pickleball is a game predominantly taught in high school physical education programs, so the department saw a need to provide students with an opportunity to play the sport.

“We want our majors to have the experience of playing it,” said Brian Huinker, men’s and women’s tennis coach and racquet sports instructor.

Luther has long offered the course entitled “Racquet Sports,” which covers pickleball, badminton and either ping pong or tennis, and pickleball always proved most popular among the three.

“Pickleball was definitely a favorite activity of the three racquet sports,” said Huinker. So the P.E. Department decided to dedicate a whole class to the racquet game.

Huinker said the class tends to fill up quickly, but many people join the class mistakenly believing pickleball is an easy sport.

“Virtually everyone comes into the class thinking it’s going to be a ‘cupcake,’ an easy sport,” said Huinker. “But they usually leave the first day with a sweaty shirt.”

Huinker says players’ heart rates can stay up for a good 45 minutes, as long as the partners’ skill levels have been matched.

“If you’re playing a competitive game, it’s a great workout,” said Huinker.

Not only is it a great workout, but “it’s a game that can be mastered by all skill levels,” said Huinker.

Andrew Bailey (‘08) enjoyed his pickleball course this past winter.

“Most healthy people between the ages of five and 97 should have no problem playing pickleball,” said Bailey.

The origins of pickleball can be traced back to the year 1965 on a hot summer day in Washington state. A man named William Bell and U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard attempted to assuage their two children’s boredom by teaching them the popular racquet game of badminton. Since they could not find a birdie, the creators improvised with a whiffle ball, but hitting a large whiffle ball with a lightweight racket proved difficult. So the resourceful fathers made hard, wooden paddles and lowered the five-foot badminton net down to three feet. The newly improvised backyard game supplied an afternoon of laughter and enjoyment.

And what about the name “pickleball”? This is accredited to Pritchard’s cocker spaniel “Pickles” who had more than his fair share of fun that afternoon by fetching the whiffle ball and hiding in the bushes. The name of the game was given in honor of the sport’s first mascot, and “Pickles’ Ball” was later changed to “Pickleball.”

With the new equipment, a number of rule modifications were made to the game of badminton, and pickleball was recognized as an official sport in the year 1972.

The USA Pickleball Association, whose mission is to “promote the growth and development of pickleball on an international level,” advertises that it now has 100,000 participants in the sport, including thirty registered courts in 12 states.

In fact, pickleball is especially popular among the elderly because it involves less running than tennis, and is thus not as hard on the body. Huinker said there are retirement communities with outdoor pickleball courts all over the southern states.

“My goal is to someday retire to a pickleball community,” says Huinker, who dreams of becoming a professional pickleball coach and organizing tournaments in one of these communities.

In the meantime, Huinker has applied to become the official state pickleball ambassador for Iowa. As an ambassador for the sport, Huinker would be considered a leader of pickleball in the state, and also be responsible for organizing tournaments and promoting the game.

“Right now there’s no ambassador in Iowa, so there’s no one to turn to if people want to set up tournaments,” said Huinker. “It would also help my resume if I ever wanted to become a professional pickleball coach.”

Huinker, who hopes to be informed of his acceptance soon, wants to sanction a pickleball tournament here at Luther. The tournament would involve singles and doubles matches, and he would like to attract spectators by hosting the finals at the halftime of a basketball game.

Huinker would recruit participants by promoting the event at other colleges.

It seems as if Huinker’s recruitment process would not prove too difficult, as the popularity of pickleball is present and growing on Luther’s campus.

“Nothing says ‘let’s party’ like a big wooden paddle, a whiffle ball, and a ridiculously low net,” said Bailey.