Professional Pickleball Association( PPA) tour. Of the top 50 men’ s singles players, only two are older than 35. Just three of the top 50 women’ s singles players are over 35.
Of course, the best women’ s player in the world is 18. Anna Leigh Waters turned pro when she was 12 and has won more than 150 gold medals. She has inspired other young women. In March, 14-year-old Cailyn Campbell of Palmetto Bay, Florida— then ranked # 64— upset 6th ranked Mary Brascia in the Carvana PPA Tournament in St. George, Utah. She is the PPA’ s youngest player.
“ I love pickleball because it’ s so much fun but also really competitive,” Cailyn says. She has played tennis since she was 4 years old but prefers pickleball.“ Tennis can be a lonely sport. It focuses more on singles and there are few opportunities to play doubles.”
In mid-May, Cailyn was ranked 43rd in women’ s singles in the Carvana PPA Tour’ s ranking.
In 2022, a Las Vegas, Nevada, resident named Courtney Loughridge thought young pickleball players needed high-quality tournaments to compete against their peers. So, she helped organize what she says was the first junior pickleball tournament for kids age 8 to 18. Forty players showed up.
Then in 2024, with support from JOOLA Pickleball and DUPR( the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating organization), Loughridge launched National Junior Pickleball( NJP). NJP has hosted regional events nationwide, drawing hundreds of players to each event.
“ I started NJP because I believe that kids deserve their own stage and space to participate in the sport, no matter their skill level,” she explains.“ NJP is about more than medals. It’ s about building a pathway from the littles who are just starting to play
Pickleball participation among the 13-17 age group has more than doubled in the past two years.”— SFIA’ s Alex Kerman
to the teens dedicated to training to compete at the highest levels. NJP is a place for kids to grow in the sport, to connect with others, and to discover what they’ re capable of, on and off the court.”
Loughridge’ s 11-year-old son, Jack, has played in about 60 tournaments and is a national junior ambassador for The Picklr, the indoor pickleball club company.
“ I was at a tennis camp, and it rained so we couldn’ t play,” Jack recalls of his introduction to the sport.“ I saw my friend playing pickleball and I wanted to try it, then I fell in love with it.” He now drills four or five times a week besides playing in junior tournaments.
Pickleball’ s popularity in high schools is also booming. Last fall, the Montgomery County, Maryland, public school district became the first one in the country to offer pickleball as a varsity sport.
“ Pickleball is an inclusive sport that allows individuals to experience success in a short amount of time,” says Dr. Jeff Sullivan, the director of systemwide athletics for Montgomery County Public Schools.
“ What is exciting about pickleball is we are also able to engage students with disabilities in the sport, which provides additional participation opportunities.”
Sullivan even accompanied 30 Montgomery County students in April on a three-city, 10-day pickleball tour to China.“ We traveled to foster friendship across borders and build positive relations through sport,” he explains.“ In doing so,‘ pickleball diplomacy’ was born.”
Sullivan called the trip“ a lifechanging experience.” Most of the expenses were funded by sponsoring entities in China.
JOOLA Pickleball is also in Montgomery County, and Sullivan says the company has been extremely supportive in donating equipment to the public schools.
“ JOOLA wants to get a paddle in as many hands as possible,” says Corey Bockhaus, JOOLA’ s editorial strategy manager.
“ We just want to foster a lifetime love of the game. By investing in youth pickleball, we can get kids introduced to the sport at a younger age and as they grow and progress, we’ ll be there to assist along the way. Their progress and the progress of the sport will grow so much faster with that investment.”
Most senior pickleball players who are now playing with and against more younger players are welcoming, even when playing against the many young bangers. Barney Agate, a 70-year-old pickleball ambassador in South Florida, adds,“ The influx of younger players is fantastic. They bring youth, athletic ability, vitality, and yet another way to bridge multiple generations.
“ I’ m so, so glad that the game I love will go on for many years as the younger folk build their personal lives and careers and include pickleball.” •
Matthew Schwartz spent 40 years in television news and won more than 200 awards, including four Emmys and four Edward R. Murrow awards for investigative reporting. His 2020 memoir,“ Confessions of an Investigative Reporter,” was an Amazon # 1 bestseller. He writes a weekly blog for Hudef Sport and plays pickleball every day.
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