Collegiate Pickleball is on the Rise
It’ s estimated that between 150 and 200 colleges offer pickleball as a club or intramural sport. Pickleball courts are sprouting up seemingly every week on campuses nationwide. At Baylor University in Waco, Texas, a new 12-court pickleball facility replaced four tennis courts. The University of Georgia has 18 pickleball courts on campus, the University of Maryland has 16 courts, and the University of Alabama is investing $ 1.6 million in a project featuring 10 pickleball courts.
The Collegiate Pickleball Tour Crowns the Best College Pickleball Team in the Country with $ 100,000 Total Prize Purse
In April, 64 school teams from around the country descended upon Life Time – Peachtree Corners in Atlanta, Georgia, for a three-day event, ending with The University of Texas at Austin Pickleball Club claiming its first Collegiate National Championship with a win over Texas Christian University.
The Collegiate Pickleball Tour, a joint venture of the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating( DUPR) organization and the United Pickleball Association( UPA), is elevating collegiate pickleball by bringing together the best college pickleball clubs for a series of competitive and showcase events, including more than 200 collegiate teams and 4,000 athletes.
Jacob Smith, DUPR’ s director of collegiate pickleball, said,“ The Collegiate Pickleball Tour represents a historic milestone for the sport at the college level. Over the past few years, we’ ve seen an incredible surge in interest, with thousands of athletes and hundreds of schools joining the movement.
“ The Collegiate Pickleball Tour is designed to give collegiate athletes more opportunities to compete at the highest level, showcase their talent on a national stage, and provide crucial funding to support and grow their programs. With the backing of DUPR and the UPA, we are committed to making collegiate pickleball a premier pathway for young athletes to pursue their passion and take the sport to new heights.”
In April, The University of Texas at Austin Pickleball Club won its first Collegiate National Championship over Texas Christian University.
The competitive calendar consisted of 30 Campus Regionals and eight Super Regionals, culminating in the spring Collegiate National Championship. In addition, 10 Collegiate Showcases took place at Carvana PPA Tour events, where two top collegiate teams from the region competed in a dual match. This unique opportunity allows young athletes the opportunity to play where the top pros in the world play, and have their teams showcased through coverage on the PPA Tour’ s channels.
Colleges across the country offer pickleball as a club sport or as part of a student organization. Students attending a college or university and enrolled in 9 credit hours during the semester of play can represent their school and team up with other members from their club to become part of the collegiate tour.
Collegiate Pickleball is Going Worldwide!
Launching this fall, collegiate players from around the world will have the opportunity to represent their country at the Collegiate World Championships. This two-day team event will be held the weekend before UPA Worlds and will showcase top international talent to ultimately crown the first-ever collegiate world champions.
Here are the registration details to know:
• All collegiate pickleball players from all countries are invited to compete.
• A team must have 2-3 male and 2-3 female players.
• All players from a team must represent the same country.
• Only international players can team up with others from different universities.
• Players representing the USA must partner with players from the same school.
• Players can either represent the country of their university, or the country in which they were born.
To determine the world champion, there will be group play matches on Saturday that feed into playoff brackets on Sunday. There will be group play into a 64-team playoff bracket, with every team making it into the playoffs. More details will be released as the event gets closer. •
JULY / AUGUST 2025 | MAGAZINE 31