‘ The Middle ’
While on tour this summer , country pop singer-songwriter phenom Maren Morris and her band set up a travel pickleball court in the middle of a parking lot in between cities .
By Laura Gainor Photos by Rachel Deeb
Pickleball has reached mega-star status . Film and television icons , music artists , professional football , hockey , baseball and basketball legends , and billionaire power couples have fallen in love with the sport .
Most recently , country pop artist Maren Morris has jumped on the pickleball train , making the sport a part of her team ’ s daily routine while they are on tour throughout the U . S .
Morris , 32 , and German DJ-producer Zedd ’ s 2018 collaboration “ The Middle ” is a six-time platinum smash hit . In August , the duo released a new single titled “ Make You Say .” Morris has a collection of music awards and accolades , including Female Artist of the Year , Song of the Year for her triple-platinum , Grammy-nominated hit “ The Bones ,” Best Country Solo and Best Country Song for “ My Church ” and many more . Morris ’ third album , “ Humble Quest ,” was released in March .
Recently , Pickleball Magazine caught up with her to talk about her love for the sport . We learned of Morris ’ participation in June when she tweeted that the tour ’ s pickleball court was set up in a parking lot next to the tour bus .
“ We played a couple of games before it was time to go do our show ,” she recalls . “ Even though in the photos I look like I ’ m dominating , I actually lost that game . I absolutely love pickleball , and it ’ s such a fun story as to how we were able to include the sport in our national tour this summer .
“ I was adamant about pickleball becoming a trend for my team while we were out on tour . I went on Amazon and bought a ton of equipment so we could set up a travel court at each venue throughout the duration of our tour ! It ’ s funny , I don ’ t think I ’ ve ever played on a real pickleball court ,” Morris laughed . “ It would be so nice to get to play on a real court once the tour is over !”
And just like that , the great sport of pickleball caught on with Texas-born Morris and her team . The first travel court they created was at a tour stop in Raleigh , North Carolina . “ Since I was still getting to know the crew members who were new to my team , pickleball was a great way to get the crew together and bond over a game that is entertaining and social in nature ,” she says . “ It was a great way to get to know each other !
“ It ’ s just fun to walk past after a few hours and see the crew playing and they ’ ve picked up their own game . It makes me so happy it ’ s caught on and maybe they ’ ll go home and play during the week when they ’ re off the road .”
Morris , who has a 2-year-old son with musician husband Ryan Hurd , admits that at first she had no idea how to play . But she googled the basics and got some games going . At the beginning , it was mainly the band members who played . Since the crew is often busy setting up and tearing down the stage between cities , they join the fun once they get a break or their job is complete .
“ My husband hasn ’ t played yet , but I know he ’ d pick it up so quickly ,” Morris says . “ I picked up tennis during the pandemic , which then bloomed into pickleball . I play tennis with Ryan often and I ’ m sure he would love pickleball .”
With pickleball ’ s similarities to tennis , Morris was surprised by how different the two sports actually are . “ I thought it would be more intuitive , similar to tennis ,” she explains . “ But the paddles are so big . You have to hit
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SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2022 | MAGAZINE 35