Feature
TIME
TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL PICKLEBALL MONTH !
Created in 2018 , National Pickleball Month is an annual April celebration of what has become America ’ s fastest-growing sport .
by STEPHEN HUNT
RED LINE EDITORIAL
In 2018 , National Pickleball Month was introduced as a monthlong celebration to raise awareness about pickleball and connect more people with the fastgrowing sport .
Pickleball has only continued to grow in popularity since . In fact , the Sports and Fitness Industry Association confirmed in its 2023 Topline Participation Report that pickleball was again the United States ’ fastest-growing sport , holding that title for a third consecutive year . In 2022 , the number of stateside pickleball players almost doubled . That number increases almost 86 percent each year and has grown by nearly 159 percent over the past three years .
Given pickleball ’ s continued growth at such a breakneck pace , USA Pickleball has plenty of great things planned for this year ’ s National Pickleball Month , which begins in April .
“ As most of the public knows , unless you ’ re under a rock , pickleball is out and about . You ’ re hearing about it ,” said USA Pickleball Chief Executive Officer Mike Nealy . “ It ’ s nice to have that focus for a month , but we [ at USA Pickleball ] live it on a day-to-day basis .
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