During a time of pandemic isolation, Auburn introduced eight pickleball courts in 2020 to provide students with a chance to socialize. Three years since, pickleball has erupted across campus, creating communities that focus on uplifting their members on and off the court.
Despite the vinegary title, pickleball doesn't involve pickles. Instead, the sport is a fusion of tennis, ping pong and badminton. Pickleball players play with paddles and a wiffleball where one to two players play on each side of a 34-inch net. Whichever side makes the other side lose the set gains a point. Pickleball can be played indoors or outdoors, but Auburn students mostly play outdoors.
Pickleball isn’t a relatively new sport. In the summer of 1965, Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum created the sport in Washington. Before 2020, Americans regularly played pickleball. However, during the pandemic, Gen Z further popularized the pickleball craze, transforming it from a sport known mostly to be played by older generations to a collegiate sport.
Auburn players typically use the courts in RO parking lot, the Samford Avenue Tennis Center and the Opelika Sportsplex. Most students play after classes and some play well into the evening because the courts stay lit all night.
To Caleb Jensen, a graduate student in accounting, pickleball is integral to connecting with his community. With his church, Jensen created a GroupMe for the sole purpose of recreationally playing pickleball.
Jensen’s first time playing pickleball was at the RO courts in December of 2021 when friends invited him. He explained that he has always loved racket sports and that pickleball seemed to stick once he started.
Jensen sees pickleball as a solid study break and a great way to spend free time. He explained that pickleball also creates unexpected friendships with classmates and people of different ages and backgrounds.
“If ping pong is elementary school, and tennis is high school, I think pickleball is middle school. It’s a lot like tennis, but it is slower,” Jensen said, explaining how he would describe pickleball to someone unfamiliar with it.
Daniel Walker, senior in interdisciplinary studies focusing on aerospace engineering and public administration, is part of the same group chat. Walker was first introduced to pickleball by his dad three years ago as a way for them to stay active together.
As a freshman, Walker used the indoor racquetball courts at the Auburn Rec until a friend suggested they play at the RO courts his sophomore year. Walker said that playing pickleball at Auburn helped him reconnect with people during a time of loneliness, and he loves the sport because it is his favorite way of exercising.
Both Jensen and Walker agreed the sport and its community are welcoming. Walker advised students who feel intimidated should bring a friend to play their first match with. He said people are generally welcoming and willing to help those new to the game.
Outside of friend group chats, pickleball has become so popular with Auburn students that there is an official club for recreation and competitive play. President Reid Roberts, sophomore in software engineering, and co-founder Weston Reich, sophomore in aerospace engineering, created the Auburn Pickleball Club during their freshman year.
A year later, the two noted the sport had gained heavy recognition this year, but the craze isn’t new. According to the founders, when Auburn implemented eight new pickleball courts at RO parking three years ago, the sport blew up among students because it connected students at the beginning of the pandemic.
For Roberts, pickleball has always been a way for him to connect with others and feed his competitive side. He started playing in the third grade when his sister and some neighborhood kids invited him to try out the sport. Roberts said he has always been a massive fan of playing ping pong, and pickleball is the bigger, more addictive version of it.
“Once you start pickleball, you’re hooked,” Reich said.
Reich, who has been playing pickleball for six years, discovered the sport on a cruise during his freshman year of high school. To him, the sport can be recreational or competitive, and the smaller courts provide friendly, more community-focused play.
Roberts and Reich both heard about each other during matches at the RO courts and after hearing about each other multiple times, they decided they had to meet. Both freshmen at the time, Roberts explained that it was nerve-wracking for them to go and present their idea for the pickleball club to Student Involvement.
However, in its first year, the AU Pickleball Club gained the attention of numerous students and staff. Student Involvement nominated the club for its Outstanding New Organization award. With over 60 students consistently hitting the court, the club has competed against other universities like the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jacksonville State University and Georgia Institute of Technology.
The club also partners with companies like Gamma Sports, Legacy and Franklin. The club won multiple matches and its division's national championship at the first-ever Collegiate National Championship for pickleball last year in Dripping Springs, Texas, hosted by the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating.
Reich, who is also a resident advisor, explained he uses pickleball to give freshmen an avenue to become involved and connected on campus. According to Roberts and Reich, the club’s goal is to create a home for Auburn’s growing pickleball community, have fun and be social while getting some good exercise.
The club practices at the RO courts every Tuesday and Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and allows interested students to play if equipment is available. To play competitively with the team, students need to pay a $10 fee each semester, which covers equipment, court reservations and travel.
Students interested in joining the club competitively or recreationally can do so through their AUInvolve page. Roberts and Reich recommended that students follow the club’s Instagram page to stay up-to-date on tournaments, tryouts and clinics.
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