What do Selena Gomez, Bill Gates and LeBron James all have in common? Pickleball! Pickleball has been the fastest growing sport in the United States in the last three years. What once began as backyard fun has now transformed into a massive sport. According to The Association of Pickleball Players (APP), around 40 million people in the United States have played pickleball at least once in the past 12 months. Pickleball combines the elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis.
As students may have heard, the Saint Viator community can now ‘dink’ it out at pickleball club. Pickleball is a social sport and very inclusive.
“We want this to be a fun club for people to learn how to play, play with other beginners or for people that know how to play to have a chance to play with friends,” said sophomore Kate Ziebka, co-director of the Saint Viator pickleball club.
Pickleball is easy to learn and is fast-paced fun. Many students are already interested and excited about pickleball club. Many local schools have pickleball clubs as well, and for those who are more advanced, there exist opportunities to compete in tournaments. At Palatine High School, there was a high school club pickleball tournament last year. With over 20 teams competing, the event was a big success. Maybe this year Saint Viator can compete in tournaments like this. Pickleball has the potential to bring our school community even closer together, since anyone has the ability to participate in it.
As Bill Gates once said, “Everyone from the super young to the super-old can take part. It takes minutes to learn the basics, games are short and all you need is a net, paddle and ball to get started. It doesn’t take much skill to hit the ball, either, because it doesn’t move as fast as a tennis ball. The best thing about pickleball, however, is that it’s just super fun.”
Students should keep an eye out for more information: the club is still trying to finalize details. The first step in becoming like Selena Gomez, Bill Gates and LeBron is to pick up the paddle and stay out of the kitchen!
