Pickleball has taken the United States by storm over the past few years. It is gaining international popularity in countries such as Canada, India, Australia, England, and more.
According to an APP Tour article from 2023, 48.3 million Americans have played pickleball in the last year.
The college club pickleball scene is expanding at a very similar pace all over the country. In a recent article about the University of Virginia club pickleball team, their club numbers have risen astronomically.
At the start of 2022-2023 school year, there were approximately 60 students in the club, with very few competitive college teams to play against. This year, there were extremely competitive tryouts for the top level team, while there are also hundreds of club members who are there for the social atmosphere.
This theme is happening at colleges and universities across the country. In fact, the college scene has gotten so big that Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR) has an entire ranking system for clubs who have attended their events.
Speaking of events, this weekend DUPR is holding a collegiate Super Regional tournament in Utah. Some of the top club teams in the country are attending, including Utah Tech, Utah Valley, Utah State, Grand Canyon, and Arizona State. The top teams will earn scholarship money AND an invite to the College National Championships in June. At the championships, teams are playing for a total of $20,000 in scholarship money.
While college pickleball is not an NCAA sanctioned sport, the club sport route has helped pickleball grow across many campuses. It doesn’t seem like the NCAA will add pickleball in the near future, so the club sport scene looks like it is set to continue to rise.
Be on the lookout for more companies to get involved in the collegiate club pickleball scene. ProXR is sponsoring the UVA club tournament team and all of the players are using their paddles. In addition to the paddle sponsorship, they have also secured a shoe sponsorship with Head Pickleball.
Look for more collegiate pickleball coverage moving forward from The Dink, as the space continues to grow.
