Over the last few decades, pickleball has been trending globally due to the amount of people playing the game. According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, the number of people playing pickleball grew 159 percent over three years to 8.9 million athletes and enthusiasts in 2022.

As pickleball has grown in popularity, more young people have started to pick up this new sport. “I think it’s become popular because anyone can play it, and it doesn’t require as much movement as tennis,” said Godwin junior Daniel Keogh.

Pickleball is either played in doubles or singles on a court a third of the area of one which is used to play tennis. Games are played to 11 points where only the serving team can score, and the winning team must lead with 2 points, or the game will go into overtime.

“My favorite aspect is the teamwork you need when playing doubles and the fast-paced environment,” said Godwin senior Landon Goodwyn.

With Henrico County’s August announcement of a new championship pickleball court in Pouncey Tract Park, the newly approved 12-court complex will double the amount of courts at Pouncey Tract, and add on to the 26 courts throughout the county.

“Don’t try to do too much, find some good competition, and communicate with your partner,” said Godwin senior Alex Hetzel.

During the summer of 1965, former Washington Congressman Joel Pritchard, and businessman Bill Bell, came home from golfing to find their families bored. Not knowing what to do to pass the time, they went to an old badminton court, brought ping pong paddles and perforated plastic balls, and they were ready to play.

Bell and Pritchard, with the help of Barney Mccallum, started setting up the rules for this new game. Even though a lot of the rules for this game relied heavily on the rules from badminton, they still kept in mind the original purpose of the game, and just like that, pickleball was born.

While there has been a lot of angst to get involved in this trending sport, there still remains ambiguity around it. There are still a great number of people who haven’t picked up the paddle yet.

“I think they should go try it out with a friend, you don’t have to be good or anything, it’s just something to go out and do when bored,” said Godwin senior Jackie Stevenson.