Written by: Alissa Flores
After a long wait, university intramurals are back in the game, ready to serve up some fun competition this year. With previous Accent articles publicizing the rise in intramural participation over the last two years, this coming semester is looking like it will be a smash hit, particularly for pickleball.
According to Troy Walker, director of intramural sports at Southern Adventist University, there has been a significant increase in the singles/doubles sports on campus. Pickleball matches, as well as leisure competition on the courts, has seen exponential growth. In the spring of 2022, when the university first offered pickleball as an intramural option, its 37 teams included mens, womens and mixed doubles.
“That year there were no A and B leagues, but I think last year I broke some of it up into A and B, and this year, it’s gonna be obvious that I’ve got to offer A and B for men’s, women’s and co-ed,” Walker said. “That definitely has to happen with the pure numbers of teams.”
According to Walker, the number of pickleball teams in 2023 spiked to 81, more than double the number of teams compared to the first year. He stated that the sport’s reputation of being easier to pick up and play than other racquet sports, and requiring less running, lends itself to its popularity.
Preston Waters, senior marketing major and the head of the pickleball life group, is excited about its popularity.
“I am the life group leader for pickleball and prayer, and my life group size has nearly doubled with the amount of people who come to the Southern courts on Friday at 2:00,” said Waters.
Walker added, “This will be our third year with pickleball intramurals. We’ve done it for two years now. It’s difficult to say the specific rate, but it has grown faster than any other sport.”
Many students have enjoyed the addition of pickleball as an intramural option and have voiced their stories and appreciation for its impact on student life. Waters told his story of winning a men’s A league championship, as well as the mixed B league with his fiancée, Alexis Dewey.
Raegan Blake, sophomore public relations major, stated that her love for pickleball was solidified when she was able to play a tournament with her brother during her first year on campus. Blake and her teammate, Anderson Mills Slade, won the women’s doubles B league championship for pickleball in 2023.
Matthew Taylor, junior mass communications media production major, stated that although he personally views pickleball as the “dessert of sports,” it is what people want to play. Given its popularity, he understands why pickleball is now offered as an intramural sport.
This growth has raised concerns in the intramural department that tennis might fall behind in popularity and importance.
“I don’t want to hurt tennis because of it,” Walker said. “I want to be able to maintain a solid tennis program, but I want to make room for a solid pickleball program too because I think it’s that type of sport and activity that allows people to be active and social easier than other sports.”
According to Walker, tennis intramurals have also grown and the program is seeing increased participation compared to previous years. However, with the surge of pickleball’s popularity, there has been a shortage of courts on campus. Walker confirmed that his department has run into court space issues, where tennis players have to wait for a court because of heavy pickleball use.
Walker continued to share that discussion of adding dedicated pickleball courts to accommodate the growing student population and intramural participation has risen. Southern’s campus currently uses tennis courts with pickleball lines added onto them.
“From what I understand, [new courts] are still on the schedule to actually happen. It’s a matter of figuring out where they go,” Walker said. “They were originally going to all go down by the lower tennis courts. Now, they’re talking about maybe half of them down there and half of them up by the upper tennis courts.”
Walker said this news could mean fewer lines and more opportunity for the student population to enjoy paddle or racquet sports without a crowding issue.
Jordan McCullough, a longtime intramural referee, said, “I’ve definitely seen a lot more intermingling down on the courts when I go down there. Sometimes there are lines of people waiting to get onto a court.”
“I feel that pickleball is such a booming sport that everyone is getting involved,”
“I feel that pickleball is such a booming sport that everyone is getting involved.”
Waters said. “I love seeing students get involved with it on campus. The addition of a pickleball P.E. class is really exciting, too. The one thing Southern is missing is the actual pickleball courts. There is a need. It just needs to be filled.”
Alongside the sport’s increase in popularity, some students said it has also had an impact on their lives.
Blake shared her affection for the sport and how it has affected her regular life on campus.
“[The people in my life group], which normally aren’t in my circle because they’re not in my department, are now [my] friends,” she said. “Now I say ‘hi’ to those people across the campus, and we don’t always talk about pickleball, but sometimes that’s the conversation starter, and then we talk about other things, about our lives.”
