Eden Prairie's Chad Flynn is a runaway success in pro pickleball

Eden Prairie resident Chad Flynn and his Indy Drivers teammates captured the 2023 National Pickleball League championship. Photo courtesy of Indy Drivers

Like many others, professional pickleball player Chad Flynn discovered a new passion during COVID-19. For him, it happened to come from an old one.

“I played a lot of tennis (United States Tennis Association), he said. And I couldn't play at Life Time (Fitness) because they were closed.

Instead of playing tennis outside, Flynn, 54, decided to try something different.

I told my wife, 'Hey, I'm going to go to the local court and try pickleball,'” he said.

Advertisement

That decision a few years ago has paid off for the Eden Prairie resident. He started playing singles and was soon competing in tournaments. In his first tournament he finished fourth. Things only got better from there, as he rose to No. 3 in the senior world rankings.

Origin of the sport

According to American PickleballPickleball, the sport's national governing body, was invented in 1965 because of bored kids.

After playing golf near his home on Bainbridge Island, Washington, one day, state Rep. Joel Pritchard came home to find his 13-year-old son complaining about having nothing to do. Pritchard and his friend Bill Bell suggested badminton, but they couldn't find the shuttles. They improvised and grabbed a perforated plastic ball and table tennis bats. That day the first game of pickleball was played. Soon Pritchard and Bell asked their friend Barney McCallum to help them, and the three improved the equipment and came up with the rules.

Today, pickleball is played with lightweight paddles that are larger than table tennis paddles but smaller than tennis rackets. The ball is made of hard plastic. The net is one meter high at the posts and 60 centimeters high in the middle. The goal, just like in tennis, is to get the ball over the net so that your opponent cannot return it or makes a mistake.

Advertisement

And the name pickleball”? That came from Pritchard's wife, Joan. The combination of sports combined at the game's origins reminded her of pickle boats, the term used in rowing for boat crews made up of rowers left over from other boats.

Finding a love for the sport

As Flynn played more, he discovered a passion for the game.

My wife (Twin Cities Public Television's Mary Lahammer) is a television host/reporter. She just loves her job, he said. She has a smile on her face every day.

I've never actually had that with anything. But I do it with pickle.

When the National Pickleball League (NPL), a doubles competition for players aged 50 and over, was founded at the end of 2022. Flynn decided to register to be considered for draft by the league. He was selected in the first draft of the Indy Drivers. The first season didn't go too bad for Flynn, the Drivers won the championship.

Unsurprisingly, Flynn says winning the team championship and reaching third place in the senior rankings are the two achievements he is most proud of so far in his career.

Not a repeat title, but a look at the future

The NPL season consists of six competition weekends from May to October in cities across the country. This year's championship weekend was in Cincinnati.

The Indy Drivers were unable to win a second straight NPL title, finishing 10th in the season-ending championship weekend matches. The Boca Raton Picklers from Florida won the championship this season.

Still, Flynn enjoyed the season and the bond the drivers formed.

This year I am happy with our team and the friendships we have made, he said. Our entire team feels like a family.

Flynn plans to return to the NPL next year as he works on the growth he has seen in his own game.

My doubles game has really improved, he said.

It has that.

After the NPL season concluded, Flynn won a professional senior doubles tournament on another tour, securing a gold medal with partner Gonzalo Petschen at the Professional Pickleball Clubs Veolia Milwaukee Open on November 17.