On the other side of the triangle, the popularity of Pickleballs is rapidly increasing

Cynthia Etheridge has a full, busy life: she is a lifeguard and singer, and is happily married. But once she’s on a pickleball field, all of her outside titles melt away.

I could stay out all day every day if I could, she says with a laugh. You would think I have nothing else to do.

While Etheridge’s dedication to the game may be more than most (she plays at least two to three days a week), she’s far from the only person in the Triangle who has shown an interest in pickleball in recent years or in the country. matter. A lively, fast-moving combination of tennis, badminton, and ping pong created in the 1960s and loved by both 8- and 80-year-olds, Pickleballa is the fastest-growing sport in the United States, with millions of players appreciating the convenience, low barriers to entry and friendly competition.

New jobs are constantly popping up across the country, including in the Triangle, which has an estimated 4,000 players in Raleigh alone, according to Swing racket + paddle, a new racket sports facility. The facility will open in 2022 and will offer tennis courts, pickleball, beach tennis, table tennis and a vibrant racket sport called Padel.

In Durham, meanwhile, a new 14-lane pickleball facility is being installed in Piney Wood Park, with a space for lessons, tournaments and more. In Cary, Chapel Hill and Apex, courses attract hundreds of players every day.

For longtime fans of the game, the recent surge in pickle popularity isn’t surprising.

It’s such an easy sport to learn and it’s fun, says Brad Hemminger, an associate professor in UNC’s School of Information and Library Science and a Chapel Hill player. That’s why the growth is so great.

Since first taking up paddle boarding in 2012, Hemminger has become not only an avid player, but also a coach and ambassador for Chapel Hills’ growing pickleball community.

Four years ago, he hosted the city’s first-ever pickleball tournament, with over 170 teams; in the years since, Hemminger has argued for the integration of sport in schools and campuses in the Triangle. Pickleball, he says, is more than just a fun activity, it also brings in a lot of money, thanks to players coming from out of town for games and other events.

It’s really positive for local governments, he says. It generates income; it brings people in.

The addition of a company like Swinga, a $55 million project that bills itself as the largest multi-racquet sports complex in the world, and will have 76 jobs on its 45 acres, will only help, Hemminger believes.

If you have such a large facility, you can draw national tournaments and national tournaments, he explains. We’re already bringing in tens of thousands of dollars, but we can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for the city, as well as many visitors.

But even before the space opens up, the Triangle is already making a splash as a fast-growing hub for the game.

I think pickleball is going to overshadow tennis in terms of final player count, said Banks Talley, a member of the Raleigh Pickleball Fanatics, an offshoot of the larger Raleigh Pickleball Club Facebook group, which has nearly 1,000 members. That would really say something, if Talley’s prediction comes true, since the Triangle is also home to a thriving tennis community (it’s the #4 market for membership activations, according to the United States Tennis Association.)

In a friend’s recently built Cary project, he adds, the planners built more pickleball courts than tennis courts because they know they will be used more.

Meanwhile, Etheridge says that on her pickleball adventures, she’s met players from as far as Wilmington and beyond Fayetteville, who have made the trek to the Triangle due to a lack of jobs in their own cities. The prestige of the area has its drawbacks. Etheridge notes that the courts at Method Community Park, where she often plays, are so crowded that she had to wait nearly 45 minutes for a game, but for the most part, pickleball fans are happy to see their hometown thriving through the sport. .

Raleigh has grown exponentially over the past 25 years [and] I think they’re trying to be ahead of the trend rather than behind it, Talley says. The game, he notes, has been popular in other cities for decades, but it wasn’t until quite recently that Raleigh and surrounding cities became hubs in its own right. Part of it, he explains, is due to the warm weather in the Triangles.

It’s one of those sports that can be played almost 12 months a year, at least here, Talley says. Aside from the (very) occasional snow, even the winter season is no problem for dedicated local pickleball fans; the game requires plenty of movement and energy that usually leaves players sweaty.

If you play pickleball the way you should, you’ll leave with a very aerobic workout, he says.

The year-round outdoor environment is especially appealing during the ongoing pandemic, as players can social distancing over a net and wear masks without affecting gameplay. Over the past year and a half, similar sports such as racquetball or ping pong became harder to play safely, but pickles grew in popularity, especially in the Triangle.

The demographics of the areas also make it perfectly suited for the sport. With a surplus of retirees and college students, two of Pickleball’s largest playgroups, wherever you are in the Triangle, it’s easy to find people to play with and play all different skill levels, Hemminger says.

Eric Zeigler, a Zumba and chess instructor who is also a certified pickleball coach with the International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association (IPTPA), recalls being skeptical at first that the sport would suit him. Asked by a player if he wanted to learn it, Zeigler hesitated until the man added, unless you think the games are only for white old men.

I was shocked, because that’s exactly what I thought, Zeigler recalls with a laugh. So I ate a simple pie and said, yes, that’s a nice thought, so he said, here, take a moment and I’ll show you, and that moment turned 12.

As a coach, Zeigler thrives on teaching new players, even those who have never played a single sport, let alone one with a paddle how to get into the game. You can go right out and have fun, whether you know all the rules or not, he says.

And once a player is up and running, it’s easy to find a local game or session, thanks to the Facebook groups and other Meetup groups like the Apex-based Triangle Pickleball Lovers.

Or you can stop by the Y or Method at any time and ask players if there’s room for another one. There is a good chance that you will be welcomed on the field.

Every day there is someone who is completely new, which is always exciting, says Zeigler. After all, he adds, the whole point of pickleball is to bring community together, break dividing lines, and bring love and purpose to this game we all love.

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