Pickleball: The Newest Professional Sport

By Hannah Lancman ‘22

    Recently, sports news stations across the globe were taken by storm at the revolutionary game of pickleball. This competition of champions is no ordinary sport but rather an example of true gallantry. The fight between players from ages three to 70 has spread faster than a certain uncontrollable pandemic.

The game is easy to pick up, easy to play and easy to win if you’re worthy. Although most players abstain from donning the traditional knight’s suit of armor, sword and shield in today’s age, the game still upholds its sense of valor. 
Pickleball itself stems from the word “pickle” as in to ferment specific vegetables with an array of brines and spices. In the middle ages, children played with their pickled vegetables and used them like balls for different sports. These children were not particularly intelligent as the vegetables were mostly cucumbers and fell apart almost immediately after the games began. 
Since then, pickleball has changed course. Knights who had scrambled out of poverty and reached royal status fondly remembered their days of throwing pickles and decided to pick up the game once more. A few knights of significantly older age had trouble keeping up with their younger counterparts and wanted a game similar to tennis that their old bones could handle. The men grouped together and so the modern game of pickleball was born. 
A small court about half the size of a regulation tennis court was constructed and the players were divided into singles and doubles. Each player was given a wooden paddle, similar to a Matkot paddle, and a ball about the size of a softball made of animal intestines. This has been changed to plastic in modern regulation but a traditional few still prefer intestine-made balls. 
Over the centuries, the rules have been tweaked but the International Pickleball Association (IPBA), has released final scoring rules similar to those of ping-pong. The game remains available for anyone to play but has taken an overwhelming interest in the teenage and senior communities. 
“Pickleball means the world to me; it will always have a special place in my heart. It really transformed my life and helped me find meaning,” a very passionate Eve Askin said after participating in Golda Och Academy’s Student Council pickleball tournament. 
Right next door to GOA’s Upper School, seniors can be found playing at the specialized pickleball courts, whacking away with their paddles in rain or shine. The students of GOA have found it incredibly uplifting to observe this group of older people play their hearts out. 
Shir Komorovski said it best. “Seeing old people play with tiny rackets is all I ask for in life.” 
From the third-floor windows of the building, students can be seen anxiously watching the neon ball whip back and forth across the net as they cheer for moms with baseball caps and frail grandparents. Pickleball provides these onlookers with a sense of community so unlike other professional sports that are filled with rivalries and scandals. 
Pickleball is a noble sport and should be treated as such which is why the IPBA is moving out of the West Orange Tennis Club’s basement and into ESPN’s office in New York, providing them with the prestigious surroundings pickleball needs. ESPN will now be exclusively broadcasting pickleball games, tournaments and other news associated with the sport. Pickleball has been trying to gain the respect it deserves for centuries and now, with the help of seniors, it finally has.