I arrived at the pickleball courts at 8:30 AM on Monday expecting to watch ninety picklers square off in the annual Labor Day Pickleball Round Robin. Mother Nature, as is her wont, had other ideas. I parked my golf cart in one of the few remaining spaces and walked to The Deck to get my usual large cold brew with room for cream before settling in for two hours of pickleball. In the three minutes it took me to get my order and leave, it started to rain. It was not a gentle rain. It poured. While it didn’t last long, it turned the courts into shallow lakes, deep enough to force the court sports crew to cancel the event. It’s too bad. Ninety contestants, representing nearly ten percent of our pickle population, is proof positive that round robins are fun.
I think we can agree, either Mother Nature is either a &@!$# (fill in your own pejorative) or sending the message that unless we treat her better, we can kiss outdoor fun goodbye. Is it just pickleball that the old gal resents? Who knows, but the number of pickle tournaments that have been cancelled, postponed or shortened by rain in the last three years alone, has many of us wondering.
Round robins are popular for many reasons. It can be said that the social aspects alone make them a crowd pleaser. After all, this is The Landings so the opportunity to play pickleball while enjoying a few libations at 8:30 AM is a magnet. The format pits elite players against their peers and provides new players the opportunity to meet kindred souls while experiencing tournament play and learning what it takes to move up the skills ladder.
In other news, there are more clues that pickleball is expanding as a global phenomenon. As noted in a previous article, the French have adopted the sport as signaled by the addition of four courts for exhibition play at the French Open. For the third consecutive year DUPR has teamed with Pickleball England. What was, just three years ago, a grass roots initiative to introduce the sport in the mother country, currently has 35,000 players, making it one of the largest non-U.S. federations internationally. In addition, a Pickleball World Rankings event was held in Dubai in July. Does this mean there will be a LIV styled league for pickleball in our future?
As of 2024 there are fifty-eight member countries overseen by the International Pickleball Federation, including the USA, France, the UAR, England, China, Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. One thing we can count on, once pickleball is introduced, growth can be expected to be rapid. So, is pickleball soon to be an Olympic sport? With a little luck it will replace breakdancing. Please. The sooner the better!
Finally, take note. A recent study involving approximately 80,000 people showed that racquet sports were correlated with a reduction in all-cause mortality. Tennis and pickleball topped the list with 9.7 years, followed with badminton at 6.2 years.