Pickleball’s popularity, in the words of an official from the Association of Pickleball Players, “has spread like wildfire.” Not long ago, the sport was played primarily by older adults. Today, it’s increasingly dominating the collegiate recreation landscape.
“Three years ago, there were 20 or 30 pickleball clubs in the country at the collegiate level,” says Dominic Catalano, director of collegiate pickleball for the APP and a former assistant director of intramurals at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky. “Today, you have universities that are building pickleball facilities on their campuses, some with 10 or 12 courts.”
Baylor University, for example, opened the Paul and Jill Underwood Pickleball Courts, a 12-court outdoor facility that serves as the home base for the Baylor Pickleball Club. Meanwhile, the University of Toledo replaced a pair of outdoor tennis courts and an outdoor basketball court with seven pickleball courts.
All told, there are almost 250 pickleball clubs in the country — many of them overseen and coached by students, according to Hana Papaco, director of recreational and collegiate engagement for USA Pickleball. “We’re seeing this insane amount of growth,” she says. “Within the next five years or so, I can see it becoming an NCAA sport.”
Autonomy and buzz
According to Pickleheads, a leading online compiler of pickleball court locations and player demographics, players between the ages of 18 and 24 rank among the top three largest demographics of pickleball players in the United States. And while casual and recreational players make up the majority of all pickleball participants, competitive play is increasing.
No wonder NIRSA, USA Pickleball, the APP and pickleball equipment maker Selkirk Sport teamed up last summer to bring pickleball into the NIRSA Championship Series lineup of sports, which also includes basketball, soccer, flag football and tennis.
“Our collective mission is to grow the game of pickleball on college campuses, and each organization has stepped up to bring meaningful benefits to college programs and players,” Catalano says. “From funding, education and equipment to technology and a national competition platform, this is transformational for college pickleball.”
The APP Selkirk Collegiate Series is the only college pickleball entity that is officially sanctioned by USA Pickleball. A series of regional qualifiers were hosted across the country in fall 2025, and the season will culminate with the 2026 APP Selkirk U.S. Collegiate Championships at The Courts in Cape Coral, Fla., in early March. Schools and individuals will compete for scholarship money, gold medals and national bragging rights.
The APP held its first independent collegiate event in Indianapolis during the 2023-24 academic year, then launched a regional series of qualifying events for a national championship during the 2024-25 academic year.
“We wanted to see where the sport was at, and it was starting to grow,” Catalano says. “But when we signed with NIRSA, I believe we took a big step toward legitimizing the sport of pickleball at the collegiate level.”
“Pickleball is for all, and [this partnership] opens the door for so many kids to get involved on campus,” adds Papaco, a former collegiate tennis player. “One of the things we’ve seen is the autonomy of college students getting their friends together and creating a club on campus. It’s amazing just seeing that. I can’t think of another sport where we’ve seen that much autonomy. There’s this refreshing buzz.”
‘An Energetic, Electric Experience’
The NIRSA Championship Series for pickleball — which includes qualifiers in Florida, New Jersey and Texas throughout January and into early February — is one of many competitive opportunities available to collegiate pickleball players. The National Collegiate Pickleball Association sponsors a collegiate tour, and so does the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating, a global rating system developed by the founder of Major League Pickleball. Collegiate co-ed teams are comprised of two males and two females who play mixed doubles and gender doubles.
“[A tournament] is a very energetic, electric experience,” says Chloee Butterfield, head coach of the Utah Tech University Pickleball Club, which is consistently ranked among the best clubs in the country. “That scene is very much what I would have loved in college, and what I think college students right now just really enjoy. They compete, but they also mingle, so there’s still the social side of pickleball. Plus, if you’re really good, there’s the potential for you to go win money on weekends and have scholarship opportunities.”
Located in St. George, Utah Tech is one of a handful of universities to take its pickleball club to the varsity level. That means Butterfield — who was head of intramurals as a student at Utah State University and is now a local pickleball instructor in St. George — is a paid coach. The university offers scholarships and covers travel expenses, and the club has an official sponsorship from Selkirk Sport. While Utah Tech’s pickleball club is still under the campus recreation umbrella, Drury University in Springfield, Mo., claims to have the first varsity pickleball team that falls under an athletic department’s purview.
Regardless of semantics, the sport’s evolution at the collegiate level is a big deal, according to Butterfield. “I think the more that other colleges look at this as a legitimate pathway, that just trickles down to high school kids and brings more athletes into the sport,” she says.
St. George is a pickleball hub, and Utah Tech attracts a lot of students from the area — making the university’s pickleball club a natural fit. Butterfield’s advice to campus recreation professionals looking to start or advance a pickleball club is to engage their communities. High school athletic directors, private instructors, and even parks and recreation officials can not only help create a pipeline of competitive players but also generate local excitement for the sport by hosting clinics or offering fundraising opportunities.
Pickleball’s fast rise among college players has been powered by steady progress, often from the ground up, adds Catalano.
“Yes, we are about the competitive side of things,” he says of the APP. “But we also want to focus on the grassroots side of things, because a lot of [collegiate] programs aren’t at a point where they can compete or travel yet. Some even still need nets, balls and paddles. And that’s where this partnership with NIRSA, Selkirk Sports, USA Pickleball and the APP comes into play. We all have tentacles that can reach out to help these programs.”
USA Pickleball, for example, has added a “Collegiate Pickleball” section to its website, which offers a variety of resources for campus recreation professionals — including details on how to start a club, club best practices, a budget planner, grant programs and more.
“We have plenty of resources, no matter what pickleball looks like at your school,” Papaco says. “If you’re just trying to get students involved, or you’re already looking to travel and have a competitive club, we can meet you at any level. We’re excited about collegiate pickleball and want to help it grow as much as we can.”
“This comes down to more than just winning tournaments,” Butterfield concludes. “We can get these college athletes to want to be part of something bigger than themselves, to engage with people from all walks of life. That’s the wonderful thing about pickleball.”
