On a sunny Friday afternoon, dozens of wiffle balls fly back and forth. Tucked away in the northwest corner of campus are groups of students eagerly waiting for a chance to play. 

Pickleball is a net sport similar to tennis but with smaller paddles, hollow balls and a shorter court. Players can choose between singles and doubles.

According to CNBC, 8.5 million Americans played pickleball eight times or more in 2022. However, prior to this fall, students were unable to easily play the sport on campus because USC had no courts. The University’s Department of Physical Education & Mind Body Health recognized the sports’ stark increase in popularity and converted one of the recreational tennis courts into four pickleball courts this fall. 

Mike Munson, associate director of recreational sports and professor of physical education, played a crucial role in bringing the sport to campus.

The process began six months ago when PEMBH started to identify potential spots for the courts. They ultimately decided to repurpose one of the six tennis courts behind Dedeaux Field.

“It’s always a challenge with a compacted campus to be able to find more recreational facilities, so we had to be creative,” Munson said. 

Munson said that the easy learning curve, broad accessibility and low cost make it easy for anyone to get involved and are large parts of what makes the sport so popular. While many frequent players are over the age of 55, the last few years have also seen a major demographic shift, with the fastest-growing population of players being under 24, according to The New York Times.

“It’s very easy to pick up and learn and play with friends in a casual setting. Because the court is a lot smaller than, say, a tennis court, the movement is less and all ages can participate and have fun,” said Ethan Palosh, a freshman majoring in computer engineering and computer science.

Palosh started playing pickleball with his family this past summer and was immediately hooked on the sport. He said he likes to play in the evenings as a way to wind down and hang out with friends.

There are already a variety of ways to get involved with the sport, including four sections of USC’s first-ever pickleball class this fall. The class is one unit and runs for one hour and 50 minutes once a week on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. In addition to playing the game, the class also contains discussions about strategy and drills that help students develop their skills.

“You can see them build their confidence and build their skills and really build their love for the game … that, to me, is tremendous to watch,” Munson said.

Sydney Chanidsa, a senior majoring in business administration, is taking Munson’s section of the course this fall. Chanidsa said she had always wanted to take a sports class because of their fun and relaxed nature and decided on pickleball because she had no prior experience but wanted to learn more.

“I was a little nervous, I’m not going to lie,” she said. “I gave it a chance, and the first day of class the professor asked what our experiences were, and it was really relieving to know that almost all the class had little to no experience.”

Munson teaches different techniques to hit the ball along with the social etiquette of playing the game, Chanidsa said.

“It’s super conversational since it’s so easy and you’re kinda close to the net. You’re able to talk to your opponents and get to know them a little bit more,” she said.

Part of why Chanidsa enjoys the class is because of Munson’s passion for the sport.

“He really wants to emphasize that pickleball is a social sport, so he tries to have us get to know each other in the class, so it’s definitely more than a regular sports class. It became a little community,” Chanidsa said.

Beyond the formal class, PEMBH is starting two intramural leagues, one for singles and one for doubles, that will run this October and November. Having promoted the courts very little, the department was shocked by the overwhelming interest. Within days of launching the registration website, the slots were completely filled. When the department released more days and times, the slots quickly filled once again. PEMBH also hopes to start a club team that would compete against other colleges and universities.

While it is challenging to find space, Munson hopes that the University will recognize the sport’s extreme popularity and appeal to wide audiences and open more courts in the near future.

“This is an excellent opportunity for students to interact, engage, meet new friends, it’s very social, you get a really good workout when you’re doing it and all skill levels feel comfortable playing,” Munson said.