By: Claudia Casal Montserrat and Nelson Kramer

People Editor and Editor-in-Chief

For years, people have considered pickleball to be an old person’s sport, and yet, the outdated script is fading as youth and retirees alike pick up their pickleball paddles; more paddle traffic is returning to the Bay Area. This revolution is spreading quickly, and it doesn’t look like it will stop anytime soon. 

Many college and high school students are adopting the sport as a fun activity with friends on weekends. For the broader community, groups are forming at clubs around the bay to practice on weekends and travel to compete in the same events, especially in Los Gatos.

Many Los Gatans are joining the fixation on pickleball, and long-time resident and mom, Barbara Massa, is all in. From soccer to tennis to pickleball, Massa has been a part of the athletic community of Los Gatos for a long time. Her transition to pickleball is a product of many factors, including her appreciation for the dynamic, reflex-based gameplay and strong community. Massa expressed, “You don’t have to have a club to play pickleball. Yes, there are memberships, and you can belong to a club, but there are also some public courts that you can go to. It just felt like pickleball was a really inclusive community in my experience.” Massa has competed alongside her husband, Rick Massa, and many friends in tournaments everywhere, ranging from San Diego to Rome. Bringing home medals and qualifying for exclusive tournaments are all part of the fun, “It’s just heightened, like the nerves are just a little higher. These are some of the best players in the country, so everybody’s bringing their A game.” 

The rise in pickleball’s popularity is not limited to suburban neighborhoods but has taken hold on college campuses nationwide. Heavy investment and interest in pickleball make the newly adopted college sport increasingly widespread and popular. Although it is not yet an official sport in the NCAA Division 1, scholarships and varsity programs are newly available to exemplary players, as seen at Utah Tech, which became 2025’s Collegiate World Champions. According to USA Pickleball, there are 212 collegiate pickleball clubs, with the University of Florida including over 400 members in its club as of 2024.

As pickleball continues to make headlines, this sport inspires people of all ages to come together, and proves to foster community in unexpected ways, as massa comments “ it is one of those sports where you cannot judge a book by its cover. You can go out and play someone that’s 20-30 years older than you, and they will absolutely smash the ball back at you and leave you like, ‘Wow, I just got my butt kicked.” From retirement communities to college campuses this spike in activity and community marks the beginning of a new era for pickleball.