KINGSTON, R.I. – March 24, 2023 – The URI Club Pickleball team dominated Providence College in its first-ever collegiate pickleball match on March 19 at Old Mountain Field in Wakefield.
The team took the match 3-1, with the women’s doubles and mixed doubles teams posting wins. Club president Ryan Estus ’26 said the match is, to his knowledge, the first-ever collegiate pickleball competition in Rhode Island, if not New England.
URI’s Club Pickleball team was established in the Fall of 2022. To date, Providence and Brandeis University are the only other New England schools with teams. URI’s team proposed the matchup with the PC team via Instagram.
“We offered to host, started brainstorming potential dates, and the rest is history,” Estus said.
According to usapickleball.org, pickleball was invented in 1965 by Joel Pritchard, a congressman from Washington State, and businessman Bill Bell. The two had intended to play badminton at Pritchard’s home but could not find the requisite racquets and, so, lowered the net and improvised with ping pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball.
Interest in the sport has exploded in recent years. The Sports and Fitness Industry Association calls it the fastest growing sport of 2023 with 4.8 million Americans playing, according to NPR.
“It is a very social sport at its core, due to its smaller court size allowing players to interact more frequently between points, as well as the camaraderie it creates,” Estus said. “It’s also popular because it creates less of a strain on the human body. The smaller court requires less lateral movement, which is why it is quite common to see anyone from age 17 to 70 battling it out on the same court.
“I have been playing tennis for about 10 years now, and decided to pick up pickleball over the past summer. After two practices, I was hooked. A lot of skills in tennis are pretty easy to translate between sports, such as footwork, groundstrokes, being able to add spin on the ball, etc. So if you’re a tennis player and you’re looking to learn how to play pickleball, it may be an easier learning curve than most.”
Estus commended PC’s play, calling the team talented and competitive. URI Club Pickleball team faculty advisor Mary Parlange had high praise for URI’s showing.
“This is a hardy group of students! It was cold and blustery out there, but they’re used to those conditions because, unlike PC, we don’t have indoor practice space — and it worked to URI’s advantage.
“Enthusiasm from local pickleballers and teammates on the sidelines made the match really fun. Ryan and the whole team have started something really great here!”
Next on the team’s agenda is to apply for club sport recognition with the Club Sports and Intramural Council. Fundraising is another priority. Thus far, the team has raised more than $1,300 through GoFundMe, which it intends to use to enter national collegiate competitions.
— This story was written by Marybeth Reilly-McGreen