How to Find a Pickleball Community Near You
Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, and it seems like it’s only a matter of time until it becomes a household name.
Residents in the State of Washington think so as they’re trying to make pickleball the official state sport. (hyperlink to Washington state post)
Even though pickleball has had a steady climb, it’s still not as common as the big four sports, so it can take a little bit of effort to find the right start if you’re interested in pickleball (either in general or if you’re in a new location and was to reignite that passion).
Here are a few ways to find a pickleball community near you!
Places 2 Play – https://www.places2play.org/
Places2play.org is a site (and an app only for Apple Phones) packed with helpful information for finding a place to play near you.
You can search by State, Zip, or name to pull up a curated list of pickleball places near you.
The site includes vital information like hours of operation, address, phone number, court information, and a few extras that make it really informative and useful:
Comments – Each location has a comment section for important information like the type of location (public park, indoor facility, etc.), contact information, and hours of operation.
Freshness – each site has a “freshness” rating to indicate how active the location is, making it easier to see what places are most popular and which ones may best be left for last.
Tags – each location has several different tags to help inform you of what to expect, including court type (outdoor, cement, asphalt, grass, artificial, etc.), cost (free to play, drop-in fee, membership needed, etc.), type of player base (beginners welcome, recreational, etc.), and a whole lot more.
Global Pickleball Network – https://www.globalpickleball.network/
The Global Pickleball Network is an excellent place for new and veteran pickleball players alike.
It has a search function similar to Places 2 Play but includes searches for more than just courts.
While Places 2 Play has a more extensive list of courts, GPN provides several more unique searches and a few extra goodies.
Besides courts, GPN has a database of Networks, Players, Leagues, Tournaments, and Events.
Unfortunately, the events search will list every event in your area, even those past due. But, it still is a great search engine to utilize for expanding and finding more pickleball communities.
One significant benefit of GPN is that you can use it to host your own networks, leagues, tournaments, and more with free, easy-to-use forums and pages to help you keep all the information in one place.
Check for Tennis
There are more and more pickleball-specific venues, tournaments, coaches, and players than ever before.
While that’s a great sign of things for pickleball, we’re not there yet.
Even today, you can find a strong pickleball presence in “tennis” communities.
Of course, there are tennis-specific things – there wasn’t a random pickleball player at Wimbledon or anything.
But there is a strong pickleball presence in tennis communities worldwide (and internet).
So, if your search for pickleball in your area has come up short, look at tennis courts, venues, and communities and see if there is a pickleball interest there.
Some places will focus solely on tennis, which is obviously fine, but it’s worth checking out if you haven’t found what you are looking for.
Other Online Resources –
There are so many websites, forums, and social media platforms that it can take some digging to find what you’re looking for.
Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook, Reddit, and Youtube all have small but strong communities all over – you just have to find them.
Luckily, using their search engines and tags should net (ha!) you some good results.
The more you look, the more little but glowing communities centered around pickleball – a sure relic of its grassroots upbringing.
Here are a few random places we think you should check out:
Another Pickleball Search Engine – https://usapickleball.org/get-involved/pickleball-clubs/
Find a Pickleball Ambassador – https://www.memberleap.com/members/directory/search_USAPA.php?ambassadors
Tennis Maps – https://www.tennismaps.com/
Tennis Courts – https://www.globaltennisnetwork.com/tennis-courts/courts
Popular Meet Up App (with sports options) – https://www.meetup.com/
Facebook Group – The Kitchen (45k members) – https://www.facebook.com/groups/thekitchenPB/
Still Looking?
So, what if you did all this (and more) and still haven’t found the pickleball community for you?
There’s only one answer.
Make your own!
Seriously, as long as you are passionate about the game and want to share it with other people, you should be a part of this community. However, if an extension of it, for whatever reason, just hasn’t reached you, then it’s time to make your own.
And we can even help you with that, too. (hyperlink to make pb community article)
Kalindi Dinoffer is trained in multiple aspects of mindfulness in life and in sports, sharing on her blog MindfulKalindi.com. She is also certified to teach yoga, fitness, reiki, and MFR. Kalindi also serves as VP marketing at OnCourtOffCourt.com, a leading supplier of tennis, pickleball, fitness and yoga training aids and equipment and has been published in Tennis industry Magazine and Pickleball Magazine, and has conducted workshops at conferences around the world. In her spare time, Kalindi plays tennis, pickleball and table tennis and enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking and biking and cross country skiing in the winter.
