SARATOGA SPRINGS — The trendiest sport in America right now is pickleball, and the Saratoga region is paddling furiously to keep up with demand.
“We’ve been watching the sport grow like crazy in Saratoga Springs,” said Brandon Mackie, co-founder of the Pickleheads website. “We’re seeing new courts being built all over. East Side Rec Field now has 10 dedicated courts and Wilton Town Gavin Park has 10.” Mackie also said that searches for pickleball in the Saratoga area have increased 213% since April.
A number of regional locations are now hosting pickleball games, including the Saratoga Recreation Center, the Saratoga Regional YMCA, McGregor Links Country Club, The Paddocks of Saratoga, and the Burgess Kimball Memorial Park.The Malta YMCA branch hosted its first pickleball tournament earlier this year, and a Legacy Pickleball Club location is set to open soon in Ballston Spa.
But how exactly does one explain the public’s voracious appetite for this sport? “The most important thing that happened at the [recreational] player level is that the sport is really easy to learn,” Mackie said. “Our theory is that COVID was an important catalyst for this.”
According to Mackie, COVID turned the primarily indoor sport of pickleball into an outdoor game played at gyms, churches, and recreation centers. “I think we’ve just seen a snowballing of it over the last year,” Mackie said. “So now, depending on what data you believe, between ten and forty million players have tried the sport.”
According to Pickleheads, pickleball has seen a 158.6% growth rate over the last three years and has become “the fastest-growing sport in America.” There are now around 400 places to play pickleball in New York State, with dozens scattered throughout the Saratoga region.
To learn more about pickleball or to find a court, visit www.pickleheads.com.
