Formed just last year by a group of students who loved the game of pickleball, the now fully-fledged University of Rhode Island club is competing against fellow New England teams and having fun doing so.
The president of the club, second-year Ryan Estus, was the one to officially found it last year. What started off as a group of about 10 students turned into over 60, forcing the team to hold tryouts this fall and even make cuts. The roster is now at 38.
While the team isn’t officially recognized as a club sport – instead just as a regular club – making cuts to the team was the first step to making the switch, according to fourth-year Christopher Orr.
Although they had to make cuts, one of the original members, second-year Bailey Bolton, claims the team has still had a positive effect on those who show interest in “ encouraging people to go to intramural sports .”
Another factor that will affect how the team looks to gain status as a club sport team is the addition of pickleball lines on the tennis courts at URI.
A major delay to renovate the tennis courts, initially set to be finished in summer of 2022, ended up benefitting the club pickleball team, according to Orr. The second company to take up the project, completing it just last month, insisted upon creating pickleball lines simply due to the spike in popularity the sport has garnered.
The team, captained by Orr, played in their first official match against Providence College last spring, winning 3-1. This is considered by the club team to be the first collegiate pickleball match to be played in New England.
Since then, the team has remained undefeated, handing losses to Brandeis University (3-1) last spring and PC (4-0 A team, 2-2 B team) earlier this semester.
URI’s pickleball team originally reached out to PC’s, organizing their match in the spring and forming a fellowship.
“We are still on very good terms with them ,” Bolton said. “ It’s a lot of fun to go through the process of setting everything up. We are still trying to contact different schools that have pickleball teams. ”
While the team’s spring matches had to be held at off-campus locations, their latest match against PC was hosted by URI for the first time.
“[It’s] definitely more accessible, as a lot of our team members live on campus,” Orr said. “It gives us a home base to be able to play instead of having to coordinate with people getting to and from practices or matches. It also just makes us feel more welcome on campus.”
URI’s club pickleball team is the best in New England, and there’s no sign of them slowing down, according to Orr.
“The people who are really interested in actually developing their skill play are going to be encouraged to try out and I think that we’re just going to continue to improve,” Orr said. “This could be my last year on the team, but we have a lot of strong players that are younger than me that will continue to hold up the mantle.”
Orr has been playing pickleball long before the quick increase in it’s popularity, which has given him an edge over his teammates and deemed him captain of the team.
“I grew up playing the sport, so I’m very familiar with it,” Orr said. “I’ve helped support the players, giving them advice and tips. It’s a great group of students.”
Being a part of this team has allowed Orr the opportunity to get to know other students at URI.
“It’s definitely been a positive experience for me and for the other members of the club,” Orr said. “I’ve made a bunch of friends and being able to enjoy each other’s company out there on the court, see them around campus, say hello and get to play with them definitely helps.”
Bolton emphasized this sentiment from Orr.
“The community in the area has been fabulous,” Bolton said. “It’s been a really awesome opportunity to start this club and to watch it grow as it has in the last year.”
The URI club pickleball team has plans to play University of Hartford this Sunday on their home court at 1 p.m.