Third-year student Conor Burns, the club’s president, said the members received congratulations from UVA President Jim Ryan after winning the title.
Since its founding during the COVID days of 2020, the UVA pickleball club has seen a rapid rise in popularity that correlates with an increased nationwide obsession with the sport. Pickleball, often described as a combination of badminton, ping-pong and tennis, is the fastest-growing sport in the United States, according to a report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, with participation rising by nearly 160% during the last three years.
UVA’s pickleball club, which now boasts more than 600 members, is the biggest of its kind in the country, Burns said.
"It only started with five people [in 2020],” Burns said. “Why there’s so much demand now, it’s attributed to the growth of the sport and the unique atmosphere of the club. People in the club are coming from all levels and are able to play and meet other people on Grounds.”
A UVA student of any kind – whether an undergrad or in graduate, medical or law school – is eligible to play on the team as long as they are taking six credit hours.
Burns and McDonald, both high school tennis players, are part of the co-rec 24-member tournament team that travels and competes in events. There’s also a 75-member social team (with plans to increase to 225 members next semester) that mostly practices with the tournament squad while being involved in other club events like mixers and outings.
Both the tournament and social teams were determined during a 10-day tryout period earlier this fall. As for the hundreds of others in the club, they’re invited to practice among themselves for two hours on Friday afternoons on the Snyder Tennis Center courts near central Grounds.
“It’s a big production, as you can imagine,” said Burns of the McIntire School of Commerce, who added he spends upward of 16 hours a week practicing with his teammates or handling club logistics.
Burns said it’s no coincidence a talented tournament roster emerged from such a crowded tryout.
After finishing fifth in last year’s national tournament, the Cavaliers added, among others, McDonald to the team. McDonald, an Arlington native who is majoring in both cognitive neuroscience and psychology, is also a member of UVA’s club tennis team, which won a national championship last spring.
