AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University athletic department announced Thursday that men's and women's pickleball has been added as the University's 24th and 25th varsity sports. The pickleball program, which will be led by current tennis head coach Barrett Elkins, will begin competition in the 2024-25 academic year.

Pickleball is a court sport played on a badminton-sized court with the net set to a height of 34 inches at the center. It is played with a perforated plastic ball and composite or wooden paddles about twice the size of ping-pong paddles. Pickleball, invented in 1965, has been gradually increasing in popularity the last 10 years and has been the fastest-growing sport in the country for the last three years running, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA).

The sport is governed by USA Pickleball (USAPickleball.org), which maintains the rules, promotes the sport, sanctions tournaments, and provides player ratings.

The pickleball program will be one of the first programs in the country to feature scholarship opportunities for student-athletes and work with an operating budget under the oversight of Athletics. Many universities, especially within the state of Florida, have established competitive pickleball teams in the club space, which will likely comprise much of AMU's schedule in the program's formative years. More schools are expected to sponsor pickleball in the coming years as the sport continues to grow nationwide.

"I am honored and excited to help start the Pickleball program at Ave Maria University," Elkins remarked. "The fast growth of the sport, and the location of the university, makes this a perfect fit, and I can't wait to see our pickleball program compete against schools from all over the country."

"Pickleball is obviously a sport with tremendous growth potential," Ave Maria University Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Patterson said. "Considering the role that Naples had in the pickleball revolution, I think AMU is well-situated to capitalize on the enthusiasm for this emerging sport."

Naples is the home of the US Open Pickleball Championships, the eighth edition of which will be held this April. The Naples Pickleball Center, a 64-court complex less than an hour from the AMU campus, is billed as the Pickleball Capital of the World.

Recruitment for the 2024-25 season is already underway, as the Gyrenes prepare to field one of the nation's first varsity pickleball teams. Prospective student-athletes interested in the sport of pickleball are invited to fill out a recruiting questionnaire here. Prospective athletes can also reach out to Eric VanHeusen, our Director of Scouting, at Eric.VanHeusen@avemaria.edu. As a member of the NAIA, Ave Maria University is able to combine both athletic and academic scholarships to create an appealing financial package for student-athletes.