In all, 179 matches were played during the event, which took place at Arch Pickleball and Badminton Club in Bridgeton, Missouri. The tournament featured fierce competition and an electric atmosphere thanks to hundreds of college students who traveled across city and state lines to cheer on their favorite school.
“The best memory I had is the owners of the facility coming up to me and saying, ‘Jose, thank you so much for bringing this here. We’ve never had so much school spirit and cheering here. It really livens the place up,’” Obando said. “It was really fun to be there and see that happen.”
These days, simply having a large number of pickleball courts tends to be a formula for success.
“Everything went well. There were no hiccups,” Obando said. “I was talking to some folks at the event and they asked, ‘Are you going to do this again?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’”
Obando added that it’s possible he could organize an indoor event this fall.
The widespread interest in the tournament wasn’t a fluke. Rather, it’s indicative of a massively popular sport that is rapidly growing from coast to coast, in particular in the Midwest — in and around St. Louis, across Missouri and throughout the neighboring Midwestern states.
“It’s very consistent with it exploding elsewhere,” Obando said. “Here in St. Louis, there are more courts opening up, more indoor facilities. About six years ago, there was one indoor facility. Now that one has opened up two additional facilities. And a new one that opened up probably three years ago is opening up two more indoor facilities. A lot of the country clubs and parks have dedicated pickleball courts, too. They didn’t have that five or six years ago.
“Still, though, there are more players than courts,” Obando added. “In the center of St. Louis, there are still players who wish we could build more courts, and that is why they’re getting built all the time — to match enthusiasm and need for them.”
If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is similar to the pickleball explosions that have taken place elsewhere. In fact, all over the nation, pickleball courts are popping up and new players are discovering a sport that offers an attractive combination of competition, exercise and social interaction.
“It’s very popular and it’s still growing,” said Obando, who also wants to help promote the sport at the high school level. “I see it as continuing to grow, especially with all these indoor facilities popping up. It’s not even close to being saturated. I think it will continue to grow here in the St. Louis area, and, from what I saw from kids in Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas and here in Missouri, they don’t have enough facilities where they’re from.”
Obando hopes that these significant gatherings of young pickleball players can help dispel the notion that the sport is mostly for an older audience.
“Some people think it’s maybe a sport for folks in their middle to upper ages, but if you look at (some of) the top pros, they’re teenagers,” Obando said. “If you look at Major League Pickleball, we have the St. Louis Shock, and if you look at the roster, some of the top players are under 20. It’s growing so fast. The neighborhood I live in has 15 courts. Every beginner’s class is always sold out. It’s hitting a lot of different age groups, especially younger age groups. It’s just exploding right now.”