MANSFIELD – Pickleball has become the fastest-growing sport in America for a third straight year, with no signs of slowing down.
In 2022, the Association of Pickleball Professionals reported an estimated 36.5 million players in the United States participate in the rapidly growing sport.
Brandon Mackie, co-founder of Pickleheads, said signs of the sport’s growth in Mansfield have caught his attention.
“It’s (growth) been just an absolute explosion of activity and people who are getting into the sport,” he said. “It’s an explosion of excitement.”
One-stop shop for pickleball enthusiasts
Pickleheads is an online destination for pickleball enthusiasts to find nearby courts, connect with other players, browse local events, as well as learn about the sport and its gear.
The online platform, also available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play, was launched by Mackie, Max Ade and Ian Langworth in 2022.
The trio landed on the name Pickleheads because they wanted something easy to say, but also memorable.
“Ultimately we wanted something that could really be a brand and stand for something,” he said. “We wanted it to be way more than a website and really be a community.”
Admittedly, Mackie said some inspiration was also drawn from the Grateful Dead’s 1970s fan group, better known as the Deadheads.
“We thought that maybe it would resonate with our target demographic (ages 50 and older),” he said with a laugh. “Of course now, four years later, the average age of players is under 35.”
Pickleheads monitoring growth in Mansfield
Mackie said online searches for pickleball courts in Mansfield grew by nearly 10 times the normal frequency from the beginning of the year, to the end of this past summer.
An increased demand for places to play pickleball has led to community investment in new courts and available programming, he said.
“Nationwide, there definitely is a court shortage,” Mackie said. “There’s simply more people that want to play than there are courts.”
Those looking for locations to play in Mansfield will find three outdoor, asphalt courts at Burton Park, as well as two indoor, wooden courts at the YMCA of North Central Ohio – Mansfield.
According to Pickleheads, Ohio’s 337 courts rank 10th in the top 10 states with the most places to play pickleball.
Pickleball offers accessibility year round
The ability to play both indoors and outdoors offers local players a great opportunity to play year-round, Mackie said.
“I think one of the biggest benefits of pickleball is that you can set up a court almost anywhere,” he said. “That’s really helped the sport accommodate such an explosion of interest from players.”
Mackie said growth in the Northeast portion of the country has trended a bit slower than other regions, not in popularity, but rather the strength of court infrastructure.
“Some places are further ahead of the curve than others,” he said. “But, it’s kind of universal that it (pickleball) is growing in almost every area that we track.”
A sport which ‘spans generations’
In 2021, the highest percentage of players included those aged 55 and older, accounting for nearly 20 percent of total participants, as reported by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.
Furthermore, participant growth was the fastest amongst pickleball players under 24 years of age at 21 percent.
Mackie said the data conclusively shows that pickleball is a sport which spans generations, something he’s seen exemplified on the court several times.
“You just would never really see those (interactions) anywhere else,” he said. “But it happens on the courts and we’re obviously seeing it in the data, that the sport just keeps getting younger.”
Mackie said it’s motivating to hear about initiatives the sport is sparking, such as increased youth programming and the possibility of becoming a high school sport.
“Those initiatives are going to just continue to get more and more young people involved,” he said. “I think there’s people who will learn for the first time when they’re 10 years old and they’ll play until they’re 80.”
More about Pickleheads beginnings
With more than 10,000 locations to play pickleball in the United States, Mackie said Pickleheads was designed for players to find court and game information from anywhere in the country.
“We have over 15,000 courts across the United States and Canada profiled,” he said. “You can link up with other players, chat with them, and ultimately get out on the court and play more pickleball.”
Mackie said the idea for the platform came to light about three or four years ago, when the information they now provide wasn’t as readily available or accessible.
“It was often confusing what a pickleball court was, because they were being converted from basketball and tennis courts,” he said. “There just wasn’t a good resource to find this (information) out.”
If he was able to locate a court, Mackie said another difficulty was finding other people to play with, especially if his friends were unavailable.
“In many ways, Pickleheads is simply something I wish had existed when I first started playing,” he said. “It turns out a lot of other people sort of had the same challenges.
“It’s been a fun run, it’s grown a lot, and we’re excited to see where it goes in the future.”
Visit the Pickleheads website to learn more about the online platform and find nearby court locations.