With an eye on the future of pickleball, Pickleball Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska is actively working to attract and engage younger players to the sport with great results.
Formed in 2017 with six dedicated outdoor courts, the club has grown to 40 outdoor dedicated pickleball courts around Lincoln with over 1,500 members and 3,000 website members and 18 indoor courts. Lincoln Nebraska has been recognized as a top pickleball hot spot one of the biggest pickleball clubs in the state.
The Pickleball Lincoln fosters an inclusive feel by focusing less on ratings and DUPR’s and more on camaraderie and community.
“We try not to put a number on people,” President of Pickleball Lincoln, Joel Houston, said. “Instead, we use beginner, intermediate and advanced categories so players can still get in a good game without being intimidated by a ‘rating’ which has worked really well.”
Keeping the environment focused on playing vs. rating also paves the way when trying to get younger players involved.
Pickleball Lincoln has incorporated youth sessions on weekends to encourage 8-16-year-old players to try the sport and has found great success.
“We’ve had around 30 players each session which is fantastic,” Joel says. With so many pickleball courts in Lincoln, it’s easy to become intrigued seeing people play. Joel says most of the youth session players seem to have tried all the other sports like basketball, tennis, etc. and wanted to give pickleball a shot.
To keep the scheduling easy, all players are in the same groups. While the majority of players are 10 – 12 years old, all ages have enjoyed dinking around with each other and learning and growing together. The success of the lessons has Joel anticipating youth sessions this summer and possibly a league or round-robin tournament if there is a demand. Joel also mentioned many of these players are quite good and might just enter an adult tournament!
An interesting observation Joel passed along was that most of the parents were learning about pickleball while watching their children play. As the parents saw their children enjoying the game, they became interested too. To meet that new need, Pickleball Omaha now offer adult lessons immediately following the youth lessons. That’s a win-win!
Like most clubs, court time during the day can be a bit challenging to fill. With the growth of the youth sessions, Pickleball Omaha is keeping a close eye on the school schedule to promote open court time when school is closed or for scheduled days off. Flexibility is key!
Being flexible for Pickleball Omaha also means meeting players where they are. High school and college players are picking up the sport and keeping the club full in the evenings. These new players are still learning the rules of the game including pickleball social norms. With that, Pickleball Omaha has increased signage around the courts outlining the rules. A QR code on the signs links players to the Pickleball Omaha website membership link as a friendly reminder.
Pickleball Lincoln’s forward-thinking approach not only helps grow the sport, it also helps grow the pickleball community as a whole and strengthen its future. Experimenting with youth sessions and leagues opens the sport to a new generation and brings in collateral players. Innovative, open-minded and hard-working devotees to the sport, like Joel and the many community volunteers at Pickleball Lincoln, are certain to insure Lincoln maintains it’s top spot in the pickleball community.
