The University of Alabama Student Recreation Center is adding an intramural pickleball league starting during the fall semester.
Carlo Spalloni, sport programs coordinator for University Recreation, said the intramural league will include both an open doubles league and an open singles league. All matches will be played on six outdoor pickleball courts that were set up this summer at the tennis complex.
“We’ll be playing on Tuesdays and Sundays, two days a week,” Spalloni said. “It’ll be a two-week-long regular season, followed by a two-week-long tournament-style playoff working, dependent on how many teams we have signed up.”
Spalloni said the University saw an overall increase in the number of participants in intramural sports last year, and it expects another increase this coming year. He mentioned that the University “kind of wanted to jump on the craze” of pickleball.
Although the University has invested in equipment so that students don’t have to buy their own, the Student Recreation Center is now selling pickleball paddles for those who want to buy their own.
Although Spalloni was unsure of equipment sales figures, it’s clear that many students have already expressed interest in the new league.
“I would definitely be interested in an intramural pickleball team,” said Autumn Jones, a sophomore majoring in food and nutrition.
Jones said she has played the sport “off and on” for the last year.
“I could never find people to play with at school. I always just play when I come back home with friends and family,” Jones said.
Other students have also played with friends back home, including Brady Talley, a junior majoring in finance, who plays several times a week. Talley feels so strongly about the sport that he previously wrote a column about its growing popularity.
Talley said that he likes that the University is expanding into lesser-known sports and activities because they allow people to get involved.
“I think some friendly competition will be good and a lot of fun for people who have played a lot before and are good and competitive, and also for people who have never played ever in their lives and just want to try it out,” Talley said.
Some Greek organizations are also interested in the new league. Sarah Tomso, a senior majoring in marketing and the intramural captain for Delta Zeta, said via text that several members of her sorority are interested in playing pickleball this fall.
Tomso listed “friendly competition, sportsmanship, and overall just having fun” as some of the things she is hoping for with the new intramural league.
“Intramural sports are also a great way to break up school work and meet new people!” Tomso wrote.
