Pickleball popularity on the rise in South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The explosion of pickleball across the country hasn’t slowed down in recent years. If anything, it’s only growing faster.

Nationwide, there’s over 36 million pickleball players, according to Pickleheads. While South Dakota is catching up on the explosion in popularity, the state is seeing it’s own rise in the sport.

“Pickleball is well on its way to being one of the largest sports in the country by participation, which we couldn’t be more happy about,” Pickleheads co-founder Brandon Mackie said.

Active Generations Fitness Manager Jenny Centra said they’re hosting open courts multiple times a week, with a growing number of players out each time.

“We have new people coming in on the daily, at least five to six people new every day,” Centra said.

Centra said it’s still growing in popularity because it’s easy to pick up, and something that every age group can do.

“You have all sorts of fitness levels that come out here too. People that have never played tennis or never heard of pickleball that will come out because somebody said, ‘Oh, you’ve got to try it at Active Generations, you can get lessons,’” Centra said.

While the number of permanent courts in South Dakota is well below other states, the sport is growing. Mackie said there’s around 50 permanent courts across the state, and they’re looking to help host competitions and tournaments in the area with their website as a platform.

“To build some free tools for pickleball organizers. To mange their groups, to put on tournaments, to do fun events. We’re trying to do a few in cities all over the U.S. this summer, and Sioux Falls is definitely high on the list. We think there’s a great pickleball scene, Sioux Falls Area Pickleball club. There’s some good organizations and great facilities,” Mackie said.

Mackie said soon enough, competitive pickleball could be commonplace, and South Dakota could be a part of that movement.

“The sport of pickleball is becoming more and more competitive, there’s a lot of great players out there. It’s something that’s not easy to master,” Mackie said.

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