America’s fastest-growing sport is making a big splash in the Ocean State. At URI, pickleball is the newest official club sport, and URI alumni, like Ocean State Pickleball co-owner Andy Carr ’93, M.S. ’01, are hooked. If you haven’t gotten in on the fun yet, these Rhody pickleball enthusiasts think you should try it.

By Kate LeBlanc ’22

Some waves start with a ripple. Others crash all at once.

For Bailey Bolton ’26, it was a typical evening in her first year at URI—she was studying her ocean engineering notes on the top floor of Hillside Hall, nestled among friends. Until she was interrupted by a frantic phone call.

Ryan Estus ’26 was on the other end of the line, noticeably out of breath. He wanted to know where Bolton was. A few minutes later, he burst through the lounge door, declaring: “Bailey, Providence College has a pickleball team now!”

It was autumn 2022, and this was breaking news for Bolton and Estus, who, along with Ashley Thurston ’26, had put together a pickleball team at URI, which was, to their knowledge, the only college pickleball team in the state. So, the prospect of having a competitor nearby was revolutionary.

This, Bolton and Estus can say now, was the moment they felt the pickleball wave hit Rhody.

Bolton, Estus, and Thurston first met at URI’s Leadership Institute, a pre-Orientation program for first-year students to build leadership skills by developing and promoting campus life programs. Happenstance put the three students in the same group at the institute. When pickleball came up in conversation, their excitement grew, and they quickly made plans to attend an upcoming orientation event together: pickleball at the Parlanges’.

A few days later, there they were, with their cheap paddles, playing pickup pickleball in the driveway at the home of President Marc Parlange and his wife, Mary. An avid pickleballer herself, Mary encouraged the enthusiastic trio of first-year students to take their hobby and turn it into an on-campus sport. They looked at each other, and it just felt right.

In February, URI Club Pickleball competed in a regional tournament at Pickleball America in Stamford, Conn. URI Club Pickleball team members, from left: Anthony Nardolillo, Ryan Giammasi, Ryan Estus, Kaila Godbey, Kayla Devaux, Bailey Bolton, Maya Brausch, Eric Schubert, Nick Ensign, and Avi Kothari.

“We knew this had the potential to grow and really become something cool,” says Estus. “This was something we knew was going to last long after we left URI, and I’m still sure of it.”

Founded in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, just west of Seattle, pickleball is a paddle sport that can be played one-on-one or two-on-two. It brings together principles from tennis, table tennis, and badminton. Its smaller court size and easy-to-handle perforated plastic ball make pickleball more accessible for most than its cousin sport, tennis. Pickleball’s minimal learning curve and inherent social distancing contributed to its growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, earning it the title, “America’s Fastest Growing Sport” in 2024 for the fourth consecutive year, according to USA Pickleball. The Sports and Fitness Industry Association reported that nearly 20 million Americans played pickleball in 2024, almost double the number of players from the previous year.

When Bolton, Estus, and Thurston cofounded URI’s pickleball team in 2022, Estus took on the role of president, with Bolton and Thurston serving as members of the executive board. They quickly began fundraising to get the team off the ground and to pay for travel and practice space. In the process, they found a trusted local partner: Ocean State Pickleball.

Located in Narragansett, R.I., Ocean State Pickleball (OSP) is an indoor facility with eight regulation courts that has become a hub for the Southern Rhode Island pickleball community. OSP is owned by Kara Biller, an occupational therapist, and Andrew Carr ’93, M.S. ’01, a physical education and health teacher in South Kingstown, R.I., who was also the head coach of the South Kingstown High School boys’ tennis team for 28 years. Biller and Carr were frequent tennis partners before they both developed a passion for pickleball during COVID.

“I really saw the beauty in pickleball—it’s more than just a sport,” says Biller. “Anybody can play. I just saw all the things that could come out of this sport: social, emotional, physical, cognitive. I think COVID deprived people of interaction and social connection. One of the biggest things that drew me to pickleball was the human connection.”

Kara Biller and Andy Carr ’93, M.S. ’01

“Just try it. It’s fun.”

­—Ocean State Pickleball co-owner Andy Carr ’93, M.S. ’01

So, in 2021, Biller started OSP as an organization offering outdoor pickleball lessons and pickup games. As demand for pickleball began increasing—participation grew from 40 people to 500—and pandemic restrictions were lifted, Biller joined forces with Carr to expand OSP’s offerings with an indoor location.

OSP opened its Narragansett location, the first indoor facility in Rhode Island, in 2024. There are now other indoor facilities in the state, including Newport Pickleball Club in Middletown and Centerline Pickleball Club in Warwick, not to mention more than 200 outdoor courts statewide, according to data from the online pickleball community Pickleheads.

Biller and Carr say OSP is more than just an indoor pickleball facility. They describe it as a “community center” of sorts. They offer pickleball clinics, leagues, tournaments, and lessons for all skill levels, and they also host events like monthly socials, holiday bazaars, craft nights, cribbage lessons, birthday parties, reunions, and fundraisers.

Ken Yang, Ryan Estus ’26, Jason Yang ’21, Mary Parlange, and Kate LeBlanc ’22, at Ocean State Pickleball in Narragansett, R.I.

The URI pickleball team is a part of the OSP community and has relied on support from OSP and its staff. Estus, who formerly played for Carr on South Kingstown High School’s tennis team, reached out early on to see if OSP would host a fundraising tournament to help establish the URI pickleball team. OSP hosted the tournament, which raised enough money to kickstart the team’s first year and continues to provide the team with indoor practice space several times a week.

The biggest victory in the first year of URI’s pickleball team came from what Estus and Bolton—who took over as president following Estus—tout as the first intercollegiate pickleball game in New England. URI’s pickleball team played against the Providence College team, and the Rams came out on top.

Building on the thrill of winning against Providence College, the team set its sights on a lofty goal for its second season: to become a URI club sport. Joining URI’s competitive recreational sports program would open the door to priority access to facilities, as well as financial resources and support for travel, according to assistant director of competitive sports Joe Wilbur ’12, M.P.A. ’24.

Ryan Estus ’26 at Ocean State Pickleball.

After much preparation, the group made its case to URI’s Club Sports and Intramural Council, and pickleball officially became URI’s 21st club sport in 2024.

“Club sports give students opportunities to continue playing sports that they’ve played their whole lives, without committing to a varsity-level team,” Wilbur says. “It also allows students to try something new. They’re doing it for the love of the game.”

Wilbur, who also oversees URI’s intramural sports leagues, which are less intensive than club sports, had 46 teams signed up for a recent intramural pickleball league—a level of interest that rivals some of their most popular programming.

URI students aren’t the only campus group joining the fast-growing phenomenon; URI faculty and staff have joined in, too.

In 2024, URI held its first faculty-level pickleball tournament, in which the College of Engineering, College of the Environment and Life Sciences, and Graduate School of Oceanography fielded teams and competed against each other. Hosted on the University’s tennis courts, three 12-person teams came to play in a dynamic day of doubles.

The idea for the tournament that pitted the URI colleges against one another was developed by Mary Parlange, in collaboration with Distinguished Engineering Professor Ken Yang. The pair thought a cross-college tournament would connect staff from parts of the University who might not typically interact.

“An event like this can bring our community together and promote cross-college and interdisciplinary conversations,” says Yang. “New research ideas and collaboration initiatives often come out at events like this. And it all happens while playing pickleball! What could be better?”

This year, more colleges participated in the tournament. Yang, Parlange, and other key organizers believe it will further expand in the coming years, as interest and participation in pickleball continue to skyrocket.

URI pickleballers at Ocean State Pickleball: Jason Yang ’21 and Kate LeBlanc ’22; Ken Yang, and Jason Yang ’21.

And if pickleball is booming now, Carr, for one, can’t wait to see what the sport looks like five years from now. Nowadays, the longtime tennis coach picks up a paddle more often than a racket. He predicts pickleball will become an official high school sport across the country, and, eventually, foresees it reaching the pinnacle of competition: the Olympics. If you’re hesitant to try pickleball—maybe you’re a staunch tennis lover, or you just haven’t gotten around to trying it yet—Carr’s advice is: “Just try it. It’s fun. I’d be shocked if you don’t enjoy yourself.”

If Carr’s urging doesn’t convince you that it’s a fun sport, take it from Estus:
“You can’t get mad at a game that starts with pickle.”

PHOTOS: COURTESY URI CLUB PICKLEBALL; NORA LEWIS