The rise of pickleball’s popularity in Wellesley has been well documented, with players seeking more places to play outdoors and indoors, sometimes to the chagrin of neighbors and other court users. The town has been revising court schedules over the past year and researching possible new venues designed to appease neighbors and spare the environment (even as new private indoor venues like Longfellow Club come online in Wellesley).
Not surprisingly, the sport is also gaining converts at the college level. Pickleball enthusiasts are quick to point out that the sport is not only popular among older people, but increasingly, young people.
Carmelo Carbone, founder and president of the Babson Pickleball Club, says the organization is on its way to graduating from an intramural sport to an official club-level one at Babson College (hopefully by spring). We met Carbone at last week’s Undergraduate Club/Organization Resource Fair, where students were playing pickleball amidst the organized chaos of the event (see also: “The Swellesley Report fits right in at Babson College student resource fair”).
“I would describe the pickleball scene here as rapidly growing,” said Carbone, a senior. “Last year we would get a consistent 10-15 people to come and now we have 125 members signed up.” On Monday, the club had its first open play event of the school year and 40 students showed up.
The club started last fall and then Carbone went abroad in the spring. “So this is my first full year to grow it,” he said.
“More people are organically finding out about the sport and they want a place to play at Babson. My goal is to try and provide that for them,” said Carbone, a certified trainer with lots of experience in the sport. “I give out my phone number to people that want to get involved and have questions about the game so they have a resource to help them with rules, strategy, paddle recommendations, basic motions, etc.”
Beyond students at Babson, faculty enjoys pickleball on campus, too. They have access to several courts inside in the early morning.
One of Carbone’s challenges, not an unfamiliar one to pickleball players and organizers in Wellesley and other communities, is finding court time. He’s had no luck getting permission to put tape down on varsity tennis courts (the Town of Wellesley ran into some issues itself with tape mucking up outdoor courts), but he’s trying to get the go-ahead for doing some on some indoor basketball courts. He’s also trying to use outdoor facilities, including in Natick and the new Boston Pickle Club in Hyde Park.
“It’s tough to find time not because of faculty but other club sports using the space, events going on and generally people just using the courts for basketball and other sports,” Carbone said.
He’s familiar with the issue that communities like Wellesley are dealing with regarding courts.
“Every town has the same issue right now. The sport is growing so rapidly and every town is trying to find a way to meet demand,” Carbone said. “I started a pickleball program for a facility in my hometown of Huntington, Long Island and my Facebook post blew up because there was a demand for it and courts just got built in the area. People just didn’t know they were there and I feel like that’s is the main problem. Either there are not enough courts in the area, the town doesn’t know where to put them or they exist but people don’t know about them…”
As a senior this year, Carbone looks to put pickleball on a successful path before he leaves Babson. “This is my last year to make an impact and set the program on the right path. Once it becomes official, we can get funding, get more equipment, expand the sport and keep it growing until it becomes a varsity sport at the collegiate level,” he wrote, with a wink.
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