Pickleball isn’t just a retirement activity; it is taking over college campuses around the United States. Wayne State College has seen  pickleball added to its recreation center activities and has been a student favorite in the past month.

The pickleball season kicks off Monday from 6-8 p.m. in the rec center. This is a tournament style match with 16 teams that are involved.

This is just the start for pickleball on campus, and there is much more to come. Carlos Lopez is the organizer of the event, and he is very excited for pickleball to start back up on campus.

“Pickleball has always been a very season-dependent sport because of its nature as it is usually played outdoors,” Lopez said.

With the new renovations to the rec center this makes it so much more accessible for all athletes of all sports to enjoy the fun even in the colder weather. Many students have spoken out and started events like this.

Student Allee Fast said that pickleball is one of her favorite activities during the summertime.

“It is a way to get sun and activity with your friends,” Fast said. “Events like this can make winter more fun and bring people together.”

Fast said that even though she loves playing pickleball in the summer, winter will be more of a fun time to be involved.

“Pickleball is definitely a very social sport as it involves playing at least with three other people at a time while doing physical activity,” Lopez said. “This combines social interactions and physical activity, hence why I think that we should start doing more of these activities to improve overall wellbeing in our college community.”

The sound of the plastic ball and plastic racket is one that will become familiar on campus. The season is just getting started, and everyone is excited to get back out there.