STOCKTON, Calif. — As the number of pickleball players in the United States surges, California's oldest university is hoping to get ahead of the hype by constructing what school officials say will be the first pickleball and padel complex on an American college campus.
Stockton's University of the Pacific has begun construction on a 12-court complex which is located just north of the college's Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center along Pershing Avenue.
San Diego-based Taktika Padel is leading the construction and will help the university operate and maintain the complex which will be equipped with lights and video cameras for live-streaming.
“This unique and powerful partnership will serve the Pacific community by providing two exciting new sports for our students to play while filling a great need in the Central Valley for more pickleball courts and introducing people to the exciting sport of padel,” University of the Pacific President Christopher Callahan said in a statement.
Eight courts at the new complex will be used for pickleball and four courts will be used for padel. According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. with nearly 8.9 million players in 2022 compared to 4.8 million in 2021.
A spokesperson with USA Pickleball said they were unaware of any other schools with pickleball-dedicated facilities.
Students and staff will be able to access the courts for free from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight and can reserve courts during the day at a discounted price.
Revenue from court reservations will be split between the University and the court's operators.
“The addition of the padel and pickleball complex is a game-changer for our tennis programs,” Mike Erwin, head coach of the University's women's tennis program said in a statement. “Having access to these fun, exciting and easy-to-learn sports on campus also will have a tremendous impact on Pacific as a whole. Increases in fundraising, student and community engagement and attendance at home contests are all expected outcomes of creating this racket sports eco-system.”
School officials expect to wrap up construction by October and plan to eventually launch a pickleball club team.
Taktika Padel's goal is to open 200 publicly accessible padel courts on the West Coast within the next two years.
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