Pickleball is on the rise, and the Mississippi State University Bulldogs have not fallen behind on the trend. The newly established MSU Pickleball Club has many students buying paddles and heading to the courts.
Ethan Fairley, a junior mechanical engineer major from Nacogdoches, Texas, shares the position of pickleball club president with junior communication major Anna-Scott Parker, a Brandon, Mississippi, native. The two founded the MSU Pickleball Club in December 2022.
The pair’s interest in the sport sparked after playing on a few intramural pickleball teams and in casual pickup games. Fairley and Parker knew that Mississippi State needed an official club team.
“I had a little dream to start a club on campus because I figured that if my friends loved [playing pickleball], then other students at MSU would too,” Parker said.
The idea was quickly approved, making the MSU Pickleball Club a registered club sport sponsored by the Joe Frank Sanderson Center.  
It is no question that pickleball is an extremely popular sport, not only for college students but for people of all ages. After the sport’s number of participants doubled from 2018 to 2023, pickleball was recorded to be the fastest-growing sport in the country according to pickleball blog Pickleheads. Co-president Fairley agrees that the sport is truly a game for everyone.
“It’s just a fun community,” Fairley said. “Young or old people, athletic or not, really, anyone can play pickleball.”
The club has flourished since its founding and is now home to over one hundred MSU students. Each Friday, participants gather at McKee Park to play a few rounds of pickleball and enjoy the newfound family they have created.
John Paul Wallace, a communication major from Petal, Mississippi, is an active member of the pickleball club. Wallace said that every time he goes out to the courts, he leaves with a new friend.
“Every time I’ve been to McKee Park, I’ve met somebody new and made a good connection,” Wallace said. “Everyone out there is always super cool, and you’re always going to make a new friend when you’re playing pickleball because you’re playing with a partner.”
The club has been able to participate in several tournaments this semester, and a few members even traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, to prove their skills with a pickleball paddle in the DUPR Collegiate Regional Tournament.
The MSU Pickleball Club hosted its very first tournament April 22 with a large turnout. A total of 30 teams competed, with 22 teams in the competitive division and eight teams in the noncompetitive division. 
The friendly competition was open to anyone who felt up to the challenge. Most competitors were from the Starkville area. Teams from Tupelo and Jackson traveled to take part in the tournament as well. 
73-year-old Betty Hays and Shelley Highfield, both Starkville locals, signed up to play for fun in the tournament. The pair brought the heat with their paddles and finished first place in the noncompetitive division.
Hays, a former tennis player, wakes up at 8 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to play pickleball at McKee Park with her friends – or as she calls them, her family.
“I had played tennis for 40 years, and my knees were bothering me, so I needed to find another sport,” Hays said. “I found out about pickleball, and the rest is history.”
As for the competitive division of the tournament, sophomore marketing major Stewart Tankersley and senior industrial engineering major Lee Bowman took home the victory with a pickleball-shaped medal to signify their success.
MSU Pickleball Club has high hopes for its future, but a lot of work must be done to get the club into a more recognized and competitive position. The club has ambitions to host more tournaments, get more courts to play on and even be registered as an NCAA team in the future.
Co-president Fairley said he encourages everybody to try out pickleball and that all students are welcome to join the club.
“There’s a low bar for entry, and we always have extra paddles available for anyone who wants to try,” Fairley said. “We’d love to get more people in the club and for more people to start playing with us.”
For more information about the club and how to join, visit https://msstate.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/msupickleball.

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Courtesy Photo | Anna Scott Parker

The non-competitive winners were Betty Hays and Shelley Highfield.