Drive by Cole Park on a weekday evening and you’re likely to see dozens of 20- to 30-year-olds sweating – but vibing – at one of Dallas’ most popular pickleball spots.
In recent years, pickleball has exploded in popularity along with the rise of other paddle and racket sports like tennis. Hello, Zendaya in Challengers, John McEnroe’s narration of the Never Have I Ever series and young stars like Naomi Osaka. So while pickleball was once seen as a sport for seniors, it’s become a way for millennials and Gen Zers to decompress and build community.
“It’s just something to do after work I think, and I think a lot of young people like to stay active and be outside,” said Tonia Darabadey, 26. “At this point in Dallas, it feels like the choices are the Katy Trail or this.”
Darabadey came with her friends Farrah Ata and Melanie Ekizian, both of whom are working professionals who live in Dallas.
![Players stack their paddles as they wait for courts to play pickleball.](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/U2XZ7FIEEFFPLEGMCKZ3V77LVM.jpg?auth=8657aa805972c53084d4dd8e89a903ed80108b71c7719a6e157d273f5017650d&width=830&quality=80)
Along the chain link fence surrounding the courts, about 40 paddles sit in a row of holders, which keeps track of everyone’s place in line. Often, there’s a line just to put down a paddle. Pickleball has become so popular at Cole Park that there’s been tension among tennis and pickleball players for court space.
Waiting is inevitable, so in the meantime, people chat. That’s part of pickleball’s appeal – even in 100-degree-plus heat. For health- and money-conscious young professionals like Ata, pickleball is preferred over other pastimes.
“It’s free and we get to catch up in between the games, so it’s like social time. Instead of going out to eat or eating unhealthy, you can be social,” Ata said.
Maharshi Adeshara, 29, has been playing pickleball for a little over a year after a friend invited him out to Cole Park.
While waiting for a court to open up, he sat on a bench catching up with two friends. Pickleball has been a way for Adeshara to expand his social circle to include people from around the world, including China, Japan, the U.S. and his home country of India.
“I have made a lot of new friends here, so it’s good that sport brings different people together from different diversities,” he said.
Some of the biggest perks of pickleball for millennials and Gen Zers are that the sport is fairly low commitment and an easy way to relate to peers.
At Cole Park, Ata, Darabadey and Ekizian were joined by a newcomer who came solo. That’s a fairly common occurence.
“It isn’t a big commitment,” Ekizian said. “You can drop in, you can play for one game. You can play for five. Your friend can leave. You can stay by yourself or come by yourself and meet new people. It’s very flexible.”
Ata said she doesn’t have any other hobbies, so pickleball serves an important purpose: It’s something to talk about in the office.
She shares her activity with friends via her Apple Watch, which means her coworkers know when she plays. “They are like, ‘Oh, you played pickleball last night,’” she said.
![Maya Glaspie swings at the ball during a doubles game of pickleball.](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/7VZU6CX5CJBM3AHCSYSDQVWM5A.jpg?auth=658a2b282f91800b9cd4626def99d02d2bbd0e9d0c1a491cf9a33a36399db0bb&width=830&quality=80)
It’s also become a way for Dallas newcomers such as Jack Britton, 26, to get plugged into the city’s social scene. He plays pickleball every day, unless it’s raining.
“I moved here six months ago, so I didn’t know anyone,” he said. “I met almost all my friends through work and pickleball.”
Britton plays on Cole Park’s advanced Challenge Court, where winners stay on to play the next team.
“I play competitively. It’s all fun, but … you get a kind of relief after. It’s a stressful time, but it’s a fun stress.”
While Cole Park’s pickleball scene peaks in the evenings, there are also some pickleball fanatics who are willing to wake up at the crack of dawn.
Friends Rian Jones, 32, Kurtis Tubby, 39, and Weston Pugh, 53, along with another friend, played doubles to Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” at 7 a.m. It’s practice for their finals game later that night with Pride Sports Dallas’ indoor pickleball.
Jones describes pickleball as an addiction, one that’s led him to use towels and a leaf blower to dry the courts when it rains. The group typically comes out about two to three times a week at 6 a.m. to play, even during the winter.
“We know we’re very intense,” he said.
Pugh, Jones and Tubby are all former tennis and ping pong players who’ve been drawn to pickleball. They say there’s just something about the sport that makes everyone very friendly.
“You see people meeting each other,” Pugh said. “I think it’s an interesting way for young people to meet other young people and probably date.”
With all the young singles socializing every day in their best athleisure, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
At the very least, North Texas’ pickleball courts are where everyone’s connecting.
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