SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University Athletic Department is excited to announce the addition of pickleball as a co-ed club sport. The pickleball program, which will be led by current head men's and women's tennis coach David Darling, will begin competition in the 2025-26 academic year.
Pickleball, a racket or paddle sport, resembles tennis or table tennis and is played with a hollow plastic ball with paddles over a 34-inch net. It has been the fastest-growing sport in the United States for five consecutive years with more than 48 million participants having played it in the last year.
The sport is governed by USA Pickleball (USAPickleball.org), which maintains the rules, promotes the sport, sanctions tournaments, and provides player ratings.
Spring Arbor's pickleball program will be one of the first in the country to feature scholarship opportunities for student-athletes and work with an operating budget under the oversight of Athletics. Many universities have established competitive club pickleball teams, which will likely comprise much of SAU's schedule in the program's first few years. More schools are expected to sponsor pickleball in the coming years as the sport continues to grow nationwide.
"We are thrilled to add pickleball to our offerings within Spring Arbor University Athletics," said SAU Athletic Director Jason Crist. "Pickleball is growing rapidly across the country and it's exciting for SAU Athletics to be on the front edge of that growth collegiately. Our Director of Racquet Sports, David Darling, is positioned perfectly to lead this exciting opportunity for our department."
The home of the SAU pickleball program will be Crossroads Pickleball, located close to campus at Keeley Park in the American 1 Community Recreation Center in Jackson, Michigan.
Prospective student-athletes interested in the sport of pickleball are invited to fill out the Recruit Information Form. Prospective athletes can also reach out to David Darling at david.darling@arbor.edu.
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