Pickleball: Sport or Crime Syndicate?

Photo by Max Linton

Why pickleball? What is the pickleball craze that seems to be spreading across campus at an exponential rate? Last year, pickleball made its debut as a fall sport. Despite all the jokes, this scrappy team defied all the odds, went undefeated, and won the ISLs, building a strong pickleball culture within the Middlesex community. This year, the pickleball program, led by team captains Thatcher Forreger ‘24 and Gemma Baker ‘24, has built upon last season’s success, attracting thirty eager pickleballers, between a varsity and junior varsity team. In just two short years, this program has seen remarkable access in appealing to various MX students. Although at first glance it may appear as though pickleball is simply a new, fun sport lighting up campus, digging a little deeper reveals a different story.

Some beam with pure excitement at the prospect of playing this beloved sport at school; however, others frown at the thought, railing against how a geriatric sport has enraptured so many youthful students. Perhaps it is not purely pickleball itself, but the team’s cultish behavior that has some looking twice at the sanity of their peers. Sit at a table with pickleball players and soon all you’ll hear is “pickleball, pickleball, pickleball.” Ask a pickleball player if they are bored playing the game day after day and one will get strange faces and a sudden chill in the conversation. What is happening? There was only one way to answer this question: I had to infiltrate the heart of this organization shrouded in mystery. I had to speak with varsity captains Thatcher and Gemma.

However, Middlesex pickleball kingpins’ individual responses were remarkably plain. In attempting to discern the addictive, mesmerizing, and intangible qualities of this sport that connects to some Middlesex students on a seemingly religious level, the captains only offered simple answers. Nearly every response to my questions consisted of limited and nearly identical vocabulary. Coincidence?

Apparently, pickleball was popular because it was “fun.” The three words to describe the team from the captains were always “fun, hype, and lit” . Such forced, meaningless responses appeared unnatural, planned, and well rehearsed. Captain Thatcher Foregger went as far as to only offer a single sentence as an answer to every question. Whether I was asking about the team dynamic, coaches, or a typical pickleball practice, each response was a version of “I leave it all out on the court.” Clearly, in line with every highly organized, secretive, and perhaps corrupt organization, or cult, pickleball expertly guards their inner-workings from the public eye. Ultimately, the true nature of this tight-knit team remains unknown and requires further journalistic inquiries. Hopefully, as this team continues to grow in power, these nefarious secrets will inevitably surface, and we can finally answer the question: what is happening with Pickleball?

Kiki Friedbauer