Howdy. This is The Erne. We’re like the first warm day of summer. We just hit different 😤.

Here’s what we've got today:

• Colleges embracing pickleball

• Fenway Park pickleball extravaganza

• US Open kicks off

• Are pickleballers unathletic?

COLLEGES EMBRACING PICKLEBALL

DUPR is hosting 12 regional collegiate tournaments in 2023, demonstrating just how quickly pickleball is growing among the younger generation.

The championship team will take home $10,000 in scholarship money that will go towards the team members and the university. While $10,000 may not seem like much for the top college playess, that’s basically infinite money for a college student.

DUPR is investing over $500,000 towards growing the college game, an opportunity that has so far been untapped.

As of now, 100 colleges have some form of pickleball on campus and 20 recognize it as an official club sport.

So far, the dominant pickleball programs have been UNC and Utah Tech, who have both dominated in the DUPR collegiate tournaments.

FENWAY PARK PICKLEBALL EXTRAVAGANZA

Fenway Park will play host to the first of several pickleball popups in baseball stadiums across America.

The organization Pickleball4america previously announced an event at Fenway, and more details have emerged about the event.

The hosts are hoping to achieve a “part-Coachella, part Jimmy Buffet concert” vibe. There will be a dozen courts set up in the outfield along with food, drinks, and live music.

Check out the renderings:

US OPEN KICKS OFF

The US Open, hosted in Naples, FL, kicked off this past Saturday. The largest event in the sport is expected to see over 30,000 spectators come to watch the over 3,000 amateur and professional players that will play in the tournaments.

For those out of the loop, many fan favorite players were missing from this year’s event. This is because PPA-contracted players were not permitted to play.

On the bright side, however, former tennis pro Sam Querrey made a surprise run to the quarterfinals. He is the first person to ever make the quarterfinals in the tennis and pickleball US Open’s. Check out what he had to say on his instagram.

ARE PICKLEBALLERS UNATHLETIC?

Singer Riley “Duckman” Green caused a stir online when he complained that pickleball doesn’t require athleticism.

In the clip he states, “I don’t like games that someone less athletic than me can beat me in…I want to be able to show up to something and have an advantage because I’m taller, faster, in a little bit better shape, and I don’t like it when someone a little nerdier can just beat me.”

Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. However, his is just wrong.

Having played a fair amount of pickleball, we can say with 100% confidence that athleticism is required to play the sport.

While it’s clear that pickleball continues to explode in popularity, it will be interesting to watch if opinions like Riley’s fall by the wayside or continue to persist.

WHAT’S COOKING IN THE KITCHEN

• Sail the Danube while playing pickleball

• Cities face equity challenges due to rise in pickleball’s popularity

• Pickleballers live longer

THE PICKLE JAR

SHARE THE ERNE

Share the Erne with your friends so we can all laugh and learn about pickleball together. Just copy and paste this link https://www.theernepickleball.com/subscribe