Diane Fakhre, like many other pickleball players, grew up playing tennis.
Then, she walked by some courts in her neighborhood with her sister, Houda. She traded in her racket for a pickleball paddle to play with “the old people” in summer 2023.
The next semester, she founded the Pickleball Club at USF, hosting practices, competitive tournaments and casual games at the Tampa campus.
“We just want everyone to have a good time and play the sport and have fun,” said Fakhre, a cellular and molecular biology senior.
She said she prefers pickleball over tennis because playing on a smaller court makes it easier to talk with her friends.
“Everyone is just very open and happy,” she said. “I just love the vibes at our practice.”
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Fakhre said around 100 people showed up to their first practice in fall 2023. The club has since grown to roughly 1,000 members on Bulls Connect.
This growth was bolstered by the club’s marketing and tabling, Fakhre said, but there was also just a natural interest.
“We honestly don’t even have to do much, because it’s so popular,” she said. “Everyone just loves the sport.”
The biggest problem with that growth has been the lack of funding for enough equipment.
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The club meets every Tuesday and Thursday evening on the tennis courts near the C.W. Bill Young Hall. When they started, they were playing across the tennis nets, which took away some elements of the game, treasurer Abdul-Malik Zekri said.
In pickleball, players can hit the ball over or around the net, something they cannot do with taller, wider tennis nets.
“One of the first things we wanted to do was bring in pickleball nets, which are a little bit pricey for the good ones,” he said.
In addition to wooden paddles provided by Recreation and Wellness, the club brings some of its own paddles and balls to provide equipment for members who might not have their own.
This equipment is funded, in part, by the roughly $4,000 the club received from Recreation and Wellness this year.
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The club also hosts tournaments between its members and puts the entrance fees toward fundraising for new equipment.
Zekri was one of many members who joined after seeing the club’s Instagram posts.
He’s been playing pickleball for 14 years, but was first a tennis player.
“I really enjoy playing tennis,” said Zekri, a junior computer engineering and mathematics major. “But there’s something about the environment in pickleball. You can have a good time.”
With his years of experience, he said he helps other members prepare for tournaments and improve their competitive play.
But the club also prioritizes helping beginners.
At the beginning of each semester, the club hosts drills and practices for people who have never played pickleball before.
“I do that for the first two weeks of each semester so the beginners come and they feel comfortable and then they can move on and do open play,” Fakhre said.
Fakhre will graduate in May.
“I’m really, actually sad to leave the club,” she said. “I feel like it’s my baby.”
Alayna Dumet, a junior behavioral healthcare and psychology major, is set to step into Fakhre’s shoes as president of the club.
She said her goal is to maintain the club’s growth and elevate its travel team.
The men’s and women’s travel teams compete with other university clubs twice a semester – once in February and another set for the end of April. Dumet said gaining more funding and adding additional tournaments into the schedule will be a priority.
She also wants to advocate for on-campus pickleball courts, a request that has “continued to be denied.”
Dumet joined the club last spring as a beginner. She said she wouldn’t be where she is now as a pickleball player without the support of the club.
“Everyone there is willing to play with and help teach others how to play and give pointers on getting better,” she said.
Lily Belcher is the managing editor for The Oracle. She's a mass communications and professional and technical communications double major. She started at The Oracle in summer 2023 as a correspondent and worked her way up to news editor. She has been freelancing for local newspapers for four years and hopes to write for a major newspaper following her graduation. Reach her at belcher20@usf.edu
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