Touting their sport as the fastest-growing pastime in America, pickleball enthusiasts approach newcomers with a missionary zeal.
âI donât think Iâve ever met somebody who has tried it and not liked it,â said Holly Bireley of Hamilton, who started playing pickleball five years ago at the invitation of a friend and now plays in national tournaments.
Hamilton ranks as one of the hotbeds of pickleball in the region, but the sport has spread to Kendallville, Auburn, Angola, Albion and Garrett.
Invented in 1965, the sport could count only 39 known places to play in 2003, but by 2019, it had reached 8,000 sites, with 3.3 million participants, according to USA Pickleball.