Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) — Syracuse is a sports city known for basketball, football, and lacrosse, but in 2026, a sport that is newer to the city and surrounding towns is starting to boom in the community.
That sport is pickleball. Some call it mini-tennis or bigger ping-pong, but it’s actually its own sport, and it’s making a massive name for itself.
Pickleball can be played with two to four players in a game. The sport follows unconventional scoring and allows players to come up to the net in doubles, or run around in singles, making it accessible for all ages.
Archer, a former SU lacrosse All-American and now a gym teacher in the Jamesville-DeWitt School District, thinks the community the sport has brought to Central New York is special.
“The community’s been great,” Archer said. “One of the kids I taught fell in love with the game when he learned it in P.E. class, and he joined the community and became a great player.”
Archer began teaching pickleball around 20 years ago in gym class. Back then, pickleball was played with wooden paddles, and you weren’t allowed to hit the ball out of the air. The “no volleying” rule is no longer applicable, and now paddles are made from high-tech materials and cost up to $300.
At the forefront of the pickleball movement in Central New York is Brook Bregman. Bregman founded cnypickleball.com, which keeps a running list of all the courts across the region. The website also features a sign-up sheet that anyone can access to help organize play at every court listed. Bregman said the growth over the last 15 years has been incredible.
“There were under 500 players for the first 10 years,” Bregman said. “Now in the area we have over 12,000 people playing.”
With thousands of people playing, CNY needed new infrastructure to support the surge. Erie Canal Pickleball Center created just that. The facility has nine indoor courts and a full kitchen and bar, making it not just a place to play, but a social hub.
The facility’s nine courts are among more than 200 in CNY. Other places to play include Elevate Fitness in DeWitt and Liverpool, Syracuse Indoor Pickleball, and the Onondaga Lake courts.
Another member of the growing pickleball community is Dr. Joon Young Kim. Kim is an associate professor of Exercise Science at Syracuse University and the faculty advisor for its club pickle ball team. He started off playing tennis, but made the jump to pickleball along with many other tennis players.
Kim has fallen in love with the sport and also believes its health benefits will bring more people in to play.
“I do see lots of benefits from the pickleball community. There are lots of media articles that suggest pickleball in comparison to tennis is beneficial in reducing injury rates,” Kim said.
In an article from AARP, Dr. Lisa K. Cannada, a trauma surgeon and adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina says, “The underhand serving motion [in pickleball] is also gentler on shoulders compared to tennis. The shorter court allows for competitive play even with reduced mobility.”
Kim also has noticed the growth of the sport on campus. The club pickleball steam started last March and used statistics showing the growth of the sport as a reason for the school to let the club take off.
The club now has over 50 members and earned a bid to the National Collegiate Pickleball Association’s national tournament next April.