VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: The Erie Canal Pickleball Center
Josh Solomon: A lot of pops and pings inside a pickleball facility like nothing seen before in Central New York. Here at the Erie Canal Pickleball Center in Syracuse it includes nine full-size courts. Helping grow the sport within the area is local resident Brooke Bregman.
Brook Bregman: I actually run CNY Pickleball which is just a volunteer position so CNY Pickleball coordinates the play at a lot of places around town and this is one of them.
Solomon: The Erie Canal Pickleball Center is just one of the places that shows the growth over the last decade in the space of Pickleball but Brooke mentions that it’s not only around the entire United States but especially here in the central New York community that has grown stronger than ever and has seen larger audiences than she could have even thought of.
Bregman: In this area when I started there were 500 people playing the sport, and now there are over 5,000 so in just those last three to four years there’s been a huge huge change.
Solomon: The fast-growing game is only going to continue and something you might find surprising is it’s not just retirees who are playing the sport.
Bregman: Demographics are changing it used to be an older sport and now I believe the demographic that is bringing in the most players is around 35. Young people can play any sport that they want to see people that are eight out here today playing with people that are 75 so the age doesn’t really matter anyone can play this sport.
Solomon: The Erie Canal Pickleball Center is a place where not only young adults but anyone can hit their stride. Reporting in Syracuse, Josh Solomon, NCC News
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Pickleball has grown by 223.5% the last decade, with every single age group seeing increased participation, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. While many people associate pickleball with older or retired participants, 25–34-year-olds are the most active in the sport. That age group has over 2.3 million people participating in pickleball.
Erie Canal Pickleball Center is capitalizing on this increased interest. The pickleball center has a large total of nine courts and three leagues to join. They also offer free play options and lessons for those less experienced. The center even offers skill evaluations for more skilled players to provide feedback on strengths and ways to improve.
Brook Bregman, an executive committee member of CNY Pickleball, volunteers her time at the center with locals in the community.
“In this area, when I started (playing) there were 500 people playing the sport and now there are over 5,000,” said Bregman about the involvement of players in Central New York. “We’ve had over an 100% increase in the past three years, and the demographics are changing too.”
Those demographics continue to shift with the average age of a pickleball player being 35 years old, according to the Association of Pickleball Professionals. In 2020, the average age was 40 years old.
“It’s such an easy sport to get into,” said Bregman about the increase in younger players joining the sport. “The age doesn’t really matter, everyone can play this sport.”
The most crucial part of Bregman’s job is to keep on recruiting and getting more people to join the sport of pickleball within the area. As a USA Pickleball Ambassador, she said it can sometimes be overwhelming to keep everything organized but notes it is also very rewarding.
Greg Polhamus and Brook Bregman playing pickleball at Elevate Fitness. © 2024 Alaina Potrikus Beckett
“We are so lucky that almost everybody who plays this sport is the nicest person ever,” said Bregman about the Central New York pickleball community. “Everyone is so sweet to each other all the time, they come and they hang out and this is their social circle.”
Bregman, who has met over 4,000 people by playing the sport of pickleball, hopes that it only continues to grow. Along with the sport, the Erie Canal pickleball Center is only expecting more players to enters its doors.