Central Texas adding more pickleball venues as popularity continues to grow

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The sound of Pickleball fills the air at Waterloo Pickleball, one of Austin's newest pickleball clubs.

"Pickleball is exploding in Austin," said Jeremy Thiel, one of the club's founders.

Opening on March 1, the facility was already packed Sunday for a tournament.

Thiel said the popularity of the sport led him to add four courts to his gym, and now he's adding members to the club.

"The accessibility of courts is definitely a need in the city of Austin," Thiel said. "We are right here in the downtown Austin area where there is a lot of people that want access to courts."

Davis Collins, an avid pickleball player, said that finding a place to play can be hard. He adds that wait times at public courts can be long.

"You might wait 30 minutes, 45 minutes for a game then get smoked, then you are waiting another 30, 45 minutes," Collins said.

Collins said that paying a fee to become a member of a club means players can get in as much practice, and games, as they want.

"With so many places opening up it's amazing," Collins said. "You want variety, you want places to go."

According to Pickleball USA, the sport's national governing body, at the end of 2023 there were 11,864 known places to play across the nation, up from 1,140 locations in 2022.

"We literally built this place out in the last six weeks," Thiel said.

In Pflugerville, Texas, Pickleland owner Alejandro RIoja said the demand for courts factored into his location as well.

"When I was looking where to locate Pickleland I made sure we were in an area where there were no other facilities nearby," Rioja said.

In June, the facility will open to the public, offering a wide variety of experiences for customers.

"We are a nine indoor pickleball facility," Rioja said. "We will be fully fenced, we have AC, food trucks, music and events."