By Jenna Mattern Jason Fruhling was skeptical the first time he picked up a pickleball paddle at the Pickleball House in White Marsh. Now, he owns the place. “We actually came here to this facility, and I did a Pickleball 101 class,” Fruhling said. “I was almost, not against it, but I was hesitant, right? But I came in, I played, and I thought, well, this is actually interesting.” Fruhling began playing pickleball in 2023 as part of a personal health journey. When the previous owners of Pickleball House announced they were stepping down, Fruhling decided to step in, entering into what he calls a leadership role more than an ownership one. Since then, the facility has been flourishing. Baltimore County resident and Pickleball House player Sandy Miller said the sport is not only a means of exercise, but a way of connecting with others. Miller, a former competitive volleyball player, has slowly transitioned to playing pickleball consistently. “It’s so nice because there’s such a huge connection of people,” Miller said. “As you become older as an adult it’s more difficult to meet people but pickleball is a great way to meet people.” In an age where traditional social spaces are fading, pickleball facilities across the region are showing that bringing people together can be as simple as a paddle, a plastic ball, and a place to play. Miller said the Pickleball House has provided her with friendships she otherwise would have never had. “I’ve met some really good friends that I would not have had if I didn’t play pickleball. It just seems like a great forum to kind of meet your people,” she said. “I’m always exchanging phone numbers and, you know, creating a group list to go play outdoors with people that I’ve met, so for me, it’s been huge.” Pickleball House is over 46,000 square feet, with eight courts, each with sideline room for spectators. The facility, which Fruhling said is one of the most spacious indoor complexes in Maryland, lends itself well to be a place for community. Fruhling said in addition to open play for players, the White Marsh facility has become a place for all kinds of professional and personal communities to connect. “We do a lot of corporate events, larger events, tournaments,” he said. “We can fit 300 people in here easily without question and without crunching everybody in.” Braden Keith, owner of Bounce Pickleball in Pikesville said since the covid pandemic, many people have been looking for new ways to connect—leading them to picking up pickleball as a hobby. “Church membership is down, and a lot of the people don’t go to bars in the same way they used to,” Keith said. A lot of the old ‘third spaces’ for gathering and meeting people don’t exist anymore.” Keith also said that pickleball facilities have become a place for networking, too. Many companies and businesses are chosing pickleball corporate events, with Bounce Pickleball hosting around two a week. “It has reshaped what corporate events look like. We host corporate Christmas parties. So stuff that maybe used to be for four old guys on a golf course, is now the entire company on a pickleball court,” Keith said. “It’s more accessible to more people.” At Baltimore Pickleball Club in Timonium, general manager Matt Bavett said their facility, which has four courts and a bar area, can be rented out for events. The Pickleball House in White Marsh Credit: Jenna Mattern “We’re a really good space for events where for a very affordable price, essentially the cost of $250 an hour, you can book our whole facility,” Bavett said. “And I think that’s very Keith and Bavett both emphasized that pickleball in inherently social due to its accessibility to all ages and skill level and small court size, among other factors. “I think there’s just something powerful about the way it mixes people, the way you’re able to sort of interact on the court better,” Keith said. “You’re a little closer together than maybe a sport like tennis.” Bavett described pickleball as a uniting game, especially for different age groups. “I think more and more people have realized that it’s a fun game for people of all ages,” he said. “We have people that are 5 years old playing pickleball, all the way up to 80-something.” Some indoor facilities have tapped into the social aspects away the court, too. When Jimmy Edgerton, the owner of SOS Pickleball on South Spring Street began the process of opening a facility, he knew he wanted it to be a vibrant social space. After noticing more people in his neighborhood desired an athletic space to gather and finding a vacant building in Baltimore City near Harbor East, he knew he found a place for SOS Pickleball to blossom. Due to its layout, reconceptualizing the building was a challenge at first, Edgerton said. “We had existing rooms that would not fit a pickleball court, but it lent itself really well to a billiards table, a ping-pong table, a lounge, a bar, and a mezzanine area,” he said. “We kind of let the building dictate how we would set up the space in a way, but making sure that we weren’t sacrificing quality of the pickleball experience.” The facility only has two courts, SOS Pickleball tries to maximize the user experience with PodPlay, a technology that captures video replays and projects a live, interactive scoreboard for spectators. Edgerton said this “really engages spectators,” which helps immensely in bringing groups together. “We’ve seen people hanging out way longer because they want to watch the game and they’re engaged,” he said. “And we’ve seen people play a lot longer because people have spectators and it’s fun to be playing with your friends around you,” he said. Since opening, Edgerton said SOS Pickleball has helped create community and encouraged socialization across the board. “We are really focused on how to bring groups of people together through a competitive social game,” he said. “And it’s been really exciting to see people have a wonderful time playing pickleball and meeting their neighbors when they might have lived literally a block or two away, but would have never had a reason to or said hi to each other in another context.” Theses spaces are becoming new hubs for people to gather, socialize and play. “Whether you’re coming out to compete at a high level, or you’re coming out because you can’t even spell the word pickleball,” Fruhling said, :it’s just about getting involved, getting out there, and moving.” ‘Business of Sports’ is a series produced as a senior capstone project by the Loyola University Maryland Department of Communication.s and Media, under the supervision of April Newton. ...read more read less