Grab your paddles: Miami is about to get the ‘world’s largest pickleball festival’
Let the games begin.
Miami Marine Stadium on Virginia Key will be teeming with pickleheads this weekend for an event billed as “the world’s largest pickleball festival.”
Say what now?
In case you’ve been hibernating on your couch for the last few years: Pickleball — a cross between ping pong, badminton and tennis — is one of nation’s fastest growing sports.
To give you some idea of its popularity: In 2023, the game had close to 9 million players over the age of six, compared to 4.8 million in 2022, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.
If you’re still clueless, that’s OK. The new 305 fest, consisting of tournament competitions across 100 courts throughout the stadium, is open to everyone, spectators as well as for casual observers whose idea of breaking a sweat is running to find an outlet to charge their phones.
Activations include fitness clinics, cooking demos, skincare lounges, gin tastings, musical performances, VIP E11EVEN Vodka Beach Club, DJs, fashion show, food stations, and obvio, Instagrammable moments galore.
There will also be plenty of folks on site who live and breathe this thing, so you may want a brief history lesson before you go: As the story goes, pickleball was invented out of desperation in the summer of ‘65 in Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, Washington.
Three dads — Joel Pritchard, then a state representative, and his friends Bill Bell and Barney McCallum — were looking for something for their bored kids to do on vacation and rounded up all the random equipment lying around. They ended up using ping-pong paddles and a Wiffleball to volley back and forth over a net to everyone’s delight.
It’s not totally clear where the curious name came from (nothing to do with cucumbers!) but it’s said that Pritchard’s wife, Joan, likened the new game to the pickle boats in crew, ones that were the least competitive in a race.
These days, it’s played on a badminton-sized court and a modified tennis net with a paddle and a plastic ball with holes, both indoors and out.
Steve Suarez, whose Black Stage Productions produced The Pickle Games, thought it was high time that there was a full scale homage and plans to make it an annual event in the 305.
“Pickleball has become a passion in our group of friends and among the members of our team,” he said. “Given our 30 years’ combined event production experience, we decided to capitalize on the growing popularity of pickleball and curate a community event where everyone — from novice to professional players — can come together to have fun, network and compete.”
The Pickle Games
When: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Where: Miami Marine Stadium, 3501 Rickenbacker Cswy., Miami
Cost: Tickets from $20 at eventbrite.com
Info: To register/RSVP: thepicklegames.com.
This story was originally published January 9, 2024 at 2:09 PM.
