Catching Up with Black Pickleball collective
In July 2023, Kayla Brooks and her friends visited Rally. They were initially hesitant about trying pickleball having not seen many Black people playing the sport. However they quickly fell in love with pickleball, enjoying it so much that they booked a court the following week, and the week after.
Upon discovering that, despite being the fastest-growing sport in America, only 7.3% of pickleball players identify as African American/Black (SFIA 2022 Report), Kayla and her friends took action and founded Black Pickleball Collective (BPC). What started as a casual Instagram account to encourage friends to join their weekly sessions very quickly blossomed into a thriving community of nearly 900 individuals interested in delving deeper into pickleball.
BPC began hosting regular sessions, welcoming players of all backgrounds and skill levels for free. These gatherings fostered not only pickleball skills, but also meaningful connections, both on and off the court. In just two months, over 250 people have participated in BPC sessions at Rally.
The mission of Black Pickleball Collective is clear: to establish an inclusive space for the Black community to explore pickleball, grasp the game, and build connections. BPC is devoted to championing diversity in sports and ensuring that underrepresented communities have access to pickleball.
We recently caught up with Kayla, who leads Partnerships and Operations at Black Pickleball Collective, to delve deeper into the driving force behind BPC.
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourselves.
"We, ourselves, are a collective of a variety of professions ranging from sales to tech to finance and project management. Our day jobs look very different, but we are all passionate about building community and creating opportunities for Black people.
Together, we make a great team leveraging our inherent skills to run BPC. Bradford is our videographer, photographer, and content guru. Autumn leads events and programs. Rod is a jack of all trades and our merch specialist. Sydnei manages our graphic design and social media. And Hunter leads recruitment."
Q: What initially got you into pickleball?
Funny story actually, we got into pickleball because of an MBA school project. We had never played before, but a friend was adamant about playing pickleball because they did a school project on it and would not stop talking about the exponential growth of pickleball.
When Rally opened up, it was the perfect opportunity for us to give it a try and if we didn’t like it, at least we would have gotten a cute drink and good food out of it. Turns out, we loved it and haven’t stopped playing since.
Q: Tell us about your favorite pickleball memory?
The first time we hosted a Pick-Up Pickleball event at Rally, we sold out. And the group chat went crazy! Memes and GIFs were flying left and right. We were excited because over 75 people were standing beside our vision of democratizing pickleball.
We were also freaking out because over 75 people were going to be looking at us to teach them how to play and we barely knew how to play ourselves. We didn’t even know how to manage that many people on the court. But we did it and, again, the group chat went crazy! And people loved it so much that they’ve been coming back every week.
Q; What dreams do you have for BPC?
Our dream is for the demographics of pickleball to not look like tennis and golf when it comes to minority representation. Black Pickleball Collective is dedicated to forging connections and friendships that extend beyond the pickleball court, as we believe that building a strong community is just as important as mastering the game itself.
We aspire to intentionally create opportunities for underrepresented communities to have access to pickleball. We aspire to create and maintain a low barrier to entry in efforts to ensure the accessibility and diversity of the pickleball industry.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who feels under-represented but really wants to get into pickleball?
Show up.
There’s a quote that says, “As we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
We recognize that there were, and still are, few Black people present when going places to play pickleball and that can be scary. On the flip side, BPC has seen over 250 people come to our events in only 2 months and align to our mission of democratizing pickleball. Some days we have shown up short on volunteers. Some days we have shown up short on energy. But we still showed up and let the light we did have shine for others to find their own. It’s not easy, but we’re committed to showing up and asking for everyone else who believes in our mission to show up too.
black Pickleball Collective Sessions are hosted regularly at Rally. Follow BPC’s instagram to stay in-the-know on upcoming dates, learn pickleball tips, and connect with the community.