Students, Faculty and Staff Square Off on Sunday Mornings at Campus Rec Center
Image by Ed Brennen
Registrar Mai Nguyen, left, and Chancellor Julie Chen tap pickleball paddles with an opponent after a Sunday morning game at the Campus Recreation Center.
03/30/2023
By Ed Brennen
It was the sharp听thock!听of pickleball paddles hitting perforated plastic balls back and forth.听
Curley, a native of Billerica, Massachusetts, has played pickleball since about 2016 鈥� several years before it caught fire during the pandemic to become the听听in the country. When he peeked around the curtain, he saw more than a dozen faculty and staff members playing spirited games across three courts.听
鈥淚 started talking to people, and here we are: I鈥檝e been coming down to play every Sunday since,鈥� Curley said between games in mid-March.
Registrar听Mai Nguyen听is the unofficial ringleader of the casual Sunday morning drop-in games, which run from 10 a.m. to noon and are open to anyone from the UML community.
Image by Ed Brennen
Senior computer science major James Dimino lunges for a backhand while pickleball teammate Karyn Puleo, executive director of facilities business operations, looks on at the Campus Rec Center.
鈥淥nce you play, you鈥檙e totally addicted,鈥� Nguyen says of the sport, which is like a combination of ping-pong and tennis and is played, two-on-two, on a badminton-size court. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun social game that anyone can play, even if you鈥檝e never played sports before. And I like the fact that you can hop on anytime; there鈥檚 no hierarchy when you鈥檙e first starting. It鈥檚 a very open and generous game.鈥�
The Sunday morning games started last summer when Nguyen invited听Anita Greenwood, dean emerita of the听School of Education, to coach a few clinics for interested players. Greenwood is an avid pickleball player and part of the Newburyport Pickleball organization.
Since then, around 15 to 20 people have been showing up at the Campus Rec Center to play each Sunday. Among the regulars are Chancellor听Julie Chen听and her spouse, Susu Wong.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a great chance to get a little exercise and hang out with folks at the university,鈥� says Chen, who notes that the pickleball court is a place where people can set aside their UML roles for a few hours. 鈥淓verybody is just here playing. It鈥檚 not like you come wearing a label.鈥�
Image by Ed Brennen
The Sunday morning drop-in pickleball games, played over three courts at the Campus Rec Center, are open to anyone in the UML community.
Like most of the Sunday morning crowd, Chen had never played the sport before. She鈥檚 seen her game get 鈥渟lightly better鈥� each week.听
鈥淎t the beginning, you鈥檙e just trying to learn the rules,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut after a while, you get a better idea of what you鈥檙e trying to do. It gets competitive.鈥澨�
Curley, who in high school traveled as far away as Indiana for pickleball camps and tournaments, can confirm Chen鈥檚 competitiveness.
鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 take it easy on you,鈥� he says, adding that he never imagined he鈥檇 meet so many different people from across the university through pickleball.听
While the sport is most popular with people aged 55 and older, according to听, it is attracting younger players, too. At UML,听Campus Recreation听hosts tournaments and Wednesday night drop-in games, providing all the necessary equipment for students.
Image by Ed Brennen
Chancellor Julie Chen and teammate Karyn Puleo both reach for a return during a pickleball game.
Mason Ronn, a junior plastics engineering major from Boylston, Massachusetts, wanted to enter a tournament in February with his roommate but had never played the game before. So he decided to join the Sunday morning games to learn.
鈥淚 like being active and exercising without being the most competitive person in the world, so it鈥檚 a good fit for me,鈥� says Ronn, who would like to help start a student pickleball club next year (he has a fall co-op job at Apple in California to work around, however).
Brenda Geiger, assistant dean in the听Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, enjoys playing against students, 鈥渁lthough I鈥檓 a little jealous of how agile they are,鈥� she says.
鈥淪eeing faculty, staff, administrators and students playing together, and having a good time is nice. I鈥檝e definitely made a lot of friends here, which takes down some of the barriers at work and makes the job a little easier sometimes,鈥� she says.听
Image by Ed Brennen
Wendy Hyatt, assistant director of experiential learning and signature programs, returns a serve.
Paula Haines, senior director of curriculum assessment and accreditation, says she feels like 鈥渁 kid on recess鈥� coming to play every week.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just joyful. It鈥檚 great to watch all these people who work so hard having so much fun,鈥� she says. 鈥淓verybody鈥檚 got so much going on, so it鈥檚 nice to come here, cut loose and pump up our serotonin levels.鈥�
Nguyen, who promotes the game to people whenever she can, is working with Campus Rec to have outdoor pickleball courts lined on the East Campus tennis courts so they can be used for both sports. Her dream is for the city of Lowell to build pickleball courts and create community events around them.
鈥淚n Florida and California and Atlanta, they have venues with food trucks, and they build social events around them,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 better than a sport that anyone can play?鈥�