Coaching platform Teach Me.To recently released its 2032 Annual Pickleball Report, which scrutinized the number of registered pickleball coaches found in U.S. cities. It unveiled some surprising statistics.
Surprise Contender
Predictably, highly-populated cities like San Diego, CA, and New York City claimed the top two spots. However, the surprise contender in third place was Orem, Utah, boasting only five fewer pickleball coaches than New York despite having a mere 1/80th of its population.
As you delve further into the rankings, other cities with populations in the millions feature, but nothing matching a minnow the size of Orem’s size until the seventh spot, which is occupied by none other than another Utah location, Orem’s neighboring city, Provo.
As if this wasn’t proof enough of Utha punching above its weight in pickleballing terms, the coup-de-grace is the inclusion of the tiny town of Mapleton, UT, with a population of 12,000, featuring no fewer than seven pickleball instructors—surpassing Houston. This metropolis has only six instructors.
No Coincidence
This distinctive trend is no mere coincidence. Utah consistently outperforms its demographic proportions in the realm of pickleball. Despite its 3.3 million residents constituting just 1% of the U.S. population, Utah claims 6% of the nation’s pickleball coaches (85) and nearly 2% of its pickleball courts (754).
Notably, Apple’s Heart and Movement Study highlighted Utah as the state with the highest number of pickleball players per capita.
Further affirmation comes from The Dink, a prominent pickleball publication, which unequivocally ranks Utah as the premier state for the sport based on Google search data, with Utahns exhibiting almost double the interest in pickleball compared to any other state.
A Pickleball Hotbed
Before these accolades, Utah had already solidified its status as a pickleball hotbed. Salt Lake City hosts the PPA Tour, and prominent Utahns dominate the tour standings.
Notable players like Callie Smith from Orem and Allyce Jones from Pleasant Grove are among the top competitors in women’s doubles, while Meghan Dizon of Salt Lake City is in eighth position. On the men’s side, top pros Tyler Loong and Spencer Smith proudly call Utah home.
In 2023, Utah hosted pivotal PPA Tour events, including the Red Rock Open in St. George and the Utah Tournament of Champions in Brigham City. Collegiate pickleball also thrives in the state, with Utah Tech University, Utah Valley University, and Utah State University ranking among the top seven teams nationally, according to DUPR’s GAMMA rankings.
Overarching Sports Culture
Why does Utah excel in pickleball? Multiple factors contribute to this phenomenon.
The state’s overarching sports culture, demonstrated by seven colleges in NCAA Division I and professional teams like the NBA’s Utah Jazz and MLS’s Real Salt Lake, plays a massive part.
In an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Kristy Wolford, manager of PPA’s Utah Tournament of Champions, emphasized Utah’s sports-centric nature:
“Utah is very sports-minded, we are grassroots growers innately,” Wolford told the Tribune. “I don’t know that you can point to any other state that has the depth of development that we have in Utah.”
Family-Oriented
Utah’s family-oriented culture is perfectly suited to pickleball, a sport accessible across all age ranges. With the highest number of kids per family on average (2.32), Utah fosters an environment for pickleball to thrive as a multigenerational family activity.
Large families are a key catalyst, as noted by Katy Luxem, owner of Big Dill Pickleball in Sandy, UT.
“There’s a lot of different ages here — people have a lot of kids. They’ll take their kids out, but then there’s multigenerational grandparents here. It’s something you can do as a big group or a big family.”
Family Bonding
Callie Smith’s entry into pickleball exemplifies this family-centric approach. In an interview with the Deseret News in 2020, Smith revealed that her participation in the sport began at the behest of her grandfather-in-law, highlighting the sport’s ability to create family bonding.
“My grandfather-in-law actually asked me to play a pickleball tournament with him, and I didn’t want to play, but I can’t turn that down, so I played with him,” Smith said in 2020.
Other contributing factors include Utah’s early investment in pickleball infrastructure, resulting in well-established clubs and tournaments. Additionally, the state’s favorable weather conditions, characterized by a relatively dry and moderate climate, provide an ideal backdrop for pickleball enthusiasts.
