We hear about this tremendous growth in the game in 2022, but who’s actually playing? According to the USA Pickleball website, there are 4.8 million players in the US. 3.5 million of them are considered “Casual” players that are playing between 1-7 times per year with the balance of the 4.8 million considered “Core” players. About 60% are men and 40% are women. I expect the gap to lessen when this report is done after 2022.
Many think this sport is predominately older players. Well, the facts show that is not really true. The average age is continuing to drop with the current average age at 38 years old. The fastest growing age demographic from 2020 -2021 was actually players under 24 years old. Take a look at the percentages of Total, Core and casual players in 2021:
AGES TOTAL CORE CASUAL
| AGES | TOTAL | CORE | CASUAL |
| 6-17 | 21.2% | 14.2% | 23.9% |
| 18-34 | 28.8% | 16.8% | 33.5% |
| 35-54 | 20.4% | 17.0% | 21.8% |
| 55-64 | 12.0% | 19.2% | 9.2% |
| 65+ | 17.6% | 32.7% | 11.6% |
Anyway you cut it, the game of pickleball is growing and that’s a beautiful thing.
