Ole Miss converts courts, launches club and one-credit pickleball class

Three campus tennis courts behind the Turner Center were converted in 2023 into eight striped pickleball courts, a physical change that helped spark wider student participation and the creation of the Ole Miss Pickleball Club that same year. The courts and club have made pickleball a visible, regular option for students seeking recreation, social play, and low-barrier competition.

Interest on campus has extended into academics. The University of Mississippi introduced a one-credit course, Introduction to Pickleball, through the Department of Health, Exercise Science, and Recreation Management in spring 2024. The course covers rules and fundamentals while giving students court time to refine serves, dinks, volleys and strategy. Instruction culminates with live play and a doubles elimination tournament that lets players move from drills to match play in a structured setting.

“Sometimes I get some students that are so into it and so good, and then I’ll have some people who have never even played before and just want to learn something new,” said Muma. “So that’s kind of where we just get everyone caught up and just learn the basics.”

Course sessions mix skill-building with friendly competition. Muma explained that toward the middle of the semester play ramps up, and the class wraps with tournament-style doubles so students can test what they learned in real match conditions. “Toward the middle of the semester, we’ll start playing games, and everyone kind of plays everyone,” Muma said. “I like to use the last bit of the semester as a tournament and have people kind of partner up. It’s like a doubles elimination tournament, and just kind of let them play until we have a winner. (The fall semester) is the first time I’ve taught it, and that semester, everyone in my two classes loved it, so it was pretty fun.”

The course also aims to reach beyond recreation into health and wellness goals emphasized by the department. “I think it’s a great class, I think, for students to have. It’s like a stress relief,” Muma said. “It gives them an hour or two each week just to be outside and be active, too. Especially coming from my department, there’s definitely a push to increase physical activity. So by encouraging students, giving them some structure to be outside and move for at least an hour of their day is definitely a big push to kind of increase that awareness for the importance of physical activity.”

Sophomore international studies and Chinese major Eli Striplin captured how the sport functions socially on campus: “It’s a great game and brings people closer together. There’s a great community of players that’s always willing to reach out and play with others.”

For students and local players, the conversion of courts, the club’s formation, and the academic course together create multiple entry points: drop-in play at the Turner Center courts, social sessions through the club, and an academic route to learn fundamentals and compete. Expect more organized play and growing turnout as players trade tennis serves for pickleball serves, learn to dink in the kitchen, and push the sport further into campus life.