Hannah Johns traces pickleball’s rise from inside the pro tour

Hannah Johns used a June 11 episode of Pickleballers to pull back the curtain on both the Johns family and her own path from behind-the-scenes operator to one of pickleball media’s clearest voices. Her story stretched from a large homeschooling household on 12 acres near Washington, D.C., to a stint teaching English in the Czech Republic, then into the PPA Tour’s early days, where she helped shape the circuit’s media presence from the inside.

That perspective carries weight in a sport that is still young by any measure. USA Pickleball says pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and its 2024 growth report put U.S. participation at an estimated 24.3 million players. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association and Pickleheads reported 19.8 million participants in 2024 and said the sport remained America’s fastest-growing. The PPA Tour’s official rankings did not begin until February 13, 2020, which makes Johns’ front-row view of the modern pro era especially unusual.

Johns said she grew up as one of seven siblings in a home that mixed academics, music and athletics, with plenty of room for independence and curiosity. She pointed to brother Ben Johns’ early hand-eye coordination, recalling how he was hitting foosballs into the air with a pool cue when he was only three and even broke a window in the process. Sister Maggie Johns went a different direction, becoming a pianist and pursuing a PhD, another sign of the family’s wide-ranging interests. When Hannah returned home during COVID, the family even painted a court onto the driveway so they could keep playing year-round.

Her own professional résumé tracks the sport’s rapid rise. The PPA Tour says she was its fourth team member in 2020, and her bio says she has worked across player relations, PR and communications, social media, broadcast logistics, tournament operations and event planning. Before that, she directed the English department at a small private school system in the Czech Republic.

Ben Johns’ career has become one of the sport’s defining storylines. He turned pro in 2016, has more than 150 PPA titles, owns a 108-match singles winning streak, and teamed with Anna Leigh Waters for 16 consecutive doubles titles from March 2023 to February 2024. He also became the first men’s player to win a triple crown at the Tournament of Champions in 2019. Taken together, Hannah Johns’ comments showed how pickleball’s biggest stage was built on family culture, work ethic and personality long before the tour had the rankings and reach it has today.