The Pickleball craze is spreading across the country, and Major League Pickleball is growing as well. Steve Kuhn, the founder of MLP, has released the goal of MLP: 40 million people playing pickleball by the year 2030.
Here is an open letter from Kuhn:
Dear Friends,
I wanted to take this opportunity on World Pickleball Day, to announce the ‘40 By 30 Project,’ an initiative which aims to spread the joy of Pickleball to forty million people by the year 2030.
I embrace this, not as the founder of MLP, but as someone who has seen first-hand the power pickleball has, to just make people’s lives that much better.
Let me share my own personal experience with you.
I was introduced to the sport of pickleball six years ago by my nephew. After googling ‘pickleball courts in Austin,’ I showed up on a Wednesday night to the Bethany Church Gym not knowing the rules, not having a paddle and was completely welcomed by the community playing there.
And that has been my experience ever since.
An experience that could not be more inclusive, more equitable, more welcoming and just more fun. Whether you’re an expert or a beginner, young or old, man or woman, conservative or progressive, blue collar or white collar or even no collar at all, on the pickleball court we are all on equal footing and we are all welcome. It is the one place I have seen, especially through the pandemic, where people of different cultures, races and backgrounds, who would not otherwise meet one another, find their common ground in the joy of the game and each other’s company.
It may sound like hyperbole, but I really believe pickleball can save this country, and maybe even the world.
It is the mission of the ‘40 By 30 Project’ to harness the incredible momentum of pickleball to bring the joy of this sport to as many people as possible.
As an organization, through our recent expansion of MLP, the onboarding of some of the most iconic and game changing owners in any sport, our continued democratization of the game through the launch of new initiatives, our deepening partnership across the DUPR footprint and our commitment to bring the game to all communities in this country regardless of economic circumstance, we’re just getting started.
And as much as these efforts are prolific and far reaching, this goal cannot be achieved without your help.
So, this is what I ask of you today, on World Pickleball Day.
Reach out to your significant other, text your friend, co-worker or neighbor, even call someone you’ve been meaning to reconnect with and invite them to a game of pickleball.
I guarantee you’ll bring a smile to your day and perhaps, this very same joy, to their life as well.
There’s nothing else like it.
Sincerely,
Steve Kuhn
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
