The Olympics, Austin, Texas, and a funny video that'll make you smile | Week 15

I want to play pickleball for the US in the Olympics one day. Yeah, I said it😳

But before I go there, here’s four things you’ll read about in this edition.

1. When will pickleball be in the Olympics?

2. Why I’m in Austin, Texas this weekend.

3. A video to make you laugh, and

4. The picture of the week.

Here we go!

Part 1 | Pickleball. Olympics. Will it happen? 

The short answer - most likely.

And 2028 is a possible target. Here’s the short of it…

For a sport to be in the Olympics, a few things need to happen:

The game must be recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee. There needs to be 75 countries actively playing. Right now, there are about 61 that play pickleball. In addition, the host city must be able to provide adequate facilities and the committee wants to see sports that will bring more viewers to the games!

The gist is, it’s not easy to introduce a sport to the Olympics. But…

…there is a loophole the United States could use (if needed) as the host country in 2028.

The host country gets to propose a handful of sports. A good example is Tokyo wanted baseball in 2020, and it got in.

The U.S. could do the same with pickleball in 2028.

And if pickleball continues to grow at this current pace, I like our chances.

At the end of the day, a lot of this comes down to money. If a sport is extremely popular and people want to watch it, that is more attractive to the Olympic Committee because it means more financial opportunities through sponsorships and TV.

Even though pickleball is aggressively growing in popularity, we still have a long way to go on that front.

Here’s a great article that breaks all this down in way more detail.

Part 2 | Why I’m in Austin, Texas this weekend.

As I shared in week 10 of the newsletter, I met another pickleball content creator, Shea, who is also on a journey to become a pro. We connected through Instagram, have been on multiple phone calls, and decided to partner up this weekend in Texas.

We’re both playing singles and then men’s doubles together. In addition, we’re planning to create content together and have some fun along the way.

Keep an eye on my Instagram account to see fun videos from this weekend and results from the tournament.

Part 3 | A video to make you laugh.

I’m enjoying this comedic pickleball content. I like making it, and it seems to be bringing smiles to people faces - so I’m going to keep doing it.

Here’s a video I made last week, that one person said, “Damn, that was funny".”

Part 4 | Picture of the week.

 

Maybe the most special part of this journey is the relationships I’ve made. I’ve trained and played tournaments with these three guys over the last 4 months, and their friendship has been a big part of what makes pickleball so great.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time,

Kyle