Mac Huffman

Sawyer Bland (12) celebrates a point after a hard rally. He played against one of his friends in a practice game. “Pickle ball is great,” Bland said. “Anyone can play against almost anyone regardless of their skill level and have a decent game.”

Heart racing, sweat dripping, young muscles throbbing with exertion. The score stands level, and it’s a matchpoint. A 85-year-old woman stands across from a young man, and she raises her arm and serves the final point. Her hit has a killer spin, and the opponent doesn’t even get a chance to return it before she celebrates her victory. There is only one sport where this age-defying defeat is even possible: pickleball. 

Pickleball is an up-and-coming racquet sport that has taken the world by storm. The combination of tennis and racquetball makes the sport easy to learn, and its popularity has nearly doubled in the last five years. One of the reasons for its popularity comes from its inclusivity: anyone can play. The sport is known to be easygoing on the hips and knees, appealing to older generations, but simple with minimal rules, appealing to the younger crowds. At the forefront of bringing pickleball to the Gen Z audience in St. Louis is senior Sawyer Bland. As a senior, he is leaving behind a newfound passion for pickle amongst his peers.

“One thing I’ve learned from pickleball is that you get together with other people that you wouldn’t expect,” Bland said. “You could be on a court with someone younger than you, or you could be on the court with an 80-year-old. You never really know.”

Bland has grown incredibly fond of the sport in the last two years. He helped pioneer the sport in St. Louis, specifically amongst his peers. He’s seen the wonders of age and athleticism inclusion with the sport firsthand in the St. Louis pickleball community. 

“There is a 105-year-old player in St. Louis,” Bland said. “He’s the oldest in the world, and he shows up to a lot of tournaments. Not as much to play but mostly to watch, but it’s cool because he really loves the sport. There are even 10-year-olds getting into it now. That all just goes to show that anyone can pick up the paddle.”

Bland began playing pickleball last year, while he was working at Forever Tennis. His boss was the pickleball pro at Old Warson Country Club and Frontenac Racquet Club. One day, Bland filled in for him at an open play, and from there his love for the sport took off running.

“I play at Frontenac and Creve Coeur Racquet Club, but mostly at Missouri Pickleball Club (MPC), which is the new facility in Fenton,” Bland said. “There are 18 courts and I play a tournament about once every month to two. I travel for tournaments maybe three times a year. I have one coming up in about three weeks in Texas, which I’m very excited about.”

In just two years, Bland has competed heavily and spent a lot of time in the world of racquet sports. As an experienced tennis player, he has always been involved in the sports world and has had to learn to balance both sports.

“It’s definitely easier to start playing pickleball after playing racquet sports,” Bland said. “A lot of the pickleball pros started with tennis, some table tennis or even squash. A lot of people ask me if playing both at the same time is hard or if playing pickleball hinders my tennis skills, or vice versa, but I don’t really think it does.”

While Bland focuses on pickleball heavily outside of school, he’s found a way to bring it to the Ladue community and get his peers to play through creating a pickleball club. He wanted to bring the sport to people closer to his age. 

“I started the pickleball club last year,” Bland said. “It was hard because I had to convince people to come play a sport that they might have thought was for old people or they had never played before.”

Pickleball businessman Aaron Sutton has been a big influence and help to Bland and his work in the pickleball community. Sutton runs a pickleball business called “Pickleball Amigos” that plans tournaments and events, and was an important piece in getting Bland not only into the pickleball community, but also as a leader.

“I met him just seeing him playing in different events,” Sutton said. “Then, he joined a group that was playing together, and invited him to play in some competitive events. I just really enjoyed his attitude and his desire to really develop the game and his zeal for the future.”

Sutton is an accomplished member of pickleball, and has been a driving force in the sport’s success around St. Louis. With that, he has seen how impactful pickleball has been for the community. He sees this sport as a bonding and enriching experience for all ages and backgrounds of people. 

“My favorite part is the pro-social aspect of it, seeing people from all different walks of life that you most likely would never encounter in your life,” Sutton said. “Everybody comes together on the court, and it brings people together. Obviously, there’s fierce competition. But one of the greatest things that I’ve seen is just really bringing people together.”

Sutton believes anyone can pick up a paddle and learn to play. Within a few hours or days of practicing, he feels anyone can manage to play a competitive game. However, he notes that skill and athleticism isn’t necessarily what makes the game challenging.

“It’s really a game of self-discipline, patience and self-control,” Sutton said. “That’s one of the things that seems to be the hardest lesson for people to gather. But, it’s also one of the cool things about the sport.”

According to Sutton, they usually hold these clinics at any public park that is available. The volunteers simply donate their time, and Sutton and his team supply the equipment and supplies. Then, they come up with a lesson plan for the clinic. Yet, these free clinics teach more than just the rules of pickleball, they also help struggling communities to rebuild. 

“Sawyer has helped us out a couple of times working with a group of at-risk youth who have been incarcerated and so forth,” Sutton said. “Sawyer donated his time to help provide some free clinics. You’re teaching things such as patience, teamwork, communication and lots of things that maybe are lacking within an at-risk type of population.”

Bland has been successful in many aspects within the Pickleball community. He’s a talented player, has brought his community together, helped teach free clinics to communities in need and created a popular club within his school. As his time at Ladue and in St. Louis comes to an end, he is looking forward to continuing to grow his pickleball world elsewhere. 

“At Miami, I’m gonna be on the pickleball team, but right now it’s still a club sport,” Bland said. “Miami is in the top 25 for pickleball. I don’t have any scholarships right now, but hopefully I can earn some while I’m there. While it’s still a club sport, I’m hoping that’s gonna change soon.”

Overall, the sport has been an impactful experience for Bland. Many people in the pickleball community within St. Louis have seen and respect Bland’s efforts in extending the pickleball world to the Gen Z crowd. 

“Sawyer’s got a great attitude for it,” Sutton said. “He’s got a very supportive family, and that’s really cool. Also, Sawyer’s kind of like an ambassador for the sport because he’s got a pickleball club at [his] high school, and that’s super cool. He’s definitely got the heart for it. If that’s something he wants to do in the future, it’ll be really cool to see where he take us”